Category: Tanzania

Mambo! (Hello) The past 10 days I explored the beautiful and unique island of Zanzibar, accompanied by my Safari-mate Daniel from Israel. Here is the Facebook Picture Album. After safari we hopped on the Dar Express, a “super luxury” bus, from Arusha to Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. It wasn’t a bad 12 hour bus ride, except for the 7 hours of Swahili Christian music videos. This specific genre of music video, to an outsider, is formulaic, bizarre and extremely repetitive. Never have I wanted to be a director so badly to infuse these videos with different visual approaches.

After a stop over in Dar, a modern international city of with not much to offer tourists, we took a ferry to Zanzibar. At the heart of Zanzibar town lies Stone Town, a lovely labyrinth of narrow stone streets that reveal hidden houses, craft shops and restaurants.   We had fun getting lost and learning our way around. The town has a rich mixture of history including, spice trading, slave trading, Islam and a dash of Rastafarianism.

After a couple days in Stone Town, it was beach time. We headed north to Nungwi. It is a beautiful beach populated with resorts catering to different nationalities and budgets. My favorite hustling tout on the beach Martin showed me around to a few places where I settled on Miss Safina, a nice budget option located behind the sexy Z hotel.

I met another Israeli on the bus, Hadas. Her, Daniel and I were a unit for a few days. After we were all settled, we traveled on foot to the nicest stretch of sand for swimming and sun in front of a resort inhabited by beautiful Italian people. Here a special subset of Masai (African nomadic tribe – assimilated into the mainstream to varying degrees) guards and craftsman spoke Italian and engaged the Italian tourists. There was even an afternoon Italy vs Africa soccer match on the beach, quite a surreal scene.

The next day I went Scuba diving with East Africa Diving company to two local dive sites. It was good to be back under water. I saw some cool marine life, including Sea Turtles, Trumpet Fish, Zebrafish, Kingfish, Barracudas and even a Lobster. A student on the dive was doing a research project on eco-tourism and had gathered over 400 interviews with tourists.Apparently tourists from the UK are the most friendly and tourists from Italy are the least.  The next day Daniel, Hadas and I took a snorkeling trip to Mnemba, a marine conservatory island, followed by a fish bbq on a nearby beach. The turquoise of the water and whiteness of the sand were incredible.

Hadas left our group, traveling onward to Ethiopia, so Daniel and I went onto Jambiani for some real rest and relaxation at this less populated beach on the east coast. The beaches and water here were even more beautiful than Nungwi, with palm tree lined coasts and a small welcoming village behind the beach front guest houses. What was bizarre was that during the day when the tide was low, the water exposed a vast seaweed plantation, and we saw Jambiani women working out on the ocean floor collecting seaweed. We had no idea the afternoon before when we arrived during high tide.

The highlights in Jambiani were an octopus hunt and a dolphin excursion where we swam with dolphins. During low tide, we walked through the seaweed plantation and our guides took us to look for octopus. We walked on the reef for quite some time. I was quite happy I had my Tevas on, as the rest of the group were struggling to avoid sea urchins in flip-flops. Another guide called us over and somehow had spotted an octopus in a hole. I have know idea how he spotted it, as it was so well hidden. Our guide then proceeded to coax the octopus out of hiding with two metal rods which the octopus latched on to. He then got a grip on the octopus, pulled him out, and showed us how to quickly kill it by stabbing him through the mouth. The quick octocide left me a little sad, but I comforted myself knowing the octopus would make a yummy dinner for someone.

The experience swimming with dolphins was both exhilarating and a tad horrifying. Boats would chase after groups of dolphins and then Mzungos (foreigners) would jump in to “swim” with them. The swimming was usually a few seconds, and then the dolphins would dive down deep quickly. We would jump back on the boat and try again once the dolphins disappeared from view. It was amazing to be be so close to these creatures. They seemed curious and not threatened. However, they probably would have played longer if there weren’t multiple motorboats surrounding them with aggressive drivers vying to get as close as possible. One dive, I found myself looking down on a huge group and one tuned upside, circled and checked me out. We had a moment right dolphin? It wasn’t just me was it?

The quietness and slow pace were unparalleled in Jambiani. One night Daniel and I sat in a restaurant which wasn’t more than a thatch covered hut where we were the only patrons. After dinner the power went out as it does in Africa periodically. The only sounds were the surf and children laughing in the distance. We had time to watch an ant circling the lip of a plate a kerosene lantern was placed on. The unparalleled quiet and peace permeated the darkness.

