Week 11 - Zanzibar

Arriving in Stone Town on Zanzibar Island, we walk through the centuries-old white-washed stone buildings with narrow European-like alleyways that lead through a maze of artisan and gift shops, lodges and restaurants. Doors are both open and closed.  One can feel the history and cultural significance of the region; mosques, crumbling Arab fortress walls, slave trade buildings, and colonial architecture within a 360 degree view.  The central plaza along the waterfront unfolds in front of us, as does the feeling of beach life in paradise.

We are invited by the turquoise blue waters, the white sandy beaches, and even the hustlers exclaiming “hakuna matata… you can look for free”. We watch hundreds of Tanzanian boys (hmm, where are the girls?) under the sunset light as they dive, flip, and jump their way across the beach and into the water. Ending at an outdoor market, dinner booths hosts fresh seafood, indian breads, and Zanzibarian pizzas (chipatis loaded with fruit and Nutella). We feast while people watching, as the boardwalk lights up for the evening hours. 

Note: Our cab driver told us that 90% of Zanzibarians are of strict Muslim faith. One thing we notice is the evident separation of men/boys and women/girls. Early the next morning from our hotel room we can see women and children splashing in the ocean- it is obvious that evening play is for boys, and morning hours are set aside for girls. 

There are a few tourist adventures that Zanzibar is well-known for: swimming with dolphins, snorkeling and diving, and spice farm tours, just to name a few.  We of course will take advantage of all of these. Heading to the south end of the island, we join a dolphin safari- chasing dolphins by boat and jumping into the water to try swim with them.  We are put off by the craze of it all, but still admire the majestic creatures and their tolerance. We spend the

afternoon at Jozani National Park, a small but significant part of the islands’ natural areas.  Mangroves, mohagany trees, and palms are all protected under the Park’s umbrella, as well as a few species of monkeys.  The red colobus monkeys perform quite the acrobatic jester-like act for us.

Spices are a main export here on Zanzibar Island, both now and historically. It makes us think of the origin of our chai tea and regularly used spices at home: vanilla bean vines, turmeric root, the cinnamon tree’s bark, peppercorn shrubs, cardamom seeds growing from the roots on the ground. We tour a local demonstration garden that tours us through the farm to describe each spice plant/tree, its uses and tastes. It is very informative and entertaining- even the kids love it (they were dubious and complaining before starting). After an hour and a half, we’ve been fed amazing array of fresh fruit from the trees, are introduced us to the native trees and flower scents of the region, and conclude our tour introduced to a throng of packaged spices we can purchase. And as a special touch, they adorn us with palm leaf crowns, ties, and handbags! What fun!

dhow stranded at low tide

Mnembe Island

Heading to the north end of the island for a few days, we have read about Zanzibar’s coral reef shoals and Mnembe Island is visible and inviting from our beach bungalow. We collect seashell treasures during the succession of high and low tides as we walk the endless beaches. We find a well-respected SCUBA dive shop and literally dive into a package deal that includes a boat ride, 2 dives, another couple of snorkeling locations, and a two day Discover Diving course for Amelia! At the reef, we see an amazing array of fish in all colors and sizes, as well as the typical but amazing assembly of sea stars, cucumbers, anemones, lobsters and stingrays.  The water was incredibly clear (turquoise blue) with visibility at 20-30 meters. While we are diving, Emmet is watching us from above in his snorkeling gear with one of our boat guides. Pretty awesome for all of us!  Amelia’s strength and comfort in the water shines bright as she calmly follows the dive guide and gives frequent thumbs up of approval to her mom and dad!

After a few days of solitude and sunrise on the north-eastern side of the island, we head to watch the sunsets and the hoppin’ beach scene on the north and western side of the island. The water is still perfect, the seafood dinners are still cheap and fresh off the boat, and the people watching only gets better here. European, Middle eastern, and Indian families gather along this more tourist destination beach; all sorts of accents are audible, except American.  We wonder if there is anywhere farther away from the influence of the good ol’ USA, and find this quite pleasing!

We hear about the Baraka Sea Turtle Aquarium, a 20-minute beach walk from our bungalow. This natural lagoon is used to house green sea turtles that are caught by fisherman in their nets in the surrounding area. The tourism dollars pay the fisherman to bring in the captures turtles, inspiring the fisherman to keep them alive and not kill them for meat. Close to the breeding season, the turtles are released back into the ocean, close to the protected islands where they will breed and lay their eggs on the beaches. We were unsure if the turtles migrate from this area, so still more research to be done… Swimming with the turtles in the lagoon is encouraged, and the docile nature of these animals make it tons of fun. We spend at least two hours snorkeling alongside to watch their movements, feel their leathery skin and watch them feeding on handpicked seaweed they are provided daily. 

