April 26-May 2, 2023
Observations
1. People. Like most everywhere, Tanzanians are extremely nice and all too ready to help with advice or directions. English can be sporadic and many speak little or none. I downloaded Swahili on Google Translate and found it very useful.
It appears that the most common employment for young Tanzanian men is as boda drivers – they are everywhere. Many are not educated and speak little or no English but some are educated people who cannot find jobs.
Another significant employer is as “grass cutters” on roadside ditches. Cows and sheep often browse in the ditches in other countries but not here. It is common to see large gangs of men with machetes cutting the grass, a very labour-intensive job.
2. Driving. Tanzania has generally excellent roads (except in Ngorongoro and Serengeti) with few potholes. The only posted speed limits are the 50km/hr signs on either side of most any house on the side of the road, so there are a lot of speed zones. The upper speed is never posted, but I am assuming it’s 100km/hr. Police are only in the towns and are common, pulling over as many people as possible in search of bribes. Because every town has speed bumps, and the speed is strictly enforced, the only reasonable way to drive is to stick as close to 50 as possible. Certainly, the locals do. It is important to not give them any excuse to pull you over.
On the drive from Songea to the coast, there were many towns, most a long row of houses along the road. Many didn’t have speed bumps and there were no police.
These police don’t often have radar. In some places, radar is on thin white poles with solar panels.
Outside of cities, there is little traffic. Big trucks, the Toyota Cruiser buses, share taxis, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, and tuk-tuks can make for slow driving. Driving at night is discouraged as there are many pedestrians and motorcycles with no lights. Stopped vehicles often put rocks in the lane they are obstructing.
3. Police. Tanzania is notorious for police corruption and bribery. Surprisingly, after 8 days of driving, I have only been pulled over four times and have yet to get a ticket. Whining helps but they are very persistent. The one thing that works best is to say that you have no cash and pay for everything with a credit card.
TANZANIA – NORTHEASTERN (Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Manyara, Tanga)
Borders: Kenya-Tanzania, Tanzania mainland (sea border/port/lake)
TANGA
Airports: Tanga (TGT)
History, Culture, National and City Museums: Tanga: Urithi Tanga Museum
Day 6 Thur Apr 27
I was up very early, showered, had a good breakfast, and was off by 6 am, hoping to get to Arusha by nightfall.
TANZANIA – NORTHEASTERN (Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Manyara, Tanga)
Borders: Kenya-Tanzania, Tanzania mainland (sea border/port/lake)
West Usambaras Lushoto Mountain Reserve. In northeastern Tanzania, these are the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains that stretch from Kenya through Tanzania. The ranges are 90 kilometres long and 30-50 km wide. They were formed nearly two million years ago by faulting and uplifting, and are composed of Precambrian metamorphic rocks. They are split into two sub-ranges; the West Usambaras being higher (Chambolo peak 2,289 m) than the East Usambaras, which are nearer the coast and receive more rainfall. The mountain range was formed nearly two million years ago. Due to a lack of glaciations and a relatively consistent climate, the rainforest has gone through a long-term and unique evolution resulting in an impressive amount of endemism and old-growth cloud rainforests.
Historically they were inhabited by Bantu, Shambaa, and Maasai people but in the eighteenth century, a Shambaa kingdom was founded by Mbegha. German colonists settled in the area which was to become German East Africa, and after World War I it became part of the British-mandated territory of Tanganyika.
The range is accessible from the towns of Lushoto in the west, and Amani in the east.
The Usambara Mountains are fairly unusual in East Africa with their natural regions still covered in tropical forests, which otherwise continentally remain primarily in Western Africa. Considered tremendously significant ecologically and a Biodiversity hotspot Several species are endemic to the Usambara forests, including the Usambara eagle-owl, the Usambara akalat, the Usambara weaver, the African violet, the tree species Calodendrum eickii.
Today, the population of the Usambara Mountains region has one of the highest growth rates, a staggering amount of poverty, and highest densities of people in all of Tanzania. Most of the inhabitants are subsistence farmers who rely heavily on the forests around them for timber, medicinal plants, clearing for agriculture, and fuelwood. 70% of the original forest cover of the West and East Usambaras has been lost by foreign-controlled logging companies
Mkomazi NP. In northeastern Tanzania on the Kenyan border, it covers over 3,234 square kilometres and is dominated by Acacia–Commiphora vegetation; it is contiguous with Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park.
When Mkomazi was first established a number of pastoral families from the Parakuyo ethnic group were allowed to continue to live there with a few thousand of their cattle, goats and sheep. Immigrant Maasai pastoralists and families from other ethnic groups were evicted when the reserve was established. Mkomazi’s history was dominated by rising cattle populations – in the 1980s around 80,000 cattle were counted inside the reserve.