As my time in Tanzania comes to a close, thinking back on this trifecta of Kilimanjaro, safari and beautiful beach island, I realize I have been on the trip of a lifetime already, and I’m just getting started. This country is amazing in all it has to offer, and while I haven’t gotten to know the locals well, the smiles and friendly reception of the owners at the guest house we returned to in Stone Town was heartwarming and indicative of the welcoming nature of this country.

Next stop Ethiopia…

After Kilimanjaro it was time for safari. After a recovery day in Moshi shipping Kilimanjaro gear home and catching up on e-mail, I booked a shuttle for Arusha, Tanzania’s safari capital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first pick, Roy’s Safaris, did not have any availability, which was a bummer. I started walking around and an artist / tout approached me. He knew where I could get a safari and he thought Americans are the best. Lucky for me I was from Obama-land. So Ebo and I walked through Arusha and he took me around on a tour including a stop by Sunset Africa Safari.

 The office was a bit sketchy as it was off the main street and was not nearly as nice as Roy’s, but I had been lured into other less professional establishments before, so at least they seemed legitimate in comparison. After they described the available trip leaving the next day and I read some testimonials I decided to go with them. Then I got a tour of the city from Ebo and ended up buying a lovely Maasai painting from him.

The next day I was picked up and met my safari-mates: an Israeli, Canadian, Italian and two Swedes – all ranging from 22 – 32, as well as our guide, Abdul and cook, Peter.

Our four days consisted of three parks, Tarangerie, Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater. At our first stop, Tarangeri we came across Vervet monkeys while eating lunch. We were warned they would swoop in at any time to grab food. They were like the evil monkeys from the Wizard of Oz, without wings. Their mischief was fun and kept us on our toes.

At our first campsite, we were treated with the most unexpected surprise after dinner, the Black Tiger acrobatics show. Words can not do justice to this show, which included  juggling, balancing coke bottles on top of one another and even limbo under a pole on fire. I am kicking myself for not having a camera handy nor being able able to capture with words the skill and randomness of the tricks this group performed.

 The last morning we went to Ngorongoro Crater which is adjacent to the Serengeti.  This crater had the densest population and widest variety of the animals we had seen in the previous two parks. All in all we saw Wildebeest, Thompson Gazalles, Baboons, Flamingoes, Elephants, Leopards, Zebras, Buffalo, Hyenas, Warthogs and Lions. We were about to give up on the fifth of the big five (Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and Cape Buffalo) the Rhino, when our guide spotted one in the distance during the last minutes of our last day, and we finally saw the distinct horn through our binoculars when it raised its heading from sleeping. Click here for more pics.

It was amazing to see these animals in their wild habitat. I got a a real scare from an elephant while hanging outside the gate at Serengeti. I accompanied one of my safari mates on a stone path and low and behold there were two elephants at the top of the path. While we took close up photos, we apparently got a little too close and one elephant started coming at us. We literally ran down the path and the elephant followed. Once we were far enough away it just gave us a look that said, “this is my house.” Lesson learned: elephants need their space.

 

 

Seeing these animals in the wild I couldn’t help but think of the same animals I have seen in zoos. These safari animals were healthy and seemed to be thriving in their natural environment. I started to draw some parallels between caged animals and our human existence working in cubicles. The metaphor was weak, and after discussing with my new Israeli friend he pointed out that the since we have the freedom to think we are only held captive by our thoughts, not environment.

Having the ability to choose who we want to be and follow our instincts is akin to the freedom to run wild in the Serengeti. The cages and limitations one often perceives maybe self-imposed by thought and ignoring instinct; not by boundaries set by the outside world. I am so grateful for this trip as it helps me to break down some of my self-imposed cages and come closer to running free under the sun.

And as for the aforementioned sun, next stop Zanzibar.

Well after an epic eight days hiking and climbing Kilimanjaro I have returned to Moshi having climbed the tallest mountain in Africa, and one of the famed seven summits. I along with five others in my group trekked through the rainforest, dessert, clouds and cliffs.

Looking back on climbing Kilimanjaro right now and it seems like a dream. A good dream. A surreal dream. A dream accomplished.

