Travel with Us - Karibu sana, a very warm welcome to Tanzania
How does one describe a safari in Tanzania? Overwhelming, awe-inspiring… many other words come to mind. Where does one start planning a safari with 22 national parks in one country? Our safari had to be in the northern part of the country as the main purpose of our journey to Tanzania was to visit Hope for Girls and Women Tanzania (HGWT).
Baobab Tented Camp, late afternoon.
We decided to travel to Kilimanjaro International Airport, and from there made our way eastwards. Another decision, and one that we were very happy with, was to use a local driver/guide (Moses Wazaza), and to book accommodation in discussion with him. We wanted the experience of staying in small tented camps.
We started our trip by staying in Moshi at More Than A Drop, a B&B and hospitality training school, a partner of HGWT supporting the training of young women to eventually work in the hospitality industry. Our route from here took us through the Tarangire National Park, via the Ngorongoro Crater and Conservation Area to the Serengeti National Park.
The Tarangire National Park is the 6th largest national park in the country, is well known for its vast herds of elephants and very large and old baobab trees (that can live up to 600 years). It is estimated that there are about 2,500 elephants living in the park, and is known as “The Elephant's Paradise.”
Zebras grazing in the crater
From here we traveled to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The crater has an interesting history that you can read more about here. We visited the crater on an overcast day which lent a magical quality to the visit.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area includes the Olduvai Gorge, also called the Cradle of Mankind, a very important paleoanthropological site, and a must stop when traveling from the crater to the Serengeti National Park. Louis and Mary Leakey, two well known British researchers, established a research program in the gorge during the 1930’s which has led to the discovery of numerous archaeological findings helping to create a better understanding of human development.
The view from the museum at the Olduvai Gorge to where the excavations took place and is still being done by research teams from around the world.
Entering the Serengeti
Our final destination was the Serengeti National Park, established in 1940 as a national park and added as an UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981. It is the third oldest national park in Africa. The Serengeti is best known for its vast herds of wildebeest (gnu) and zebra, and the annual circular Great Migration of millions of animals from Tanzania into Kenya and vice versa, a 1000 km journey. It is estimated that there are approximately 2 million wildebeest, and 300,000 zebras in the park.
At the entrance to the Serengeti
We have been privileged to travel fairly extensively in national parks in southern Africa, but have never experienced the vast numbers of game like in Tanzania, whether it was a pride of lions, a herd of elephants, a group of giraffes, a troupe of monkeys or a pod of hippopotamus, hyenas or jackals. We saw the BIG Five, but equally enjoyed the amazing nature of the parks, especially the sunsets and sunrises.
The slogan "Serengeti shall not die" (“Serengeti darf nicht sterben”), has become more real. The conservation of the national parks in Tanzania is becoming increasingly more important in view of environmental changes, and the vast numbers of tourists visiting yearly.
Respect each other, respect for the environment, respect for animals - Dr Jane Goodall
Please contact me if you would like to know more about our itinerary and preparation for the trip.