For many conservationists, Mkomazi is a celebrated success story as it has been restored to good health. African wild dogs, and the extensive, patrolled sanctuary for the black rhinoceros (which are breeding) have put the reserve on the map. Fauna include the Black rhinoceros, Lion, Common eland, Hartebeest, Grant’s Zebra, African Elephant and the Spotted hyena
Chagga Museum, Marangu. Offer a coffee tour plus a tour of their famous tunnels used to hide from enemies. Only two of the 60+ rooms are open. 12,000TS
KILIMANJARO NATIONAL PARK WHS. The mountain is encircled by mountain forest. Numerous mammals, many of them endangered species, live in the park.
Kilimanjaro National Park covering an area of some 75,575 ha protects the largest free standing volcanic mass in the world and the highest mountain in Africa, rising 4877m above surrounding plains to 5895m at its peak. With its snow-capped peak, the Kilimanjaro is a superlative natural phenomenon, standing in isolation above the surrounding plains overlooking the savannah.
It has three main volcanic peaks, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. The mountain has five main vegetation zones from the lowest to the highest point: Lower slopes, montane forest, heath and moorland, alpine desert and summit. The whole mountain including the montane forest belt is very rich in species, in particular mammals, many of them endangered species. For this combination of features but mostly its height, its physical form and snow cap and its isolation above the surrounding plains, Mount Kilimanjaro is considered an outstanding example of a superlative natural phenomenon.
The park is connected to Amboseli National Park, however corridors to Arusha National Park and Tsavo National park have been encroached, impacting on wildlife migration.
Marangu gate is the Park Headquarters 86 km from Kilimanjaro International Airport. The other seven gates – Rongai, Machame, Londorosi, Lemosho, Kilema, Mweka and Umbwe are located around the mountain base and can be reached by road.
I did one of my dumbest things. I looked up the gates and instead of putting in the gates, I read that Marangu Gate is 41 km from Moshi Town so drove to Moshi only to learn that the turnoff to Marangu Gate was where I was. Once in Moshi, I saw that the closest gate was Mweka, a 25km drive, closer than Marangu. Google Maps then took me on the wrong route over a very rough washed-out road through a coffee plantation until I finally hit the good paved road that leads directly up from Moshi!!! When I got to Mweke, the gate was closed.
ON The Eco Tourism Centre. 100 m from the gate, this was the only flat space around. I slept there instead of going all the way back to Moshi. It turned out to be incredibly good with a covered area of tables that I sat under out of the rain for dinner and breakfast. My mat fits perfectly diagonally in the Harier and I had a very comfortable nite sleeping for 10 hours.
Day 6 Fri Apr 28
I entered the Mwerka Gate and talked to the guy in the beautiful visitor’s centre. It was raining hard and after a short walk in the woods, I basically turned back, drove through Moshi, and continued on my day (a very brief visit to the park).
Kikuletwas Hot Springs. I didn’t go here but include it as an option outside Moshi. The turnoff is just before the turnoff to Oldonyou Murwak and then a 1 1/2 hour drive from Moshi on a rough and dusty road via Cheamka village. It is an oasis with scenic, warm, blue, clear water and Garra Rufa Fish that are used for pedicures around the world. They work by sucking and nibbling on your skin, tenderly removing dead skin cells through natural exfoliation. The spring is quite deep in the middle, and the current is quite strong when you try to swim to the other side
ARUSHA (pop 2,356,255 2022). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, Arusha City has a temperate climate. The city is close to the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Manyara National Park, Olduvai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount Meru in the Arusha National Park.
The city is a major international diplomatic hub. It is the capital of the East African Community. From 1994 to 2015, the city also hosted the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, It is a multicultural city with a majority Tanzanian population of mixed backgrounds: indigenous African, Arab-Tanzanian, and Indian-Tanzanian population, plus a small European and North American minority population. Religions of the Arusha city population include Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, and Hinduism.
The current site of Arusha was first settled in the 1830s by the agro-pastoral Arusha Maasai from the Arusha Chini community, south of Mount Kilimanjaro. They traded grains, honey, beer, and tobacco with the pastoral Kisongo Maasai in exchange for livestock, milk, meat, and skins.
Arusha was conquered by the Germans in 1896 after the murder of the first two missionaries who attempted to settle on nearby Mount Meru. The Germans established a permanent presence in 1900 when a military fort (a boma) was built. Many Africans were forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands by the Germans and forced to dig lime or carry stones to construct the fort. The British took Arusha from the Germans in 1916 during World War I. The Great Depression soon squelched commerce and Arusha in 1940 had fewer than 2,000 residents.
