Tanzania page 1 of 3
Today was the first day since before South Africa that I checked my email. I have been meaning to email you guys with the South African update except I just haven't had time to write it. I like to put a lot of thought into my emails and don't want to write a crappy email. I'm at an internet cafe in Dar es Sallam in Tanzania.
It's kind of scary here. There's a lot of anti American attitudes. Their newspaper yesterday compared Bush to Hitler. Other people were wearing t-shirts with the world trade centers on fire. But those people are the minority. I hang out with kids who live in big cities so they are constantly always looking out for me since I never have had to worry about pick pocketing and what not. Yesterday we got followed by 2 people and we also got yelled at by a police officer with a gun for walking on the wrong side walk. I think he just yelled at us because we are American. We have been telling everyone that we're from Canada. I'm definitely not going to hand out any of my American t-shirts here.
They just had an anti-American protest last week so walking into town is rather nerve racking. Today three guys followed me personally because they saw my money belt and my bag. My friend noticed and we went into a less crowded area and went inside the post office to lose them. 1998 is when the embassy was bombed but the diplomats said terrorism isn't bad in Dar es Dallam, just in Zanzibar so we are not allowed to go there. The SAS crew was robbed at gunpoint last night so they are recommending that all people who are not on a safari to stay on the ship.
I know this all sounds bad but Tanzania is rather enjoyable and I'm looking forward to my safari. I'm doing a three day safari to Mikumi but I don't know what number it is. Mikumi is in a valley between two mountains and its only 4 hours away. This way we have more time to do the safari and less time traveling. Since it's in a valley all the animals are there instead of in the mountains.
I had a lot to do this week so you should expect a South African update soon because I do want to write one.I had a lab, paper, and an exam this week between ports which was only six days. I'm so tired because I haven't been getting any sleep. I'm at an internet cafe and only have 8 minutes left so I have to rap this email up. But I would love to hear from you guys tomorrow. I miss speaking to you guys on the phone. If you can find out which hotel I'm staying in that would be great. If not I'll bring my credit card and I'll call you from the hotel and hang up so you can call me.
Miss you guys,
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I signed up for the three-day safari to Mikumi National Park in Tanzania. Most people signed up for a four or five-day safari but I thought I would get bored watching animals that many days in a row. Before we left we had a safari briefing with a safari director who was on board. All the safaris went through the same company. At first they told us that for our safari we would be staying in a five star hotel and eat dinner there, as well as drive through the game park in SUVs with game drives every single day.
We had two days to chill in Dar es Salaam before our safari. Dar es Salaam really is like being in a completely different country. All the other places we went to were somewhat built for tourism. Not Dar es Salaam. We had to wait a couple of hours on the ship because there were problems with immigration. The diplomat from the US embassy came aboard our ship and told us to be extra careful. We were originally supposed to go to Kenya but because of November's terrorist attack on an Israeli hotel we were rerouted to Tanzania, a country that is a third Muslim. The Tanzanians have been rather anti-American lately with the impending war on Iraq. It was just in 1998 when the US embassy was bombed in Dar es Salaam. Zanzibar which is off the coast of Tanzania, right by Dar, was reported by the CIA as having terrorist activity so all the safaris and trips that were suppose to go to Zanzibar were canceled and furthermore no one was allowed to go there independently.
We got off the ship and it was a Sunday afternoon, which means that everything was closed. It was extremely hot because it's summer time here and we're near the equator. The banks and all currency exchange places were closed and my ATM card didn't work anywhere. We ended up going to the National Museum because it was free. The museum was extremely tiny, and we were followed by two men. They went away once we made it to the museum. After the museum we went back to the ship and just relaxed.
The next day we went to Muwenge market and I bought a small ebony statue. After that we went to town to mail some post cards. We went to another market where all the locals hang out. We felt extremely out of place because we were the only tourists there. The market was two stories and they sold things like food, garden supplies, electronics, sewing machines, clothes, and other basic necessities. My friend decided to whip out her digital camera and take pictures. Some guy was right behind her and saw her with the digital camera, he then went over to his friends and started pointing at us. We think he wanted the camera so we decided to go in a hurry before they approached us.
Walking away from the market I adjusted my money belt that was tucked into my pants and three other men saw me do that and followed me. All three off them surrounded me and tried to get into my bag (which was locked) and they also tried to mug me. My friends surrounded me and put their arms around me and we went into the nearest building to get away from them. We wanted to go out that night but Semester at Sea issued an 11 o'clock curfew because four of our crewmembers were held up at gunpoint the previous night in their taxi. No one was hurt but it was serious nonetheless. There were less than 80 people on the ship because most of them were on a safari so at night we played Sardines, it's kind of like hide and go seek. It ended up being a lot of fun.
The next day was our safari, I was so happy to leave for our safari because I was really starting to dislike Dar. We got to our safari by bus. Originally they told us it was a 4-hour drive but ended up being a 7-hour drive. We were suppose to stay in a 5 star hotel but they couldn't accommodate a group our size so we moved to a motel that was two hours away from our game park. We went on our game drive that day but we went in our bus instead of our SUVs, which meant we couldn't go all over the park. They also canceled the last game park drive on our last day because we were so far away from the park. At that point everyone started to complain. I kept a positive attitude because I was still happy to be on a safari in Tanzania, how many people have done that? Our first game drive we saw elephants, giraffes, hippos, and zebras. When we got back to our hotel, they didn't have a lot of food so we had very small portions. Our hotel room didn't have air conditioning, the bathroom light didn't work, we had to sleep under a mosquito net, there was a lizard in our bathtub, and we had no water pressure. Obviously this is much different from the five star hotel we were promised but it was no big deal to me. It kind of reminded me of Boy Scout Camp.
So many people were dissatisfied that a bus sent people home the next morning and a bunch of people left including my Comparative Politics professor. After our morning game drive, we went to a wilderness lodge, there we were told that we would have a new hotel only ten minutes away from the game park. The lodge we were at for lunch was on the game park and too small to accommodate everyone for the night. Our safari director worked out a deal that anyone who wanted to leave after lunch to go back to Dar would be given a $200 refund and all those who wanted to stay would have a better hotel, a morning game drive on the last day, and a $100 refund.
