This is Africa

Tanzania has been a wild and amazing ride! We came here with a lot planned, unlike most of our travels to date.  All we had to do was make sure we got busses and ferries to get to and from our various points of interest.  Dar Es Salaam is not the city of dreams, rather, a city to avoid. Even the TI office was stumped when we asked if there was anything worthwhile to do!  Having said that, we knew it would be a point of departure and arrival - so today, we have a full day to get ourselves caught up while sitting in a muggy, humid 35 + degrees before flying to S Africa tomorrow.  The power is off for now, so the AC is not on either.  This is Africa!

Our travels began with the fun bus to Arusha, 9 hours turned 12 - but best slow than option b, the driver who gets you there in 9, but you are so shell shocked when arriving you aren’t sure how you are still alive - luck of the draw. Arusha is the starting point for most safaris in Tanzania.

What a 10 days - too hard to describe - phenomenal. Mattias is giving a day by day highlight so I will leave that for him.  Seeing the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Arusha National Park was a once in a lifetime experience - and we will never forget it.  Bernie is working on getting the photos up - but the power here is on again off again and it is slow going - This is Africa.

From Safari we made the trek back to Dar to make our way to Zanzibar by ferry.  Most tourists travel between places by air - now we know why- chaos is endemic in public transport here ( reminder to self -this is Africa). Emilia’s blog tells most of the story of Zanzibar - beautiful beaches, warm waters, lovely hotel for Christmas and lots of fun. We met lots of people, and the kids even found a good buddy to play with, Sonny from Germany was a great kid and they spent lots of time together.

Jambiani Beach allowed us some freedoms not seen to us in the rest of Tanzania. Feeling quite segregated from the locals in Dar and Arusha, we finally were at ease to mingle freely and not have the same security concerns. A breath of fresh air, and some fun getting to chat with the Africans.  Mattias is a great barrier breaker as he wears a footie jersey daily and it always brings comments his way. It even started some footie games on the beach.

Tanzania has been a country of highlights for us, our only regret being that we often felt cooped up and unable to really get out and to mingle with the locals. We are reminded daily by ourselves and others - This Is Africa.

Happy New Year everyone - we long to hear your holiday stories too.