A few months ago I booked this climb with Ultimate Kilimanjaro (who contract out Tanzanian based Zara Tours) as the kick off to my travels for my first mini-retirement, celebrating ten years of working. I trained hard, researched the risks and geared up appropriately.

The trip started from Moshi, Tanzania with a 3.5 hour back crushing truck ride to the Londrossi Gate of Kilimanjaro. This gate is actually quite far from the mountain itself, but hiking in allowed our group, all from the U.S., to acclimate slowly and see more of the mountain area.

We were initially directed to pace ourselves, Pole, pole (Swahili for slow, slow or chill, chill)…not realizing this pace would be the same pace used for the summit ascent when we would need to go this slow. We were all raring to go and this paced seemed silly, but grew quite enjoyable once we let go of trying to get there fast.

The next few days were filled with gorgeous hikes through various different ecosystems. It felt like different Star Trek alien landscapes. We would hike to higher altitudes to get our bodies acclimated and then sleep at slightly lower altitudes.

We had a considerable staff which included a guide, assistant guides and porters. While we were responsible for carrying our daypacks, our porters carried the rest of gear, tents and food. They even cooked, waited on us and set up our tents. Their strength, speed and toughness were inspiring. Our group couldn’t help feel a little soft for the huffing and puffing we were experiencing.

The climb did get technical at a couple points, including scaling the Boroncho wall. There was actually a bit of a traffic jam of porters and climbers where the wall converged in one climbing lane up, and the danger of this crowding were palpable.

As we got higher on the mountain the weather got considerable cooler and more moist as we camped in the clouds at first, and then above them. I absolutely loved taking pictures being above the cloud line.

We had a short three hour hike the morning before the summit day we camped at base camp which was 15,000 feet. By this time I was acclimated for the most part, aside from shortness of breath. A couple days before I experienced a little euphoria, lack of focus, and apparently had a big grin on my face – maybe adjusting to the altitude wasn’t all that bad 🙂

After lunch on day six we were told to go to sleep until dinner, then eat, sleep and then we’d wake up at midnight to being our ascent. The ascent is better at night because you can’t see the peak clearly (so climbers don’t get psyched out), it’s cool (actually downright freezing – my camelback froze) and the peak is normally free of clouds in the morning allowing for the best views.

We had a six hour hike ahead of us in the dark straight up. It was close to a full moon so we had pretty good visibility. I even turned my headlamp off at times. Our guides would sing African songs to keep us all awake, alert and keep our spirits high.

All of our group experienced the effects of altitude in different ways. One member at 17,000+ feet at Stella Point had to go back. Her brain was literally not working right anymore. Another in our group was fighting to stay awake and yelling at himself to climb through the exhaustion. Our guide told us, both of these conditions were probably due to lack of sleep, hydration or food. I experienced a headache that concerned me, but since I didn’t have any other symptoms kept going. My fingers and toes were numb as it was so cold outside and others were experiencing the same. An ipod tunes in one ear helped to keep me motivated.

All effort was saved for the next steps – even getting water or getting more food seemed too difficult at a certain point. Once the sun started to rise everything started getting better. We could see the glaciers, see how close were were to the top, and knew were going to make it. The beauty of being on top of the world, the feeling of exhaustion and the lack of oxygen all created a unique euphoria that added to the strange joy of it all.

After a few pictures and moments taking in Uhuru Peak at an altitude of 19,341 feet, were were on our way down as staying at the altitude is dangerous. Skiing down the skeet (loose rocks) was a lot of fun, and I didn’t even mind taking a little tumble. Even when we got to base camp we were still a bit discombobulated and exhausted. We had a two hour nap, food, and then a four hour hike to our next camp site.

I couldn’t help of think of the metaphor of this mountain for any big goal one would have. First there is the commitment to the abstract goal, then the preparation for executing the goal. Once we started we felt we were so far away and we wanted to hurry there. Guidance and experience let us know the right pace, and the right way to hydrate, sleep and eat for success. Proper guides are key to reaching goals, since they know the way well and know what to look out for. Lastly the key was to concentrate on the next step ahead of you and not look up at the summit too much. This advice was given to us by climbers that returned before us. Concentrating on the gap from your current position to the summit will only hinder that progress, but by looking at just the next small step, trusting in your guide and believing progress is being made is the recipe for reaching the top successfully.

 

More pics here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150290506731448.334551.659741447&l=01a71e0f05&type=1