Tanzania and Zanzibar 2024

From October 12 – 28, I was in Tanzania and Zanzibar. For the first week, I did volunteer work with IVHQ. After that, I went on a safari and then off to Zanzibar. 

On my first day in Arusha, Tanzania, I got an orientation. We took a dala dala to the bus terminal. This is where the Kilombero or Dodoma, market is located. It is the largest market in Tanzania and has everything. It is colorful and busy. We then took, a tuk tuk to the Massi market, which is on Fine St. This market has all kinds of African art. Then off to the Natural History Museum, which shows the evolution of man and animals. On the same grounds is the Art Center, with artwork being sold, the famous Via Via  Cafe can be found at the back of this natural history museum and is known to have live bands on the weekend.

I was volunteering at the Ngarenaro Medical Center for the week.  My hours worked were from 0900-1230 daily which left time to explore the city further.

 After work today, I went for a walk and got a lovely view of Mount Meru It is the fifth-highest peak in Africa and is a dormant volcano.

One of my highlights was going to KHAN Barbecue, which was originally a tire store by day and transformed into a barbecue market by night. Unfortunately, in the past year, the building was sold, and Mr. Khan had to move down the street, but it still had delicious food, BBQ chicken, beef, lamb, naan, carrots, you name it.  It was all delicious.

 Another afternoon was spent at SHANGA. Shanga, is a combined workshop where disabled people make crafts that, are sold to the public in their shop.  It also has a beautiful garden oasis with a café where you can have a coffee and snack. You feel like you are out of the city but you are not.

 The African Cultural Center also known as the African Heritage Center,

highlights arts, sculptures, and crafts, and it’s one of the largest in Africa. And there’s a ray of work with vivid life work, and there are chairs there that look like the material, but they’ve been beaded by hand. And they also have a coffee shop. 

Today, I did a hike of Kilimanjaro to the first base with Kilinge Adventures.  We left from the Marangu Gate and hiked to Mandara hut which is about eight kilometers. If you were going further, this is where you would stop for the first day to climatize if you were going on to the next walk. Mandara Hut is 9000 meters above sea level, and it took two and a half hours to get there is lots of, greenery, vegetation, and rocks.  We have lunch at the Mandara before heading back down. I was fortunate to spot a Blue Monkey on the way down.

 For my last day in Arusha, I went to the Blue Heron for lunch. It’s an amazing open space garden where you can relax. You have the Meru Mountain as a backdrop and it’s about 5 minutes from the city. 

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The highlight of my trip was a Four-day, three-night safari with Blessing Safaris. My driver guide Abney was older and very knowledgeable of all the Parks, tundra, and animals, and could spot things a mile away.  From Arusha, we drove 2.5 hours to, Tarangire National Park, and spent all day driving around the different paths. I saw Tarangire Lake, cheetah, War hogs, wildebeest, zebra, elephants, just a name of a few things, and, the blackface monkey. The scenery was spectacular with Babul trees (African Baobab) that were over 100 years old.

We had lunch in the park, which was a fully cooked meal that was brought along. And a blackface money stole an apple.

Tonight, I am staying at the Marera Valley Lodge, Dinner was very filling. Appetizer, guacamole, bread, potato soup, braised beef, potatoes, salad, mixed vegetables and dessert.

The next day, we had an early start 0630. It was another great day.

We drove to Ngorongoro, a crater.  It has over 800 square miles, and is 260 square kilos, and it’s 19 by 17 miles. The top is about 2000 meters.  Much larger than I thought.

The road to get down to the bottom of the crater is very narrow, it was cloudy at the bottom, but it cleared up. When this happened, I had an amazing view of all the greenery, saw hippos, wildebeest, Thompsons, lions, flamingos, lions, deer, elephants, antelope, zebra, and Dickie, Dickies, just to name a few. 

Then we’re off to the Serengeti. The Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti were once one big park and are attached. You take the main road from one park to the other.  They were split up years ago. The Serengeti is 5000 square miles. We drove around for hours. There are lions, zebras, wildebeest, elephants, and tobia All I can say is, that there are so many wildebeests. I’ve never thought there could be so much wildebeest. 