As you all know, I love animals and love nature so I decided to stay. Out of 75 people that were on our safari only 27 stayed that night. That meant that so many people left that we got to stay in the wilderness lodge on the game park!!!! It was so incredible; the animals were all around us and an elephant even came up to our pool to drink water. After lunch we fed vultures, which were flying right above us, our leftovers. You have to be very careful at night and walk with a buddy because of all the different animals in the area that might attack you. I would have much rather preferred staying on the game park in the wilderness lodge, than in a 5 star hotel so it was perfect for me. Our rooms were actually like huts all spread out with patios overlooking the game park. We had to sleep under mosquito nets and of course we had more lizards in our room. But I got a refund and all the people that were really unhappy and or sick left so only the happy optimistic people were left.
Throughout the entire duration of the safari we just wanted to see a lion. The first two days we didn't see any but finally on our last game drive on the last day we got to see two female lions. In addition to lions we got to see a crocodile and a couple of monkeys, all animals we hadn't seen before. We woke up at 5:30 in the morning and went on our game drive at 6 to see the sunrise and because that's when most of the animals are awake. Makes me think of the old saying "good things happen to those who wait." While others hated our safari I loved it. I had the best time, the only thing I regret is that I chose a safari that did not go to an African village, and I would have loved to see the indigenous Massai Mara tribe. When we got back I went to an Internet cafe and went out to dinner with my friend Constantine. We had to be extra careful once again because two tourists on the other docked cruise ship had their throats slashed while we were there. Besides all the hostility towards Americans (we told people we were from Canada) I had a great time on my safari and I would love to go back to Tanzania to go to an African village and perhaps
see Mt. Kilimanjaro.
I arrived in the city of Dar Es Salaam around 8 in the morning. It was a similar scene to every other port. The usual fishing boats filled with men out to catch their way of living and such, but this time something felt different. People lined the docks and streets near the port staring at us with curiosity. This was the first time in 20 years that the S.S. Universe Explorer has landed in Dar Es Salaam.
Our port was not the usual cruise entry but a side of a wall behind a junk yard. In order to get anywhere we had to walk through several abandoned buildings and train cabs to get to a gate run by one security officer holding an extremely big machine gun. Our arrival was unannounced to the citizens so people were shocked to see so many white faces filling their town. I even had my picture taken several times as people stared at me like I was an alien.
It was HOT! The girls and I took a bus into the city in search of a money exchange. We had a lot of trouble finding a place open for it was Sunday. We eventually ended up in a very ghetto area where we definitely were the main attraction. After the exchange we got back into a taxi and headed for a history museum. Outside the museum was a group of teenage boys that were standing staring at us. My friend Melanie and Khiran told me that they liked their picture to be taken but I should ask them first in Kiswahili (the language). Of course I did not know how to say it so Khiran pulled out her guide sheet and told me to say �Mpensi nina kupenda�. So I ran off in my sun dress yelling �Mpensi nina kupenda! Mpensi nina kupenda!� Over and over as the boys just stood there staring and looking back and forth at each other. Then they turned to me and smiled so I took that as a yes and eagerly snapped a picture. Then they started following me as I returned to Khiran and Melanie who were standing there laughing hilariously. I was confused so I asked Khiran, �What did you have me say to them?!?!? Why are they following me? What does Mpensi nina kupenda mean??!?!� Apparently Mpensi nina kupenda means �lover, I love you!� So here I was in my sun dress running after these teenage boys yelling �Lover! I love you!� over and over as I was snapping their pictures! HAHAHA! No wonder they followed me!
We all headed to an internet caf� where Melanie and I got into a confrontation� I think we were both just hot and crabby. I told her to leave me there because I did not want to deal with the BS. So she did! I soon ran into Julie. We ended up walking around and talking with some of the locals trying out our Kiswahili. We ate a very nice dinner at the New Africa hotel and headed back for the ship. I still wanted to hang out but I did not have anyone to go out with me. I ran into Ryan (the Pitt football player) and dragged him out! We headed for a place called the Q Bar. When we arrived, we realized the place was filled with tourists, prostitutes and a pimp! YUCK! We grabbed a beer anyways when I heard my name being yelled out. It was Melanie and Khiran and some others from the group! They ran up and grabbed me and hugged me. They apologized and said that they had been talking about how much they missed me all night and they were so glad I was there! I apologized too and we all joined in for a drink. We left �prostitute play land� and headed for a night club. It was the best! It was all locals and they played a mix of African music and American. We got our groove on until we sweat and left around 3:30 AM. Once back at the ship we stayed up telling stories about our lives until 5 when breakfast was served. I took a quick shower and grabbed my bag and was on my safari bus by 6:30 AM for the 11 hour drive to Arusha!
Granted it was a LONG drive, the scenery was amazing! I saw the best of Africa from the bustling city to the countryside to the small villages! Some land was lush green while other was dry and open plains! 8 hours into the trip we made a stop and split up into smaller groups. Myself, Erica (Mexican-American from LA), Ian (African American from Maryland), Noah (Caucasian from???), Whitney (Caucasian) Scott (Caucasian from LA), Fernando (Peruvian and Columbian from Colorado) and Rogato (local Tanzanian� he was our safari guide!) climbed into truck number 1. A large green Land Rover with a removable roof! We had a great group that was both diverse and personable. Rogato was amazing and loved
playing my rap and Sade tapes!
