Saturday, August 29, 2009

Tanzania - this is a long one

So 10 days and 6 towns later and we have made it from Lake Victoria to the Indian Ocean!

We started our trip to the coast by heading north to Musoma. That trip, on a crowded public bus, took us past the gate to the Serengeti National Park. As we passed we got a taste for the animal life the newest wonder of the world holds as zebra, wildebeest, buffalo and baboons could be seen from the road. We figured this to be our "poor man's safari." In Musoma we camped on the beach on Lake Victoria, a very cool experience.

From there we were able, after several hours and a lot of walking, to find a bus headed to Karatu where we were to visit the Tanzanian Children's Fund Children's Home. Unbeknown to us, this bus trip went directly through the Serengeti National Park. Also unbeknown to us, and apparently to the bus company as well, foreigners are expected to pay to travel through the national park. Even in a public bus, not a safari vehicle. After arriving at the gate four hours into our trip we spent a good 45 minutes arguing with the bus driver and the park guards (we did not travel with the needed $100) who told us we would have to turn back, on our own, and walk back to Musoma. What they had declined to tell us at the beginning was that they accepted credit cards. We did end up having to pay but, in the end it was worth it.

While bumping along at around 60mph through the Serengeti (surely infuriating the people who had paid thousands to go on safari) we were treated to a true safari, and one perfectly suited for two people with such fickle attention spans. We saw plenty of giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, gazelles and other small animals and were lucky to see elephants, hippos, lions and even cheetahs (which is rare even for those people sitting comfortably in their safari trucks). Our driver did slow down a bit as we passed some of the bigger animals, but this was a public transport vehicle, not a tour bus.

When we pulled through the gate on the other side of the Serengeti (hours later and after stopping for lunch at a workers cafeteria) we entered a landscape that can only be described as otherworldly. A flat, white, desert plain stretched for miles with dozens of twisters swirling all around us. Masai herders were the only people around, leading their herds through the dust from one watering hole to the next. The scenery was too exciting for Jay who passed out, hard, and unfortunately missed the next part of the journey in which we climbed up and out of the plain. We ascended for probably 2 hours, Jay amazingly still asleep as his head continuously slammed into the window, to the precipice of the Ngorongoro Crater, the location of the discovery of the oldest known human skeleton. The landscape was incredible with elephants feeding on the edge of the rainforest that drapes the crater's walls, thousands of feet deep (don't worry, I have video so Jay can watch the scenery and himself pin-balling around the bus).

After again being asked for another $100 for traveling through Ngorongoro National Park - this time we refused and were allowed to continue on - we arrived in Karatu, just miles outside the park gate. We camped there for the weekend, became welcome regulars at the Number One Restaurant and Jay found his new favorite dish, goat intestine. On Monday we caught a ride from a friendly Italian couple to the road that led to the Children's Home. From where we were dropped we hiked, for several hours into the foothills of the crater. And hours later, no children's home sited, we found ourselves back on the main road. Luckily, and incredibly, we had enough cell phone service to contact the children's home and were picked up by their land rover. Another half an hour later and we arrived at the most astonishing facility we had seen yet.

India Howell, an American woman who fell in love with Tanzania, founded the home in 2003 for vulnerable children. The home itself now provides 69 children with an incredible place to grow up. The facilities are directly next to a local school that is also supported by India and is where the children attend, free of cost. Jay and I were stunned by the beautiful homes where the children live. There house mothers prepare delicious looking food and the rooms are far nicer than anything we have stayed in this trip!

We had a very nice conversation with India who shares our view that small, grassroots organizations are the best way to support the children of Africa. These organizations have people like India (or Bashir in Kenya or Lon in Ethiopia) that have a personal investment in seeing the children and their communities succeed. Good luck to India and all the staff at the Tanzanian Children's Fund!

Following our visit with India and another night camping in Karatu we caught a ride to Arusha with an older British man who owns a farm in the area. The ride was, once again, spectacular. It took only about 15 minutes to descend probably close to 2000 feet off a high plateau to another arid valley. We then ascended back up to Arusha which is located directly at the foot of Mt. Meru. While there we visited The School of St. Jude's. This is a great example of what one person can do for a local community. Australian Gemma Sisia founded the school to provide free education, now on two campuses, for 1200 students. It's massive, new, beautiful dorm facilities (complete with landscaping and horses) caught us by complete surprise as they looked more like a luxury mountain retreat than a school for poor children.

Arusha is one of the largest cities in Tanzania, home to the East African Community, and the jump-off point for safari's. These ingredients make for a lot of people who want to sell you everything from the "special stuff" (ganja) to black-market safaris. We were more than happy to move on after just one day in town.

The next stop was Moshi, a smaller but similar town at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We spent a day staring at the clouds that surrounded Africa's tallest mountain but were never treated to a glimpse of the peak. We took a tip from some new Swiss friends to take a day in Lushoto, a village located in the north-eastern Tanzanian highlands.

We hopped another ride to Lushoto which took us up a winding single-track road into rainforests that disappeared off thousand foot cliffs that dropped off directly to the savanna. Not knowing anything about Lushoto, or where to stay, we followed signs through the rainforest for about four miles before reaching Irente, a site located directly on the end of the highlands. We arrived at the cliff edge just as the sun was setting over the vast savanna thousands of feet below. We camped there, above the clouds, on the precipice of the cliff falling asleep and waking up to one of the most incredible vistas we have ever seen. Living above our tent in a tree house was Allan, an Australian artist who is spending four years traveling the world and painting portraits in every country he visits. We will get you a link to his work once its available!

We hiked back out of Irente the next day and caught a bus to Tanga where we are today. Tanga is located on the Swahili coast which is known for some of the most spectacular beaches in the world. It is also, interestingly enough, the site of a major World War One sea battle between the British and Germans. Our plan was to travel by boat to Pemba Island before moving on to Zanzibar. However, after further advice from locals (and finding out it was illegal to take one of the small sailboats across the channel) we have decided to move on to the small resort area of Pangani where we can catch a boat directly to the "spice island" of Zanzibar.

So, off for a bit of much needed R&R on the beach! (By the way, Jay shaved today for the first time in two months - watch out ladies of Pangani)

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