Long and full days of beach, salt, sun and sea give us a true sense of holiday relaxation.  Its hard to believe we only have a week left til our time in Tanzania is over.  We have one more coastal safari north of Dar es Salaam to go… and a ferry ride to get there.  

Love and missing everyone.  See you soon though!

Week 10- Lions of the Serengeti

We explore the town of Karatu for a day, but we mostly anticipate the arrival of the Casey family- Nellie, Chris, Brenna, and Erin are heading into Tanzania for a week from their Embassy home in Madagascar.  Together the Bondis and Caseys share and compare stories of Methow and Madagasi life and times, play games and explore town, and venture out on a 3 day Serengeti safari, which is unforgettable from the start. 

Serengeti National Park is world renowned for its abundance of wildlife and its fabulous migrations across the borders with Kenya.  We now see why! From just at the park entrance, an entourage of fantastic wildlife viewing opens in front of us. A jackal family emerges from a den-site; several cheetahs give us sneak peaks of life on the grasslands; lanky secretary birds strut across the endless plains; and thousands of zebras speckle the land. Interestingly, we learn that the zebras follow the wildebeest herds because the wildebeest have an internal compass to find water (and even sense rain), hence their famous migration patterns. However the wildebeest have terrible eyesight, and use the zebras keen sense of eyesight as protection from predators. 

4 ft tall secretary bird!

zebras everywhere, however the wildebeest for the most part had moved on...

This beneficial relationship did not help today however, as we spotted an alert female lion attentively watching a large herd of zebras and wildebeest getting water down an embankment of the Seronera River. There were at least 10 safari rigs parked and watching at a very close distance, so we were amazed when the lioness suddenly crouched and started to stalk towards the ridge where her prey accessed the water. Within a minute or so, she leapt out of view into the shallow waters and all we could see was gray, white and black stripes scattering, and then hoofs in the air with the lion’s head emerging. Her jaws were sunk into the neck of a young wildebeest. We were awestruck by her speed, agility, and success! We couldn’t help but watch from our peek-a-boo view as the lioness pulled the wildebeest out of the gully to a more protected site where she could feed without interruption from the hyenas, vultures and overhead maribou storks. 

Upon arrival at dusk at our lodge, we were all so jazzed we decided on an early morning safari to

keep the momentum in our favor. Six AM start-time, with breakfast boxes packed to-go. And we were rewarded! In the same vicinity where our lioness had taken the wildebeest was a lion pride who had taken down a Cape buffalo the same evening.  Most of the pride was finished feeding for the morning as we arrived, but we realized some of the lions were still coming off the carcass which was surrounded by 8 or so safari vehicles. All this (including the carcass) was in the middle of the road! Of course, we were all feeling guilty about the disturbance, and repulsed by the way all the cars surrounded the lions at such close distance. We thought to hang back a bit, but within a short time, the lions came to the side of our vehicle to laze in its shade. Amelia’s photographic ambitions were going to pay off here, especially because she was only within a meter (!) of a male lion’s face.  So beautiful, but daunting; keep

those arms and cameras inside! We watched the cubs tumble over each other, mewing as they rubbed against mamas head, and swishing tails to flick the flies covering their backs. We even had to keep moving the vehicle so they didn’t climb under the vehicle.

We finally left the site only to encounter a majestic pair of lions (whom we saw the day before as well). Both days they simply told their story- its mating season and they openly displayed their affection towards one another. Another awe-inspiring level of connection to these animals while sharing experiences with a dozen other vehicles in our midst; it seems the animals have habituated to the presence of humans in this area.  Lots of curious banter from the kids in our group as drove through more Serengeti bush country, then back to the lodge for an afternoon by the swimming pool and a serious safari buffet dinner.

Ngorogoro Conservation Area is our next destination, as we head back the direction of our accommodations in Karatu.  We’ve all heard about Ngorogoro Crater, but not much about the surrounding 16,000 sq miles of the Conservation Area, government set aside land for the Masaai people.   It’s a similar story to our Native Americans history of an indigenous tribe having their land confiscated, and reserve areas designated as a place for them to live. Many of the Masaai still practice their traditional pastoral lifestyle raising herd animals, living in thorn-protected bomas, and wearing their traditional clothing and jewelry.  Their past tradition of hunting lions to progress to manhood is not allowed by the Tanzanian government, and the national parks are working on ways to collaborate with Masaai to help protect wildlife in an ever increasing controversy on wildlife poaching and habitat destruction (over grazing and desertification).