Arusha has been a crucial city in the history of modern Tanzania. Official documents ceding independence to Tanganyika were signed by the United Kingdom at Arusha in 1961.
Warning: Arusha has a hard-to-understand parking rule. Even though the rule is not advertised in any way, I was clamped and given a 63,000 TS parking fine outside the Central Market. I could not find out how I was to know this (very uncommon in the rest of Africa and maybe the world) but the guys gave no information even though I tried my best to use Google Translate into Swahili. I was clearly at their mercy with the clamp on my wheels. I contacted Arusha City about this but don’t expect a reply.
Basically, this is a big messy African city with clogged traffic, difficult parking and not much to see. I was here to get my permit for Nogongoro Park. Avoid it at all costs – it can be an expensive city to visit.
Natural History Museum. A lot of history of the Olduvai Gorge and human evolution, geology, and stuffed animals. 12000 TS
Arusha Declaration Monument. In the middle of a roundabout, this very high monument has a torch on a column sitting on four large tripod legs.
Arusha Central Market. A large market with one of the largest selections of produce (mostly vegetables and fruit) I have ever seen. A few other shops including kitchenware and cloth in the east-facing side. As above, I was clamped and fined 63,000TS when parked on the road beside the market.
Arusha Coffee Lodge. Eco-Experience: A lovely facility about 4 km west of the city. It has a bar, bistro, a shop displaying glass, and a wonderful workshop for disabled people blowing glass (which was very cheap to buy) and making jewelry and wind chimes. there is also the ubiquitous coffee tour – work, watch coffee roasting, and have a coffee – one hour for an expensive US$35. I had a good coffee.
Meserani Snake Park. About 24 km east of Arusha, it has all the African snakes but a whopping $20 entry fee.
The countryside west of Arusha is flat, verdant green pasture land with initially only a few trees. There are frequent herds of cattle and goats with Masaai ” shepherds. Go over a low rise of hills and the flat plateau continues but with many more trees and bush.
On my way to the hostel, I stopped at a small store to buy milk. The owner of the shop was Chief Baraka, the elected chief of over 5,000 Masaai with 47 “counselors” who meet regularly with his people and report back to him. He has 7 wives, 25 children, and 100 cattle. Each wife has their own house and the children stay in another wife’s house when he visits her for the night. His traditional dress is three pieces – a “skirt” tied over the shoulders, an inner piece of a different colour, and an outside large piece using a shawl. All are tartans or small checks. Red is a common colour especially for the children actively herding cattle as red scares away lions. Blue is worn for luck. All Masaai men carry a mid-sized knife, very sharp on both sides used to carve meat, carve the traditional walking staff, and fend off animals.
All men have had their two middle lower incisors removed, and many have pierced ears with large holes in their lobes. They drink milk daily, eat meat a few times a week, and drink blood (often mixed with milk) on special occasions.
He owns a Masaai cultural tour company and invited me to spend a few hours or overnight in his village. I will be passing it on my way back and may take him up on his offer.
ON Ava Garden Hostel in Mto wa Bbu, about 16 km east of Karatu, the closest town to the entrance to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. US$16 for a dorm room. It is a lovely hostel. I am alone in a large 4-bed dorm with large double beds. There is a great outside covered eating area with a kettle and toaster.
Day 7 Sat Apr 29
I was up at 4:45, had a quick shower and breakfast, and was off driving via Karatu towards the Loduare Gate entrance to Ngorongoro. I paid for my permit at the gate by credit card. US$106.20 + 23,600 TS. I didn’t go down into the crater $295/vehicle. To put this into perspective, a US National Park pass for one year allowing unlimited entries to all national parks in the US is $85 (about the same for Canada). The one-day pass to go into the crater is $422.20 X 365 = 154,103 ÷ 85 = 1,813 times or 181,300 % more expensive. Tanzania has priced itself out of the national park business.
Immediately after entering the gate, the road turns into hard-packed dirt, rounded to allow water drainage (for this price, they don’t even provide pavement!!). Within a few km is the first viewpoint, and because of the cloud, I could not see 50m ahead of me. Hopefully, the cloud will clear by the time I will be driving back. I passed two large trucks in those first few km, I suppose taking freight to Serengeti.
The road down into the crater and the east rim of the park takes off to the right. It was about 52km to Oldavai from the viewpoint.