We drove a few more hours until we arrived at our home for the next 4 days. It was a small campsite surrounded by Masai villages and overlooked a stream and mountains. You could even see Mt. Kilimanjaro in the early dawn. We dropped off our bags and joined the crew for an authentic African meal. We ate dinner as we saw the sun set over the mountains. Then we build a fire and lit the lanterns. The sky soon came to life with the most amazing star show I had ever seen. There were shooting stars everywhere and I could even see stars straight ahead of me where the horizon meets the earth! It was incredible� so amazing that I refused to sleep in my tent and pulled my sleeping bag out and spread it close to the fire. Earlier I had gone to the edge of the campsite to get away from all the others and take a moment to take it all in. I realized that I had left my flashlight down there. I started crawling through the thick brush when I heard a rustle close by. I jumped nervously when out came a Masai holding a spear. I said Jambo to him (Kiswahili for hello) because I did not know what else to do. He just stood there and followed me as I headed back to my sleeping bag. I did not know what to do! I have been studying the Masai people, but here he was, out of nowhere, holding a spear and following me! So I decided to get into my sleeping bag. This Masai warrior stood by me all night protecting me with his spear as he kept my fire going. It was the best! I felt so safe. These people are incredible! Talk about experiencing Africa. Here I was under the stars in my bag under the protection of a Masai warrior and his spear! WOW!
The next day I woke just as the sun was peaking out and the Masai was throwing another log on my fire. I watched the sun rise and the sky fill with a million colors as I saw a small herd of Zebras walking across the plain! Breakfast was served and I was in Rogato�s safari truck by 6:30. As we started our safari, I tried to think of words to describe Africa� all I could think about was soil, sweat and struggle. The people here are amazing. It was really indescribable. The morning was slow as far as sighting animals but the group was so happy to be experiencing the true Africa; the trees, random birds, herds of Impalas, a few zebras and giraffes as well. We took off in search of an elephant. It was not long until we got what we asked for. Shortly before lunch animals came out of everywhere! I remember one point when I was watching a family of elephants eating and two giraffes not too far away along with zebras and Impalas all together! It looked like the images from my children�s bible when Noah gathered the animals for the ark. It was incredible! We also saw two lionesses!
Around 1:00 we stopped at an open area to eat our lunches. We were surrounded by baboons! They were everywhere! I was sitting on the ground nibbling my sandwich when a huge baboon came running toward me! I grabbed my lunch and ran while he snatched my sunscreen. He dropped it a few yards away with 4 huge teeth puncture marks in it! I love monkeys but I was a little nervous of these intelligent animals but it did add for a little excitement! The rest of the evening was the same. We definitely saw our fair share of Impalas, Zebras, Giraffes, birds, and animals.
That night we gathered around the fire to enjoy another African meal. I ended up having a few drinks with some other students, John and Erica. We played some music and got to know the locals that were hired to run our campsite. I had a very good talk with the owner of the operation, Muhktar, about the Masai tribe. I told him I hoped to have more interaction with them because their culture amazed me. He said he was going to try and arrange something for me. The rest of the night we spent dancing to Eminem and other American CD�s with the locals. I told them of my amazing experience sleeping outside the previous night so they decided to join me! Erika, John and I laid by the fire pointing out the constellations as we watched for shooting stars. It was strange not to be able to see the big and little dipper. That was when it really hit me that I was on the other side of the world!
The next day was the same. We watched the sunrise, freshened up, ate breakfast and headed out on our safari. We saw many of the same animals including ostriches, water buffalos, gazelles and a lioness! There was a leopard sighting but we could not find him. We watched the lioness hunt a group of Impalas! It was amazing! I was 5 feet from the lion, hanging out of the jeep taking pictures as it studied her prey. She slowly crept out of the bushes and crawled along for about � hour before making her attack. The Impalas were too fast and were already nervous with us around so the lioness was unsuccessful but it was still amazing! We spent the rest of the evening on the search for either a cheetah or a leopard� both animals that were rarely sighted. We had no success; we still had an amazing time enjoying the scenery, the animals and the sounds of the African wildlife. We enjoyed a break parked under the shade of a sausage tree surrounded by a large group of baboons eating. It was fun to see them interact both fighting and playing. On the drive back to the campsite we were stopped by a group of about 20 young Masai men that were dressed in all black with white face paint (this is the traditional dress for young men that are celebrating their recent circumcision). Some even had black ostrich feathers in their hair and they all carried their spears. We offered them gifts, like pens and other random items that they do not have. I had one that found me interesting. Ha ha ha! I could not communicate with him very well but we got our names across and he understood hello. I think he liked me because he followed me around saying hi in English and then he would just stare at me with a blank but stern face! Ha ha ha! That night we again watched the sun set over the mountains and enjoyed another amazing dinner.
Muhktar kept his promise! His surprise was a Masai tribal dance! It was amazing! Because I had been studying these people I found the spiritual and sexual dance especially interesting. I knew what the different moves meant etc. I LOVED it! It could not have been a better ending to a wonderful experience! I would love to be able to get to know these people and there culture better some day. AMAZING.
Once again I slept under the stars and had breakfast and got into Rogato�s truck. We started for our drive back to Dar Es Salaam. Just outside the campsite Rogato slammed on his breaks and swerved to the side of the road. What do you know! A Cheetah! Crossing the dang road right by our campsite! That was it! The safari could not have been anymore complete! It was hard to say goodbye to our new friend Rogato but we exchanged email addresses and I told him that I would love to come back!
I do not know what to say about Africa. It was an amazing experience that I can not explain. It is so preserved and untouched. Even that stars have remained how you would picture them thousands of years ago. This is definitely a place that I recommend people see at least once in their lives!
