TANZANiA
one trip
The first national park of Tanzania that we visited was the Arusha National Park. It is a very beautiful park close to Arusha, one of the largest cities in the area. The park had many streams and small rivers as well as grass plains, hills and mountains. As we entered the park we parked our car after a short drive. We were on foot from there on. A ranger and guide escorted us. Only a couple of minutes away from the parking we crossed the stream and climbed a small hill from which we saw the fascinating sight of a group of giraffes resting and crossing the grass plain. Not very far from there we found a group of buffaloes, and couple orangutans. From there we climbed on a relatively high hill (the first one on the path to Mount Meru) to see the eagle, but the luck turned its back on us. From the hill we descended to a nice waterfall falling over a stonewall, where quite fascinating plants and trees were growing. After we finished the walking safari we went for a short drive to the lakes of Momella, where we saw giraffes, flamingoes, orangutans…
Trip itinerary
The next day we visited the large Masai village Monduli Yuu. There we saw the way the Masai live, their homes, and their traditional dances. After we finished with the visit we went towards the Tarangire National Park, which is a very fascinating park. Immediately upon arrival we saw a bull elephant, and later a whole family of elephants. In Tarangire we also enjoyed the beautiful nature of the African Savana. We also saw many antelopes, and giraffes…
The following morning we went for another drive through the park and for the first time on our trip we saw lions. After we finished sightseeing in Tarangire, we took quite a long drive to Lake Manyara – Manyara National Park. The park has a completely different flora than the previous parks that we visited. Instead of the savanna there was something like a forest flora – like a jungle. We saw many monkeys, hippos, giraffes and many other fascinating animals there.
The next day we went to see the Busman clan at their very remote territory, we took a rather interesting drive through a series of dry river beds, and other obstacles, and later we had to continue on foot. We spent a couple of hours with the bushman to briefly see their way of life and the beauties of their territory. It is especially beautiful, as it doesn’t have any modern influence that usually ruins the nature; there aren’t even any roads or paths.
The following morning we woke up very early to catch a morning ride inside the NgoroNgoro Crater – NgoroNgoro National Park. The fascinating thing about this national park is that it is inside a huge volcanic crater that covers around 8.292km2. Because of its size and elevation the crater has its own climate, which can be completely different to the climate elsewhere in North Tanzania. In the crater we met many lions, black rhinos, ostriches, antelopes, zebras and many more from 120 different species of mammals that populate the volcanic crater.
The next two days we spent in Serengeti National Park, which is sort of connected to the NgoroNgoro National Park. Really fascinating were the sights of lions with their cubs, leopards walking right next to the car (which are usually seen only far away in the trees – hardly seen even with binoculars), a mother cheetah with three young cubs that were climbing our car and another car of some fellow visitors. A spectacular sight was also seeing a hippo and lions at night only a couple of meters away from the lodge’s window. To see the great migration from above we also took a panoramic flight, with a small Cessna airplane, we could see millions of animals migrating towards the North… From all the national parks we definitely enjoyed Serengeti the most as it offered the most interesting adventures. Serengeti is definitely one of Africa’s best national parks and has a great variety of things to offer, which are very rare and very beautiful.
After spending two days in the Serengeti National Park we took a series of flights to Mafia Island National Park, which is a small island off the coast of continental Tanzania. It is certainly the most beautiful Sea National Park I have ever seen, and is also very untouched, as the number of visitors is very limited. We spent whole five days over there and visited the surrounding islands of the national park. On our second day we met one of the locals who was driving us from one diving location to another one, and really enjoyed all the underwater beauties we have seen. We also visited rare things such as a small island close to Mafia Island that has a fresh water lake on it… On one of our trips we also saw the miracle of sea turtle hatchlings hatching out of their nest and taking their first swim.
We really enjoyed our stay in Tanzania and wished it could be longer. It is certainly one of the trips that we will all remember for life. As far as I am concerned, it is definitely the most beautiful trip I have done so far.