I saw 4 female waterbuck (large, brown with white tail patch), and 3 cape buffalo. Pass several lodges (Rhino Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, ), public campsites (Simba A), several special campsites (Simba B), a policeman, several “workers”, many Maasai, many Land Cruisers, vans, all in a total white out. The jungle changed into grassland.
I stopped briefly, but then could not start the car – there was no battery power and I assumed that there was a loose battery terminal. Then I discovered that there was no hood latch!!!!! A Maasai guy pulled back the plastic cover, reached in, and found a small lever to open the hood. The left terminal was very loose and I stopped a lodge land cruiser – the terminal was already tight but he cut a piece of copper wire and wedged it into the terminal – and the car started.
At the second viewpoint, the cloud was mostly clear and there were reasonable views down into the crater with its big lake.
I gave the Maasai guy a ride to his village (there are 56 Maasai villages in the park). At his village, I asked to see it and we walked down. We were met by 5 guys, one his brother and also obviously the son of the chief. The chief has 12 wives and there are 46 brothers. The other brother would not let me enter unless I paid $20. There are two round stockades of rough poles, one for cattle and the other for houses – round mud/wattle walls and roofs on the perimeter of the stockade. Inside was a big clear area with a large circle of stands holding jewelry for sale. An older woman was adding mud to the walls. The area around the village was big and open grassland, all very verdant and green.
On the descent down from the crater, I saw 13 giraffes and 4 zebra. After it flattened out, there was a herd of wildebeest with 5 zebras,
Land Rovers serve as transport for the locals and are always blasting by on the dusty roads. The roads are rough washboard with occasional areas of potholes and water channels.
The Maasai always offer village tours with dancing. One was $50 (the mzunga price) $25 for Tanzanians!
The property has global importance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally threatened species, such as the black Rhino, the density of wildlife inhabiting the area, and the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles and other animals into the northern plains. Extensive archaeological research has also yielded a long sequence of evidence of human evolution and human-environment dynamics, including early hominid footprints dating back 3.6 million years.
The Ngorongoro Crater was named by the Maasai people, the original inhabitants, to mean the gift of life – lush and green, with jungles along the crater rim and green grasses in an otherwise savannah-like Rift Valley. The crater is the world’s largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera, and was named one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa.
Approximately 25,000 animals live in the crater, and it is one of the best places in Tanzania to see the critically endangered black rhino and one of the the densest known population of Masai lions.
You can see it in a day. The crater is pretty small at 8,292 km2 (3,202 sq mi), and there aren’t a lot of places to hide, so the animals are everywhere, in plain sight. In almost any direction you look, you’ll see zebra, wildebeest, elephants, lions, and rhinos.
If you have the money, stay on the rim at one of the lodges to see the sunset. Then leave as early as possible to drive into the Ngorongoro Crater. Later in the day, the animals get lazy and tired and try to hide from the heat, many cars arrive so the crater gets crowded, and the light gets quite harsh for photos. Guides have radios to communicate with other guides to find the best places to see animals. If you self-drive, there is a $300 vehicle fee plus the $70 per person park fee. The safari tracks on the crater floor are well-maintained and signposted, and it’s basically impossible to get lost. There are designated picnic areas to eat.
Driving times to the Ngorongoro are as follows: Arusha – Loduare Gate (NCA entrance); crater rim: 3-4 hours; Loduare Gate to Ngorongoro Crater entrance: 1.5 hours; Ngorongoro Crater entrance to Naabi Hill Gate (Serengeti entrance): 3-4 hours.
Note that it’s about a 3-4 hour drive from the NCA Simba Public Campsite to Naabi Gate Serengeti (which is also the exit of the NCA). So if you want to avoid paying the NCA twice, whilst staying overnight in the NCA, you have to time your visit wisely and take the 3-4 hour drive into account to exit the NCA.
Ngorongoro Crater is about 185 km from Arusha by road. There are daily flights from Arusha to Lake Manyara Airstrip and then a scenic one-and-a-half-hour trip to the Ngorongoro Crater. The gates into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m., but movement is allowed after dark between the campsites and the lodges.
Entrance fees. The entrance permits for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Crater can’t be arranged and paid for on arrival at the park gate. You must get the NCA reservation permit, and the actual permit needs to be paid for in cash at the bank or by credit card at the entrance to the park.
Go to the Ngorongoro Tourism Centre in Arusha. The Ngorongoro Conversation Area Authority Office is on the ground floor. Entrance for a non-resident is $70.80 per person. The vehicle entry fee for a locally registered vehicle is 23,600 TS ($10) per day for a RAV4 (less than 2000 kg which my vehicle is) and 41,300 TSH ($20) per day for a Landcruiser. To enter the crater, you have to pay the additional Crater Service Fee of $295 per vehicle (not per person – that is my problem – I am alone) each time you go down the crater. Public campsites are $35 per person/night. Special campsites are $50 per person/night.