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Dear everyone,
I still keep saying this, but I cannot believe I am pretty much halfway through my voyage. I just left Dar es Salaam and am headed to Madras, India. So, WOW. A safari, me looking and seeing wild animals in their natural home. It was like being on National Geographic or something. So it starts off on Sunday, March 2. (Happy Birthday, Mom!) We pull into Dar and it is quite a sight to see. On the starboard side is a lush, tropical jungle. On the port side is a whole other world. It is highly populated, with low, run down buildings. There were people washing their clothes in the water and a HUGE group of people crammed into a market. It was very strange to look out and not see one white person, not one. We definitely stuck out on this trip. The water was very dirty and it SMELLED. I mean, woof. Not to generalize Tanzania, but it smelled bad. A lot of the people had a certain aroma to them. The smell was BO- and sometimes it was super strong. We grouped together and boarded the buses to Arusha. The buses were like Greyhounds, but an off brand. They smelled kinda funky too. We were lucky enough to have air conditioning on our bus. So, we start out for the TEN HOUR bus ride to Arusha. It was so long, I mean looooooooooooooong. I feel really bad for the bus that did not have air conditioning. Our buses were �Royal Coach�, but I would maybe say Roach Coach? At least we got to watch movies. Well, we saw �Baby�s Day Out� and �Sheena�. Sheena is an old b movie- with a blonde girl lost in the jungle adopted by natives, etc. It was um, great. Then we got to watch music videos of Britney Spears, Paula Abdul from the 80s and Celine Dion. There was also this one video that had the most annoying song, �We�re going to Ibiza.�
We passed Mt Kilimanjaro on the way- Not to poopoo the mountain, but I thought it would be A LOT bigger. It was still really pretty though, with a flat plateau top with ice. We finally arrived at our hotel in Arusha, Mount Meru. It was dark when we got there, so I could not really see the area. It seemed like it was in the middle of a very underdeveloped area. My roommate for the whole trip was Kelly Wade- we had a great time together. We saw an acrobatic show- kind of like Cirque de Soile. We all went to bed early, since our vans were leaving early in the morning. The food was ok, but it was just the same thing over and over and over. I lived off rice and watermelon. I was not a big fan of the meat, although the gazelle was pretty good.
My breakfast was ok, although my cereal had little weevils in it. I got up early and went to the hotel store to go buy some Tanzanite. Tanzanite is a really pretty blueish/purple stone. It is only found near Arusha, Tanzania. Arusha is in the north eastern part of the country. It�s really expensive in the states, so I went ahead and stocked up. We all met out front of the hotel and piled into our safari vans. My van was me, Kelly, Barbara, Kourtney, Troy from CO, Kathleen from Dallas, Phil from Pitt and his mom, Nancy. Our fearless leader was Gregory- super nice, and very informative. I wish I could say that we were in those super cool landrovers, but we were in little vans with stadium seating. The tops popped up kinda like jeeps and all the windows opened so we could get some air. We started off driving towards the Ngorongoro crater. Ngorongoro is the most amazing place. It a natural crater, four miles in diameter. It is home to so many animals and has changed into a natural game preserve. The roads to the game preserve are EXTREMELY bumpy. The roads, if you can call them that, are super dusty. I was covered in dust- dark, red dirt. Before we got to the crater, we stopped in at Gibbs coffee farm. It was a gorgeous place, with little cabanas for couples to stay in. We ate lunch outside, underneath the trees in the deep shade. Around us were rolling hills, lined with coffee bean plants. The food was SO GOOD. They had this great chocolate souffle thing. I don�t know exactly, but I had about 3 or 4 helpings. There were lots of flowering trees. I think the flowers were lotuses- they smelled like gardenias and magnolias. There was a hike through the farm, but we decided not to go and had some Kilimanjaro beer underneath the trees.
Our van decided to stop for pictures at a lookout point on the edge of the crater. Well, since I skipped the nature hike, I was not aware of all the plants. Anyway, I leaned forward to get a better picture. Poor me, the plants were stinging nettles. Boy was that fun. I hopped back and started squawking like a little banshee. Kathleen got it worse though- her whole calf swelled up and was red for two days. Then we got to our hotel right as the sun was setting. The hotel was beautiful and built into the side of the crater. It was kind of like a ski lodge setting. WE went outside and watched the sunset. We had the same dinner as every other night- grilled gazelle, warthog, chicken, and beef with some sauce stuff and of course, fruit. I pretty much lived off the watermelon and rice. The meat sometimes tasted funny.
We all went to bed kinda early that night. I forgot to mention that the lodges turn off the electricity at night, around 10PM. We had to finish up the night partly by candle light. We got to see the stars, and I finally got to see the Southern Cross constellation. Kelly brought a travel alarm clock, so we set it for 5:45 and went to bed. At 5:30 there was a really loud knock on the door, yelling �jambo�. Jambo is hello in Swahili. I do know some Swahili now- Hakuna Matata is a real phrase- it means �No problem.� We hurriedly got dressed, grabbed some coffee and headed out to the vans for our first game drive. It is cold up in the crater and kinda of windy. We winded our way down and passed some Maasai villages along the way. The Maasai are the most famous warriors from Africa. They are the tribe with the elaborate beaded necklaces and stretched earlobes and large earrings.
We saw so many animals down in the crater. We started freaking out at all the zebras that were everywhere- like cattle. Needless to say, I took a ton of solo shots with animals in the background. We saw guinea hens, black rhinos, lions, wildebeests, hyenas, ostriches, gazelles, and flamingos. The lake inside the crater was covered in pink flamingos that were making this hooting sound. It was kinda loud because there were so many of the flamingos perched in the water. There was one little zebra that had a giant section of its hindquarter missing- I guess he was slow with one of the cheetahs or lionesses. The drive took all morning until about lunch time. I had to go to the bathroom SO BAD. It started at about 8AM and by 11AM, I was feeling pretty bad. You are not allowed to get out of the van in the crater, for obvious reasons. I was getting cranky and mad about the whole situation. Gregory radioed back in Swahili to headquarters and made sure it was ok. I hopped out of the van and did my business in the middle of the crater. Another van dove by, which was nice. Anyway, later Gregory told me that he had to radio because there are hidden cameras all over the park to help monitor the visitors and the animals. So basically, I was on TV peeing for all the Ngorongoro guards.
