Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Friday, April 10, 2015

What an INCREDIBLE day! Larry and I are both are in an unbelievable cultural experience that we did not  imagine until we began our Africa  journey today. Where to begin….with the people, the animals, the scenery, the weather, the lodging, the travel over miles of incredible landscapes…it is ALL such an awesome experience.

                                        

First of all, we have a driver named Nixson…rhymes with Hixson. He knows all about the animals, people, places to see and is so patient with all of our questions. He met us at the airport and transported us to the Lake Duluti Serena Hotel about 12 miles outside of Arusha, Tanzania. The sights  and smells reminded us  a bit of our tour in Dili, East Timor.  Pictures here  show some of our first impressions of Africa.

The Lake Duluti Serena Hotel was very nice….no air conditioning….but it was cool at night with the screened window open and the ceiling fan going. We did sleep with mosquito netting wrapped around our bed.

Dinner was a five course meal. Larry had the steak and I had the fish. Dessert was crème brule and mocha something or other…..Larry had both saying  that they were yummy. We absolutely slept like babies from all the two days of  travel  to get here.

     Fresh roses from the hot house down the road were all over the lodge and in a vase in our room.


Breakfast at 7:30….omelets, fresh yeast rolls, and fresh fruit plate with melons, pineapple and  passion fruit…oh my!

 

                                                      A poinsettia tree! Incredible!

Outside of the dining room at the lodge.

 

 

                      Bananas are a big business here....they make banana shakes, banana wine and banana beer....I think we will just pass and have a banana for breakfast!

 

We headed into the Arusha National Park at 8:00am. Down a 2 lane  road that turned into dirt, we came to the park.

 


We saw baboon families,

giraffes,

red duiker (antelope),


waterbuck ( called” toilet seat” antelope because of their white ring on  their bottoms),                                          

                                                                               herds of zebra,

What beautiful creatures!

                                                     pumba (warthogs from the Lion King),

               Black and white Colobus (monkey  with a big white tail), rare and almost extinct in 1972. Their coat was a form of status for the tribes and over 200,000 were in the markets for sale back then. 

                                                                 herds of water buffalo,

one hippo who peeked out of the water, and loads of birds….white egrets, oxpeckers,

                                                           shrike (lots of different kinds in Africa),

heron, Egyptian geese who liked the climate, choosing to never migrated back to Egypt and

                                                    loads of flamingos (both white and pink).

Truck load of bananas

 

                                                Coffee is also a bumper crop in the area.

                                                                      Coffee Plants

We drove by a fresh water lake with kingfish and catfish as well as an alkaline or soda lake that grows algae.  We saw huge Oleas  trees  that reminded us of Banyon trees and Balba trees which were 500 year old mammoths that act like sponges in storing water. We saw the thorny  A-ka-sha trees which are used to surround the villages of huts to keep the wild animals out but keep the goats and cows in.

 

What needles! Ouch!

                                                     

We had a wonderful lunch around 2:00pm…a beautiful setting outside under a  big umbrella....very nice.

                                Larry enjoyed a local brew called Safari with our co-safari traveler, James.

We passed village after village of round grass huts and tribe natives in brilliant colorful clothing. The woman’s attire was like something out of National Geographic.

Nixson called them colorful birds and they were. Many men wore wrapped colorful fabric. Goat and Brahma cow herders (children) walked along the roads with a tall walking stick moving the animals from one grassy area to another.

Children sometimes did this job and at one place they asked for 500 Tanzanian coins to take their picture ….Larry gave them a $2000 Tanzanian bill which  is equivalent to one US dollar.…they grinned ear to ear!

 

We had the  nicest weather although it rained on us a couple of times. Small down pours cause the creeks to rise quickly and the soil to erode in many places. Multiple mountains ranges rose up in front of us…. this  was a volcanic area long ago. 

Maze, beans, and yams grew  all along the roadside with families hand hoeing the weeds.  We passed rice paddies where mosquitoes multiply rapidly.

                                                         African Tulip Tree...full bloom!

Children chewed on stalks of sugar cane…their candy treat.  There were loads of motorcycles everywhere.  Our mode transport… a Toyota Safari Wagon.

 

We arrived at our evening destination Lake Manyara Serena Lodge around 6:30pm….a long day!

Our room looked mighty fine as we listened from the balcony to the African show that was going on poolside below our room.

The view was so nice that we remained there until dinner….going up to a fabulous buffet with our traveling friend from Michigan, James Voisin.

           Some local Tazanians put on a lively show with drums and dancing right below our room.

We ate amongst a large group of other safari adventurers reminiscing all the days surprises and adventures. Wow….Will it be possible for tomorrow to top all the happenings of today? Can’t wait to find out!!!!