Another possibility is to enter the park, drive around the rim (but not enter the crater itself), go to Olduvai Gorge (see the museum), see the great wildebeest migration and return on the same day and exit the park. Because I did not want to pay the US$295 fee to enter the park, this is what I did.
A Ngorongoro Crater tour is usually combined with a safari in neighboring Serengeti National Park. The distance by road from Serengeti to Ngorongoro is just under an hour and a half.
Accommodation. Karatu is a nice and affordable place to base yourself from when visiting the NCA and the Ngorongoro Crater. If you want to stay inside the NCA, the most affordable option is Simba Public Campsite A, on the crater rim. The rest of the campsites on the crater rim are so-called ‘special campsites, largely reserved by private safari companies, who bid on them for the season. As an individual traveller, you won’t be able to stay there. The less interesting special campsites are not taken by the safari companies and are available for booking by individual travelers. The most affordable lodge on the crater rim is Rhino Lodge – it doesn’t have a view though. All the other lodges are very expensive.
I entered the park at 7 am. 23 km from the last bit of the crater is the turnoff to Oldavai (5km to the museum and 6 km to the gorge). There is a large monument with the skulls of both the below hominins. Shifting Sands is 16 km from here.
There was a group of 20 Canadians from S Ontario here.
Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important palaeoanthropology sites in the world. The gorge is steep-sided, 48 km long, and up to 100 m across. It is renowned for the early hominin fossils discovered here – the first known fossil remains of two bipedal hominin species, both dating to approximately 1.84 million years, Paranthopus boisei (Zinthranopus or “Nutcracker Man – brain size 500 cc, a pronounced sagittal crest for the attachment of powerful chewing muscles, a massive lower jaw with hug cheek teeth twice the size of modern humans. Became extinct by about 1.4 million years ago. The skull was found by Mary Leakey in 1959.
Narbir Soit (Stone Tool Hills). Two small borgs one km north of the gorge. Used as a stone source for the Early to Late Stone Age.
Shifting Sands. A single, black, isolated shifting volcanic ash dune, it is 5 m tall and 100 m long. It moves slowly west at an average of 17 m per year without changing its shape. Due to its high iron content, it is highly magnetic. This means that the dune clings together, and acts as a single unit as it slowly moves across the landscape.
Bao Picnic Site. A board game played by Stone Bowl Peoples over the past 3000 years. There are two rows of circular indentations carved in a quartzite outcrop on top of a small inselborg near Shifting Sands.
Laetoli Footprints. Hominid footprints of our genetic ancestors have been found in sedimentary rock 3.7 million years old. The footprints were made by four individuals in volcanic ash that hardened. They are one of the first evidence of bipedalism. $23.60.
Get and pay for permits at Ngorongoro Information Centre Arusha +255 27 2503339.
Nasera Rock. 27 km north of Olduvai, it is a 50 m high granite inselborg.
I then made a foolish decision. After Olduvai, I decided to drive the 34 km to Serengeti (in Tanzania – Lake). The road was an atrocious washboard and very hard on the car. I did see a lot of animals, large herds of wildebeest (the Great Migration was in full swing), often with zebra. There were also many Thomson’s gazelle and antelope.
I entered Naabi Hill Gate, and paid my park fee of US$82.60 for a 24-hour pass. The road was atrocious (even worse than the road from Olduvai) and I became worried about the car. I only drove a few kilometres inside the park and was seeing virtually what I had seen coming from Olduvai so I turned around to go back to Ngorongoro.
Serengeti National Park WHS. The vast plains of the Serengeti comprise 1.5 million ha of savannah. The annual migration to permanent water holes of two million wildebeests plus hundreds of thousands of gazelles and zebras – followed by their predators in their annual migration in search of pasture and water – is one of the most impressive nature spectacles in the world. The biological diversity of the park is very high with at least four globally threatened or endangered animal species: black rhinoceros, elephant, wild dog, and cheetah.
Serengeti’s scenery is renowned for its grassland plains in the southeast where the wildebeest breed. The northern part is more hilly and rocky where the majority of hills and woodlands occur. This is the best place to find an elephant and a giraffe. To the west, valleys, rivers and forest can be found. This area is home to crocodiles and hippopotamuses. The hippo pool located near this region is a guaranteed place to see hippos sleeping and wallering around. where the majority of hills and woodlands occur. Several areas in the Serengeti are dotted with ‘koppies’, granite outcrops rising up from the plains. It’s an immense landscape and quite stunning – big sky country that feels like untamed wilderness. Although the majority of the park is open plains, the elevation does vary from 3,000 to 6,000 feet (914 to 1,828 m).