The game drive was great and we eventually left and drove towards the Serengeti. I still cannot believe that I talking about these places and that I have been there. The drive to Serengeti was not that long, and was really hot. I got sun burned on one half of my body, which was nice. There was one incident though. We saw a few Maasai boys playing on the side of the road. We stopped to say hello and offer them gifts. We were all told to bring lots of pens and sheets of paper to donate to the children, so they could go to school. Anyways, I was riding shotgun and we stopped on the left side of the road. Everyone drives backwards from the States. I have actually become used to this driving style and feel weird driving on the right side. Back to the story, I reached in my bag to give the boys a pen. As I am extending my arm out the car, one of the boys picks up a giant rock, the two times the size of a softball. He looks so mad and starts screaming in Swahili at me. I started to get a little worried and asked Gregory what was going on. He looked a little nervous. The kid kept screaming at me and acted like he was going to throw the rock at my face. I got even more nervous and looked to Gregory. He made a move to underneath his seat and started to squawk back at the boy. The boy looked even more agitated and then suddenly dropped the rock and ran off. We took off in our car and I asked Gregory what he had said to the boy. He replies nonchalantly, �Oh, I told him I was going to shoot him and kill him�. Like it was no big deal. That�s my brush with death story.
We carried on to the Serengeti. It looks very much like South Texas- flat, dry and some random dispersed trees. We saw a family of giraffes, hippos, lions and elephants. We did see some sad stuff though. We first saw a male elephant hanging out by a tree. Suddenly, the cob radio started buzzing with a bunch of stuff in Swahili. Gregory takes off and drives about 30 yards ahead, and stomps on the brakes. Knowing our need to see some violence, he points out 6 or 7 lionesses and their cubs snacking on a baby elephant. He wasn�t sure if the lionesses took the baby down or if it died because it was sick. We took some pictures and watched the lionesses lazy around. The male elephant we just saw starts to saunter slowly towards the dead baby and swishes its trunk around. The lions don�t seem too interested and keep on eating, but still keeping an eye on the elephant. He gets closer and closer, finally chasing the lionesses off about 10 feet away. This is when it gets really sad- the elephant starts to pet its dead baby with its trunk, gently poking it and smelling it. It was such a sad thing to see. I was videotaping during all of this and you can definitely hear me start to get upset. I have seen this kind of behavior on those discovery channel stuff, but it so much more powerful to see it in persona and see these animals care for their young. We leave the elephant in peace and drive onto our lodge for the evening.
Our place for the night is a little lodge is the middle of the Serengeti- you can see animals out your window walking around. There was a bunch of these little rat like animals running around. They were actually pretty cute- they made these little squeaky grunts and scurried around. We watched the sunset and the fires. The fires were off in the distance and slowly made their way over the crest of the hill and the mountains. We were told that these fires were set intentionally to help new grass grow and all that kinda stuff. The sunset was amazing, by far the best one in Tanzania. It was a deep red and orange- so pretty! We had a few drinks and dinner and sat in the bar for awhile. Troy asked one of the bartenders how they keep the animals, specifically lions and leopards out of the lodge since it is so open. He told us there aren�t any animal guards and the animals are free to go wherever. Well, he then told us about when a lion wandered into the bar one evening and scared a whole bunch of people out of there. He told us that a giant male lion wandered into the bar in December. A giant male lion just hanging out in the bar. I got a little nervous� Then the bartender also told us another story about why the lodge is sometimes called the Leopard. It turns out that a leopard came in and attacked a hotel guest while she was checking in at the front desk. She was eventually ok, but still� animals just coming into the middle of the lodge courtyard, like it is no big deal. Needless to say, Kelly and I definitely locked our windows and our doors that night.
We got up the next morning at 5:30 and were in our vans by 7 on the game drive. It was great- we saw lots of lions and elephants- and oh yea, cheetahs too. There were two herds of impalas grazing next to each other and one of the males started grunting really really loud and tried to herd his women away from the other male impala. It was pretty neat to watch. Then, we saw the baboons. Since this is an all audience email, I won�t go into detail about what those little dirty primates do. But, all those rumors you hear about baboons, yep, they do all that stuff. It was actually kinda funny. And yes, Barbara video taped the whole scene while laughing hysterically.
We went back by the lions eating the baby elephant and they were still going at it. The daddy elephant was gone though. We decided to climb on the roof of the vans to get a better look. Of course I dropped my binoculars covers into the brush. Poor Gregory didn�t want to get out and get it. I was certainly not getting out of the car. Those lunching lions were only 10 to 15 feet away. Gregory hopped out of the van and grabbed my stuff for me. What a nice guy. We kept on driving and finally got to see some more Hippos- they are one of my favorites. We saw one walking/waddling around in the brush. Gregory said it is hard to see them out walking, so I guess we were pretty lucky. The hippo just waddled back and forth, but he walked faster as another van came up. Those fat things can waddle FAST. I think our hippo was shy because he went and hid in some marshy brush so we could not see him anymore. We then went and saw some mongooses (mongeese?) You know, like Rikki Tikki Tavi? I know everyone has seen that cartoon. I think Timone from the lion king is a mongoose too. Anyways, there were about 30 or so piled up together on one of those giant termite mounds and were eating some termites for breakfast. They made all these little chittering noise.
We left the Serengeti and began to make our way towards Olduvai Gorge. Olduvai is nicknamed �the cradle of civilization� because this is where the oldest fossils of human form have been found. It�s a neat gorge, with 4 layers of different rocks. It was weird to think that the dirt at the bottom of the gorge is about 3.5 million years old. We had a box lunch at the gorge and moved onto the Maasai village.
The Maasai are an old old race/tribe of people. They have lived in this area for thousands of years. They are cattle raisers and live off the land. They wear a red cloth/cloak thing draped over their bodies and have recently started to wear homemade flip-flops. They are most distinguished by their beaded jewelry. They all wear these elaborate beaded collars that can be two feet in diameter and intricately beaded. We were told to bring things to trade with the Maasai to try and get one of their ceremonial necklaces or bracelets. So, I brought t-shirts, pens and stickers for the kids. When we got there, the Maasai did not really want any of our stuff. I finally got some trading in motion. I gave them my watch, t-shirt and a few pens for some necklaces. I could not get them to give me one of those giant ones. I kept on persisting and finally offered to throw some American dollars into the mix. The Maasai really liked getting the dollars. They only trade their cattle with others, and needed the money to buy things they cannot trade for. I finally got one of those giant necklaces. It's white, with some bands of color striped in. I ended up getting 1 giant necklace, 3 smaller ones and this lion club. The lion club is from carved wood and has all these beads and metal disks on it. Anyways, there are a few Maasai warriors running around in PiPhi rush t-shirts. ( I wish I could have gotten pics of them wearing them). I took a bunch of pictures with all the Maasai. Me in my little safari khaki outfit, they in native garb. Oh, I forgot to mention that they all stretch their earlobes into giant loops with huge holes. Their teeth were funny colored too. We left the Maasai and drove on towards Lake Manyara.