Masaai in front of their boma surrounded by thorn fencing (left)

Our ultimate celebration of time together with the Casey family was Thanksgiving Day back at Oldeani Lodge in Karatu.  Local foods like mashed potatoes, carrots, potato leek soup, bread stuffing, and home-made from scratch pumpkin pie reminded us of home in the USA, but the roast chicken and lack of cranberries pinched us awake to our Tanzanian reality.  We could have been on Mars, but sharing time together soothed all our souls and deepened our friendship.

matching elephant pants

The Caseys flew home from Kilimanjaro airport while our family settled in for a few days in Arusha with friends we have met through Teresa Castner and Bill Pope, Allan and Ester and their 5yr old son Billy. In Arusha, we partook in a bit of shopping, eating big city good food, fishing and walking around a city park lake. We scratched our head and giggled as we gathered with the Dutch who make Tanzania their home to celebrate Cinter Claus; who could have guessed?!

Here we sit reflecting on our good fortunes and preparing for our last couple of weeks in Tanzania. Zanzibar, here we come!

Week 9- Safari Country

Leaving Kigoma was a true experience, similar but different than our last travel by train across the country. As we boarded our train, we quickly realized the dilapidated state of the cars- most did not have windows, the grime factor was very high, and the maintenance and upkeep went to the engines and the guts of the train, but not the cars themselves. Emmet’s comment as we inspected our berth was, “this is horrifying” which is almost a polite way to describe the weathered and torn seats that folded into our sleeping beds and the

plywood-replaced window. We perked up, however, when the attendant delivered fresh and clean sheets, friendly security folks came to check on us and the other passengers, and we befriended a beautiful family with a bright eyed cutest little baby in the berth next door. The rest ride was uneventful, and can even be described as pleasant after we settled in.

We’ve made it to the northern portion of Tanzania after our 24 hour funky train, a couple of guesthouse stays, and buses and bjegis (3 wheeled vehicles) transporting us through the rural central portion of the country. Here, the weather is cooler than what we’ve experiences thus far, Massai people in their sukas and jewelried adornments speckle the landscape, and the distances seem endless against the volcanic caldera of the Great Rift Valley. 

dik dik wandering the lodge grounds

We are starting the safari portion of our travels through the more protected and world-wide revered portion of Tanzania, starting with 2 days in Tarangire National Park and our first in-park lodging accommodations. This proved to be an exceptional safari that we can’t say enough about- the undulating terrain kept us alert for animals and scenery, and the vastness of the park was incredible. The further we drove, the more expansive the viewshed. Then, we soaked in the ambiance of our in-park safari lodge with sundowners (drinks and snacks) on the veranda positioned on the edge of the escarpment, with views overlooking wildlife going about their business below. Sunset, good food, dik-diks wandering by (worlds smallest ungulate), and amazing bird-life. 

finding water whereever they can

yellow-throated spurfowl

 Onto Manyara National Park, which we had been awaiting mainly because of Emmet’s fascination for the fabled “tree climbing” lions. He was finally going to see them! As we entered the park, we discovered the dense forest and the shrub cover are ideal for hiding animals. But what we did find exceptional about this park (and what should be advertised in our minds) was the bird life of the saline lake shore. Spoonbills, pink-backed pelicans, flamingos, saddle-billed storks, sacred ibis, and of course the general African wildlife that congregate along on the water’s edge. But no lions in trees today. Our tented camp in Manyara was at the base of the Great Rift Valley escarpment- 1500 vertical feet of geologic wonder. Hundreds of baboons sunbathed on the rocks then retired for the night right next to camp as we ate dinner on a dry riverbed. We settled into the simple yet stylish tents for the night, listening to the sounds of elephants, leopards and baboons howling all night long!  Funny how each of these safari lodges are so different- all have an elegance and luxury to them, yet their styles vary dramatically.  We feel lucky to try several of them to see the differences.

Pink-backed pelicans and flamingos in Lake Manyara

Just near to Lake Manyara is Karatu, the closest town to the Ngorogoro Conservation Area. We are heading there to meet up with the Casey family in a couple of days.