A 1,000 km long annual circular trek spanning the two adjacent countries of Kenya and Tanzania through an ‘endless plains’: 25,000km2 of treeless expanses of spectacularly flat short grasslands dotted with rocky outcrops (kopjes) interspersed with rivers and woodlands.
Volcanic soils combined with the migration results in one of the most productive ecosystems on earth, sustaining the largest number of ungulates and the highest concentration of large predators in the world. The ecosystem supports 2 million wildebeests, 900,000 Thomson’s gazelles and 300,000 zebras as the dominant herds. Other herbivores include 7,000 elands, 27,000 topis, 18,000 hartebeests, 70,000 buffalos, 4,000 giraffes, 15,000 warthogs, 3,000 waterbucks, 2,700 elephants, 500 hippopotamuses, 200 black rhinoceroses, 10 species of antelope and 10 species of primate. Major predators include 4,000 lions, 1000 leopards, 225 cheetahs, 3,500 spotted hyenas and 300 wild dogs. Of these, the black rhino, leopard, African elephant and cheetah are on the Red List. 500 species of birds including the highest ostrich population in Tanzania and probably Africa.
Overall, wildlife watchers are better off timing their trip to coincide with the drier months (June to October). Aim for June and July if you can, as the incredible wildebeest migration usually tramples the plains at this time. If you’re keen on seeing predators in action, visit in late January or February. This is the hiatus in the annual rains, when the wildebeests calve.
If you are planning to visit the Serengeti and just transit through the NCA, you still have to pay the NCA fee twice: on your way going to the Serengeti and on your way back from the Serengeti. The only way to avoid paying the NCA fee twice is by exiting/entering the Serengeti via Klein’s gate on the North East, on your way to/from Lake Natron. Its a very scenic route from Kleins Gate to Lake Natron, but not enjoyed by everyone, as it has some pretty bad stretches and your drive is in a remote area.
Driving through Serengeti yourself. Drive from the West entrance (thousands of Wildebeest migrating in season) to Klein’s gate. A 1650 kgs costs $10 entrance fee (and $81 personal fee) for a Tanzanian registered car. Foreign vehicles pay $40 up to 2000kgs, $150 up to 3000kgs A 4×4 is good to handle the rough road.
Sleep outside the park: JM Hotel 5 minutes outside the west gate, 20,000 TS
On the other side in Wasso for 30.000.
Guided tours may be recommended to explain the animals, habitat find some animals.
On my way back from Serengeti and just before reaching Ngorongoro, my right rear tire blew. The tire had a large shredded area. The left rear tire was also extremely low. Several vehicles stopped and helped change the tires. A tour guide said there was a tire repair shop 3 km away and I drove slowly, but ended up shredding this tire as it was much farther than 3 km. This is an impossible situation. Two guys in a truck arrived, we took off the second flat and drove into Kataba. A group of Maasai offered to look after the car for 20,000. Two new tires were 600,000 Tsh. I gave the guy who drove me 40,000 Tsh. They then took me to the bus area and I paid a tour operator 200,000 to drive me back to the car. At the park gate, I paid 35,000 Tsh for the entry for his car. He helped me change the two tires and we were back at the park gate by 18:10.
In Kataba, I bought some groceries, had a good pizza for dinner and returned to the same hotel as last night.
So the foolish decision to see Serengeti cost me 900,000 Tsh (about CA$450)
ON Ava Garden Backpackers. In the morning I had a long talk with the host, a super nice guy with great English. He had a degree in wildlife management but was never able to get a job – these countries are all about who you know – it is so unfortunate. I encouraged him to look at immigrating to Canada which is much more about skills and qualifications. I wish him good luck.
Tananjire NP. The name of the park originates from the Tarangire River that crosses the park. The Tarangire River is the primary source of fresh water for wild animals in the Tarangire Ecosystem during the annual dry season. The Tarangire Ecosystem is defined by the long-distance migration of wildebeest and zebras. During the dry season thousands of animals concentrate in Tarangire National Park from the surrounding wet-season dispersal and calving areas.
It covers an area of approximately 2,850 square km. The landscape is composed of granitic ridges, river valleys, and swamps. Vegetation is a mix of Acacia woodland, Combretum woodland, seasonally flooded grassland, and baobab trees.