We stopped in by a local market in town and trade to get more stuff. Troy got so much stuff. The locals wanted anything- shoes, pens, bandanas, candy, you name it. I did not have much left to trade, so I just got some carved wooden spoons with giraffes on them. The hotel was just down the road and Kelly and I immediately headed to the pool. This hotel was by far the most modern, with a pool and hot water. The pool felt great � I was covered in dust. You get so dirty on all the safaris. We all had dinner together and tried to stay up a little later because it was our last night in Tanzania. We all told scary stories and went to bed. We got up again at 6 and were loaded into the vans to head onto Arusha. We meet back in Arusha at our first hotel, Mount Meru. We changed into bigger greyhound like busses and started to 10 hour drive. It was so hot on the bus. They said the ac was on, but I doubt it. I took a sleeping pill to try and just sleep through the whole thing. We left at about 9AM and got home about 7PM. The line to board the ship was so long. I finally made it to my cabin. I showered and went to bed asap.
Love ya�ll!
Whitney
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Erin F [item 4]
Hey everyone!!
Hope everything is well in the States.
My experience in Tanzania was different from that in the other countries because I didn�t get to interact with the native people as much. After hearing about the negative reactions of people in Dar es Salaam and how many of my friends felt unsafe as Americans walking around, I am glad that I was on a five-day safari. My steward even told me that some members of the crew were robbed at gunpoint. Some of my friends who stayed in Dar es Salaam said they saw people wearing Tshirts of the World Trade Center being hit and also saw video games with the object being to blow up the Trade Center. So I am glad that I went on safari, and I had an absolutely amazing time in Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater.
This wasn�t a fake luxury safari � this was the real thing! Before we left for the safari, the director told us we would encounter three different kinds of roads- paved roads, dirt roads, and plain old bumpy roads. Well, the majority of the safari was on the bumpy roads made out of what looked like hardened mud or clay with pot holes everywhere. Felt nice on the bottom after hours of hitting ruts! We baked in the afternoon sun and it got so dusty that every time we passed an oncoming vehicle we would close the window so the dust wouldn�t fly in. After half a day without wearing my sunglasses, I realized they were the saving grace for my contacts, and wore them for the rest of the trip to keep the dust out of my eyes. When I got back to the lodge each night thinking I was tan, I hopped into the shower only to see the tan layer of skin wash off me and down the drain.
We basically did the same thing each day- go on game drives through the plains of Serengeti looking for animals. It was so gorgeous and I had to keep telling myself that they were real wild animals and we weren�t at Animal Kingdom in Disney World or a zoo! Think �The Lion King,� and that is exactly what it looked like, minus the talking animals. We saw almost every African animal that comes to mind � elephants, zebras, giraffes, hippos, lions, rhinos, buffalo, leopards, cheetahs, gazelle, and more! We crept up on a pair of lions mating and saw a lion tearing apart a baby elephant. We also watched a lioness protecting her cubs and saw a zebra mount another zebra. We saw a baby baboon riding on the back of its mother and zebras playfully bucking at each other. It was just incredible!
While we traveled, we passed many Maasai who were herding their animals along the road. Once, Leah leaned out the window to take a picture of some cows, and the Maasai boy came running after our van, pointing his stick at us in anger. Our van driver warned us not to take pictures of them unless we were going to give them something in return. He told us that once a Maasai got so angry about a picture that he stoned the van and actually broke a window! We were very careful after hearing that story. It really annoyed me that these people expected money or goods for just a measly picture, and that they would get violent if they didn�t receive something for it.
I went on a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti Plains on March 4th, and was so glad that I sprung for it! The views were incredible and it was such a different vantage point than the safari van, watching the sun rise over the plains. We could see for miles and miles. It was easy to see the herds of animals in migration pattern, as hundreds flocked towards Maasai Mara in Kenya. When we landed we were greeted with a champagne toast. Then, we drove for 15 minutes to where they had set up tables and prepared an English breakfast for us underneath some acacia trees. We sat sipping Mimosas and staring across the plains as the balloon launchers turned waiters served us.
That night, I thought I heard a crunching noise outside our window at the lodge, but my roommate just told me I was crazy, she didn�t hear anything. A few minutes later I asked her again and she still didn�t hear anything. I decided to peek out my window just in case, and then screamed because I saw a horn six inches away from me! Of course, it was silly of me to scream, so then we turned the lights off in the room, and I dug out my flashlight so we could see better. It was a Cape Buffalo! The buffalo was eating right outside our window, practically in the flower bed! We opened the window and I was able to lean out and get a picture before the flash scared him away!
On my 21st birthday, March 5, I woke up at 5:30 am to see the sun rise over the Ngorongoro Crater. We descended into the crater and spent an hour and a half in search of a rhinoceros, the only animal left on our yellow sheet and of the Big Five, that we had yet to find. And we finally did spot one! I was surprised because there are only 20 rhinos in the entire Crater, which is 102 square miles! Before we left the Crater we ended up seeing 4 of them! Our driver, Rogers, told me �I give to you rhino for your birthday.� Going into it, I was kind of disappointed that none of my good friends were going on my safari because I thought my birthday wouldn�t be that fun but the girls on my safari van totally made my day. While I was on the phone with my mom after dinner one of them came up to me with a shot of whiskey to take. I just laughed because I didn�t want to drink too much and be hung over on our 9 hour, possibly not air conditioned bus ride the next day. But my new friends took care of me that night and I had such an awesome time, even ended up being thrown into the outside swimming pool by a typical guy, against my will of course.