Tukone Camp (glamping) for 2 nights

Again, we saw elephants and wildebeest cross the road, stopping the road for us. 

The next morning, we had a 0730 start (after breakfast), with a buffet, and lunch to go. 

Today we did the northern part of the Serengeti, which again had beautiful, scenery, some parts were dry and some were green. It was like a forest range wetland, with millions and millions of wildebeest. And this is no joke. They were everywhere.  You see them crossing. In front of you and in the horizon. We saw zebra Wilde briefs, Algoma lizard, which is a bright-colored lizard, baboons, cheetahs, lions in a pack, sleeping with the family, and much more. 

 On my last morning, we left at around 730 for the drive back to Arusha, the Kilimanjaro airport for Zanzibar. It was about an eight-hour ride back, as you have to go through the Serengeti and then Ngorongoro, to get on the highway that takes you back to Arusha. The roads are not smooth. They’re very bumpy. We had a few stops in the Ngorongoro crater again to see it in a different light. I still can’t believe the beauty and how big it is. And it changes with the weather. And again, millions of wildebeest.  We again had a picnic with some Tanzanian wine called DOMA.

I got to the Kilimanjaro, airport, around 1700 but you can only check in two hours before your flight, so you have to hang out till it’s time to get on your flight. I was on Precision flight 437, at 2040 left at 2030, and got to Zanzibar at 2200 

 For Zanzibar, you have to get medical insurance. Even though I had medical insurance, I had to purchase their medical insurance for $44 US. They don’t care what kind of insurance you have; you have to take it. 

  Zanzibar is an Archipelago of Tanzania, which once had African slaves and is now a blend of many ethnic groups, such as the Swahili, Arabs, Indians, and Muslims. And Stone Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

I’m staying at the Zanzibar coffee house in Stone Town. It’s a lovely room. I’m in the Expresso room. 

October 25, 2024.  I am taking a tour by Tropical Tours and Safaris to Prison Island, also known as Chengu, Island. It was built to keep slaves but was used to isolate those with TB and other illnesses, and there were many people in the room. 

Prison Island also houses many large turtles. The turtles weigh 200 pounds. Chengu Island also has a beach for swimming, when its low tide As. The tide goes down. You can see the beach,

 This afternoon I am off to the Hakuna Matata Spice Farm. It’s very interesting to learn about the spices we use every day, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and lemongrass, and they made a headdress for me. 

Dinner, was at the Baharia restaurant in a Serena hotel as it rained a little earlier, the rooftop was closed, so I ate on the main floor the windows were open, and watched the beautiful sunset. I had kingfish with couscous and Grand Marnier   770 1000 Tsh was about $30 you can’t get that here. Food was delicious

 On my second day in Zanzibar, I did the Lonely Planet walking tour, which means I got the tour from the Lonely Planet book. It was not bad. It’s just a few sites and they’re very close together. I walked to Forthani, Gardens, which is at the lakefront and has flowers and plants and benches for people to sit. It turns into a food court at night with almost every kind of food vendor.   Then to the old fort, which is made of stone and has a Coliseum, seating for live outdoor concerts it’s being renovated now. It also has some stalls that sell arts clothing and touristy things. Then off to the Freddie Mercury Museum. Freddie was the band leader of the group Queen until he died a few years ago. He was Tanzanian. 

 The next stop was to the Anglican Church, which was once a slave market. They also held slaves in the dungeon until they were sold. Then to the fairy docks to arrange my boat   Sandbank Beach Island tomorrow. 

 Dinner today was at the Ocean Grill, overlooking the water and again, watching the sunset and all the people in the ocean. I had a Tuna Steak which was amazing.  Ir costs about $14 Canadian. 

Sunday the 27th My last day in Zanzibar I went to the waterfront and found the boat driver. He took me to Sandbank Beach. Which is a sandbank in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I got there around 10ish and it was low tide, so there was lots of sand about half, an hour later, the tide started coming in.  You had to keep moving your towel further in or the water take your towel. The color of the water was amazing. It was blue-green with clouds. You feel like you’re in some fairy tale. I stayed about an hour and a half that was back to land. And had lunch at the Cape Town fish market on the waterfront.