The park is famous for its high density of elephants and baobab trees. Visitors to the park in the June to November dry season can expect to see large herds of thousands of zebra, wildebeest, and cape buffalo. Other common resident animals include waterbuck, giraffe, dik dik, impala, eland, Grant’s gazelle, vervet monkey, banded mongoose, and olive baboon. Predators in Tarangire include lions. leopard, caracal, honey badger, and lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, honey badger, and African wild dog.
The oldest known elephant to give birth to twins is found in Tarangire. The recent birth of elephant twins in the Tarangire National Park of Tanzania is a great example of how the birth of these two healthy and thriving twins can beat the odds.
Home to more than 550 bird species, the park is a haven for bird enthusiasts. The park is also famous for the termite mounds that dot the landscape. Those that have been abandoned are often home to dwarf mongooses. In 2015, a giraffe that is white due to leucism was spotted in the park.
I didn’t see
Empakaai Crater: the stunning but relatively unknown Empakaai Crater lies some 40km northeast of its famous neighbour, the Ngorongoro Crater. From the moment you arrive at Empakaai, you will be treated to splendid views of the Empakaai Crater as well as a glimpse of Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania’s most active volcano. It’s a 45-minute descent into the crater through thick, mountainous forest. Down on the crater floor, there’s superb birding around the lake, and the chance to see flamingos as well as some big game like buffalo, hyena, and elephant.
Gol Mountains, meaning Mountains of God, provides a surreal wilderness environment of stark, pink cliffs, enclosing the Angata Kiti pass, providing a bottleneck for the annual Great Migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra. This remains one of the most traditional corners of Tanzania, home to the Masaai, who still kill lions as their rite of passage into warriorhood, and who still live outside the cash economy. Don’t think you can go on a ”cultural tour, visiting the Masaai” as if they are some kind of bucket-list item to visit, and have a genuine experience. But if you go on a (multiple) guided walking safari with a good tour guide, you for sure will learn a lot about this spiritual place.
Ushongo Beach
Olpopongi Maasai Cultural Village and Museum
Day 8 Sun Apr 30
I drove east and then south to Kolo (Kondoa Rock-art site) and inward to Dodoma. The road was great with relatively little traffic and not many towns. Most did not have traffic police.
Lake Manyara
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TANZANIA – CENTRAL (Dodoma, Singida, Morogoro)
Kondoa Rock-Art Sites WHS. A series of ancient paintings on rock shelter walls in central Tanzania nine kilometres east of the main highway (T5) from Dodoma to Babati.
The landscape is large piled granite boulders on the western rim of the Maasai steppe and form rock shelters facing away from prevailing winds. These rock shelters often have flat surfaces due to rifting, and these surfaces are where the paintings are found, protected from weathering.
These paintings are still part of a living tradition of creation and use by both Sandawe in their simbó healing ceremonies, and by Maasai people in ritual feasting. About 1970, Sandawe men were still making rock paintings. The reasons were magical (depicting the animal that the painter intended to kill), casual, and sacrificial (on specific clan-spirit hills and depicting rain-making and healing ceremonies).
The paintings depict elongated people, animals, and hunting scenes. Older paintings are generally red hunter-gatherers superimposed by Bantu white cattle.
Individual sites are include Kisese II Rockshelter: paintings, beads, lithics, pottery, and other artifacts. Used for the burial of seven Holocene individuals. Evidence of occupation on the floors dated to more than 40,000 years ago.
One of the paintings depicts a human figure holding a stick and an elephant. Nash commented on the peaceful posture of the human, doubting that the drawing was intended to depict a hunting scene. Other paintings portray giraffes, a possible rhinoceros fragment, a humanoid figure composed of concentric circles in the head and continuous lines from the top of the head to the rest of the body, and some other figures whose intended depictions were unclear.
This may be the most unusual access for an WHS. Google Maps puts you in the middle of a field several kilometres from the site. If you look on Google Maps, the sites are marked in blue in the correct location. Drive though the city of Kolo to the middle of town looking for the office on the east side of the road. Go in, pay and then there is a long involved registration process first in a book and then on a phone. The guide came along in my car. It is 8.5 km from the office and a high clearance vehicle with AWD is probably necessary to navigate the last 3.5 km. Tuen east on the road just north of the office and drive for 5 km on a good dirt road. Then turn south on a rough rocky, single track road. A guard lets you through the gate and registers you again. The road crosses the dry Kolo river (that could prevent any access in flood) and then crosses some steep rocky areas 3.5 km to a parking area.