On the last day in Serengeti, before going to the Crater, we stopped at a Maasai village. I had been really excited for the Maasai, because it is a people I�ve learned about in Anthropology classes back at UConn, and it is just awesome that I had the opportunity to actually see how they lived. The Maasai are the people I�ve seen on the Discovery Channel at home. They live in cow dung hut villages, have circumcision ceremonies for males and participate in female genital mutilation. We had to learn all about that in Core and it�s so disturbing. They have the really long stretched out holes in their ear lobes. They are also polygamous and the man I talked to in the village told me he had 7 wives! All of them, even the men, wear this red cloth called a shuka, kind of draped over them so it looks like a dress. Their sandals are made of anything and everything, such as tire treads, that they can link straps across.
After our short visit to the village, I was a little disappointed. It seemed that although they are so focused on maintaining their culture, they have become so dependent on tourists for income. I didn�t like the way they acted towards us and treated us, and they were extremely overbearing in trying to sell their beaded crafts to us. Basically, I was attacked by different women as I walked past their section of jewelry. One woman put three different bracelets on each of my arms, a necklace around my neck, and a club in my hand. When I would say �No� to one of them, she wouldn�t take that bracelet off, rather she would just choose a different colored one that was hanging on her stick to adorn me with. Then, she would grab my arm and drag me over to where the man was collecting money. They didn�t listen when I said no, and only watched as I fumbled with the clasp. She finally unclasped the bracelet for me after I had tried for about a minute and a piece of the straw had fallen off the bracelet which she got annoyed about.
The kids were so innocent looking but were covered in flies. It reminded me of a commercial we might see back home where they tried to encourage people to send donations to a foundation for poverty. I was lucky enough to be able to go inside two different cow dung huts to see what it looked like. It was so small and the air so heavy and dank that it was a little difficult to breathe. There was a 2� x 2� window that was the only light allowed in, besides the small doorway. They slept on what looked like a bed made out of hide, held up by several sticks. We sat on old plastic jugs, and talked to Johanne about his older brother. He was ten years old and introduced us to his wife when she walked through the door. It was hard to communicate with him because he didn�t speak English well at all.
After I left the village it made me wonder if it was just a tourist set up or if it was really an authentic village. There was a parking lot in front of the village and the Maasai were obviously accustomed to receiving many tour groups a day, at a charge for each van.
At the end of our safari, everyone in our van pitched in $5 to give Rogers, our driver, a tip. In total we collected $40 which wasn�t a big deal for us. But you should have seen his face light up in surprise and gratitude when we handed him the money! Even though it didn�t seem like a lot of money to us, hopefully we were able to help him out a lot. I�m not sure how much he makes as a van driver � I would think that a job in tourism would pay more. But, when a friend was asking Rogers questions for class, he told her something like the average wage for a Tanzanian is $6 per day. I�m not sure if that is accurate, but if it is, then I guess we helped him out quite a bit.
I had an amazing time in Tanzania on safari but this is the first port that I have experienced blatant anti-American sentiment. It was very disturbing and even though I had 3 hours until on ship time when we returned from the safari, I decided to stay on the boat because even driving through the city I felt unsafe. It was quite a change from South Africa, where I felt almost more comfortable walking through the upscale port of Cape Town than I do in many U.S. cities.
I forgot to mention, on the bus ride home we stopped and saw Mt. Kilimanjaro. Very awesome and I got some good pics because it was out of the clouds!
Love, Erin
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Erin F [item 5]
I just received a call from my daughter. She was excited because they had just arrived in Tanzania. She was a little disappointed that everything was closed there. She's not scheduled to go on a safari today. However,some of the other kids had already left for their safaris. We only talked for a couple of minutes because she said it was $4/min.
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Kirsten [item 6]
Early this morning I received an email from Kirsten from an internet cafe in Dar es Salaam. She stated that Dar es Salaam reminds her of a "little" Cairo, but without the crazy taxi drivers. She does not leave for her Safari until tomorrow morning so is just exploring the city today.
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Emily [item 7]
I just received a short phone call from my daughter from Tanzania. She is great and leaving on an independent Safari tomorrow. She is very excited.
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Liesa [item 8]
hey everyone
I am at an internet cafe in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (for those who do not know that is in south east Africa). We went on a 3 day safari to Mikumi National Park while we were here and it was absolutely amazing. Never have I been so close to animals, living exactly how they should, with no human confinement or chains enslaving them. It was indescribable..
We had some car troubles both going there and coming back -- as our suv got a flat tire on the way there.. and on the way back, the lug nuts were loose, and the ENTIRE wheel came off the car as we were driving down the "freeway" -- we are so lucky that our driver was skilled and managed to handle the situation - no one was hurt and we got a taxi to get back to the ship. We try to be careful, but these kind of situations are really inevitable when you are traveling abroad like this.
It was all worth it, the safari was beautiful --
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Cari [item 9]
Hey hey hey! I'm in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. SAS hasn't been here in 20 years. But I left the first day, as soon as we docked, and went on a safari. We drove 9 hours in a bus with no AC in 100 degree weather. It was quite gross, but we all got through it. We stayed in Arush, Tanzania, for the night and had dinner. SAS puts us up in the nicest places, well comparitively. Africa has definitely opened my eyes. We left the next morning and went to Tanangire National Park. We went on a game drive that night, and all the next day. We saw so many animals. At one point there were giraffe, elephants, lioness, hyena, ostrich, and impala all around us. It was so great. Lion King style! I saw some rafiki's(which means friend in swahili) its was amazing seeing the sunrise and set in the middle of a safari. The food was great and we would all just drink at the hotel bar at night.
I just got back yesterday and didn't go out. It's not the safest area to be out at night. So we are emailing and going to the markets today and then we leave tonight, on our way to India. Time here is flying by so fast. During the day everything is safe here. Oh yeah, the first anti-american thing I've heard of so far.....some arabic people were wearing shirts with the twin towers on them with arabic writing and saying some thing like "war with america" so something like that. I didn't see, but some friends had. That has really been the first instance that anyone has seen anything anti-american. Most people are so friendly and just want to talk...especially in South Africa, about politics. As far as their impression of us going to war, they don't want us to. It affects them more than we realize, even if they aren't in the countries involved. It's all very interesting to hear their points of view. Other than that, still having a great time. I'll send more when things happen. How is everyone?? Anything new??
Stay safe.
I miss you all!
cari
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Laura K [item 10]
I heard from my daughter, Laura (yet another Laura) via IM yesterday. She said it was not very exciting in Dar Es Salaam because it was Sunday and there wasn�t much open. She was leaving for a Safaari this morning at 5:45and would be gone for 4 days. She must be getting back in time to get on the ship so won�t have opportunity to see Tanzania. I don�t know if she is a part of the safari you are talking about. Told me she would e-mail me after she was back on the ship. Said she was having the time of her life, sees the world from a new perspective and can�t thank her dad and me enough for giving her this opportunity.
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Meghan [item 11]
Sounds like her safari was great! There were 8 (only mentioned two others, Meghan & Gretchen) in 2 land rovers, and drove to Mikumi park (5 hrs). Guides were awesome! Saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, and hyennas. When they got back to the ship their guide waited for them to change & then took them to the hotel and even came back the next day to take them back to the ship, which made them feel very safe. Went to a waterpark & had the lifeguards 'playing' with them on the slides. Safari only cost $200 & she mentioned how disappointed the SAS trips were so glad she went independent. She said "Can you believe I'm on the other side of the world and swimming in the Indian Ocean!"
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Alyson [item 12]
Hi All,
I am having a wonderful time. instead of doing a safari I stayed in a village last night It was great. No electricity. Can you imagine me functioning? I slept under a mosquito net. Like that commercial! There was no running water. They gave us a bucket and an old oil filter to shower. I am so dirty and happy. I spoke to a class of school children today. They were learning English. They call us Mzoogo. It means "white skin" in Swahili. It's funny. They laugh at us. We met so many people in the village. We stayed at Akita's Garden. Akita was a really nice man. We want to keep in touch. His wife made us meals yesterday and today. 2 of the people even slept outside. I had no idea there were so many stars in the sky. People are really nice. We talked a lot about the war and Sept. 11. The embassy in Dar es Salaam was bombed in 1998, so we talked about Al Queda. It's interesting. All of the women with children are called "mama" and their child's name. Like mommy, you would be "mama Alyson" It's really nice. I spoke some swahili. Anyway, I need to go. I love you an miss you very much. Thank you all for everything. I love you.
Alyson
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Kimberly [item13]
I received a quick email from Kim to let me know that she was back from her safari. She seemed happy about it . It was a brief message and a little short on the details . She took a 12 hour bus ride to Arousha(?), stopped at many towns along the way, saw lots of zebras, hippos, and elephants, visited with the Massai and was invited into one of their houses (made of cow dung and bamboo--lots of flies), stayed at an amazing hotel where she slept under mosquito netting, and now more than anything else she just wanted to take a shower . The weather is hot and humid in Dar, while Arousha was nice but very dry. She is looking forward to India. I think she was happy to be back to the comforts of the "great white mother ship."
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Karli [item14]
Right now I�m in Tanzania. It�s good, definitely more like the �Africa� I expected, but we�re also in Dar es Salaam, which is a fairly big city. It�s REALLY humid here too, in addition to the heat, and since it�s a mostly muslim country we can�t wear shorts or tank tops, so we�re sweating a lot. Our directors are kind of worried about us being here, since there was a anti-war demonstration here 2 days before we arrived, but everyone so far has been really nice to us.
Some funny facts: one of our interport lecturers (from Tanzania) was saying �Hakuna Matata� to everyone. He interpreted it as �no problem�, but we all thought it was great. Also, the word Simba (these are all Swahili) means lion, and Rafiki means friend.
We�ve mostly gone to markets and wandered around the city (only during the day) while we�ve been here, but tomorrow I�m going on my 3-day Safari to Mikumbi, which is a Nature Reserve in the Serengeti. I�m really looking forward to it, and I�ll let all of you know how it is when I get back.
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Karli [item 15]
Well, we all left with the impression that we were in for a 4 hour drive, then would be in some open -air jeeps spending a lot of time looking for animals, then back to a nice hotel (repeat for 2 days). Instead, we were in crappy vans, a REALLY crappy hotel, and had a 2.5 hour drive AFTER the hotel to the game park. Then, we almost got into a few accidents on the way back, didn't get dinner until 9:30, and the breakfast made me literally sick (only for about an hour this time). Oh yeah, for those of you who wanted to hear toilet stories -- they were holes in the ground... high class holes though - porcelain. Some even had toilet paper, others maybe flushed, and if we were REALLY lucky, there was running water -- if the Gods were smiling on us, there was soap too.
So, that's the short version, if I write any more I may get mad...
I came home early with some other VERY upset faculty and students (because I was sick and didn't know how long it would last, or if I'd be able to hold it in for the entire day of bumpy roads in a stuffy van). The up-side is that I did get to see a lot of animals elephant, zebra, giraffe, wildabeest, wart hog, baboon, hippo, buffalo, lots of birds) yesterday
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Karli [item 16]
I met Ryan last night (to his mom -- he said you told him to look for me too, he misses you too).
We were on the same safari, unfortunately it turned out to be NOT what we expected or paid for. I came home early with a bunch of very upset faculty members and students (I got sick). Ryan stayed there though. I'm sure you'll hear more about that, otherwise mom, you can post my e-mail about it when I send it.
I'm better now too, so no need to worry -- just a short reaction to the breakfast this morning. We did see some great animals though!
If I can I'll post more on here later. Good to know all of the parents are talking!
Karli