Climb a steep cement/rock path to the the first site (an animal, 3 yellow stick figures carrying fruit, and two red hunters with “inverted baskets” on their heads), return a ways on a level area and climb up again to the second site in a large rock overhand (stick giraffe, more hunters with “baskets”). The explanation for the “baskets” is that they are a headdress mimicking an ostrich. Then descend to the left to the third site (dancing or romantic site with 2 pairs of couples embracing). Note that my description of the art bears no resemblance to the write-up I obtained from Worldheritagesite.org.
If one does not have a car that could drive there, the guide said you could rent one for 100,000 Tsh. Another option was to walk the 8.5 km which the guide was all too willing to do (ridiculous). Compared to other rock art sites (south Algeria in the Sahara, these were of mediocre quality. 27,000 Tsh
At the site were 3 older Canadian women, two of them amazingly from the same city I am from. They were very impressed.
DODOMA (pop 411,000) is the national capital of Tanzania In 1974, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved to Dodoma for social and economic reasons and to centralise the capital within the country. It became the official capital in 1996. Much of the initial design did not come to fruition for a long time. As a result, Dar es Salaam remains the commercial capital of Tanzania and still retains the state house Ikulu, and a large number of government functions.
It is 453 km west of Dar es Salaam and 441 kilometres (274 mi) south of Arusha,
Originally a small market town, it was founded in 1907 by German colonists during construction of the Tanzanian central railway.
Airports: Dodoma (DOD)
National Mosque. A lovely mosque apparently donated by Ghadafi of Libya. It is pink with yellow accents, has a single minaret and a large gold dome. The nice courtyard has a black/orange tiled dome. Inside the main prayer room is the large white central dome with a very large chandelier. The mihrab is unusual with a small chamber topped by a big wood case.
Geological Survey Museum. Details the geology and mineralogy of Tanzania with several scientific experts available. 12,000 Tsh
ON Good Homes Apartment 1. A beautiful, modern tastefully appointed full apartment. A great value for US$17 and the cheapest in Dodoma. A little out of the way on a bad road.
Day 9 Mon May 1
The drive to Tanzania West was over 1000 km so I decided to skip it and drive south through the highlands to Kitwa.
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TANZANIA – HIGHLANDS (Mbeya, Iringa, Ruvuma, Njombe, Songwe, Rukwa)
Borders: Malawi-Tanzania, Mozambique-Tanzania, Tanzania-Zambia
IRINGA (pop 151,345 2012). Iringa has been one of the coldest regions in Tanzania that has attracted a lot of tourists from colder regions abroad, especially Western Europe. Iringa also hosts one of Africa’s largest national parks the Ruaha National Park.
The town stretches along a hilltop overlooking the Little Ruaha River to the south and spreads along ridges and valleys to the north. Iringa is in the Udzungwa Mountains, and the altitude of the town’s environs is more than 1,550 metres (5,090 ft) above sea level. The months of June, July, and August can see low temperatures near freezing. The Tanzam Highway passes through the valley below the town. Dar es Salaam is 502 km.
Isimila Stone Age site lies about 20 km to the southwest, and contains archeological artifacts, particularly stone tools, from 70,000 years ago.
Iringa Region is home to the Hehe people. After their defeat at Lugalo by the Hehe, led by Chief Mkwawa, the Germans built a military station.
Iringa has a well-established industrial base, including food processing and logistics industries. Iringa is known for its woven baskets, made from local reeds best bought at the Neema Crafts Centre.
One of the best restaurants is at the Neems Crafts Centre. I met a Dutch woman and we decided to drive to Kitwa together, but ended up parting ways at Sogea.
Commonwealth War Cemetery. Most graves are from WWI and South Africa + 18 German graves. Some civilian graves from the 50s and 60s.
Iringa Boma. In a lovely stone building built by the Germans in 1906, the displays are on Stone Age, weapons, Chief Mkwawa, and ethnography.
MAKAMBAKO
NJOMBE
ON Dosmesa. A lovely small hotel with a great restaurant.
Day 10 Tue May 2
We were up at 7 and visited a friend of Monique’s at 8 who lives in Njombe. It was 231 km from Songea.
SONGEA
We had lunch and I drove Monique to the bus station. She was going to Lake Malawi.
Without Monique, I turned east towards the coast. Initially, the road was very windy and I cut many corners. The city of Namdembo went along forever, a single row of tiny brick houses on each side of the road. There was almost no traffic and almost all of that was big trucks. I passed many on blind curves. About halfway, I went through a wildlife corridor and a speed limit of 50 for 17 km. It was jungle forever. I ignored it.
The only highlight was a group of monoliths, one very high and steep-sided. I basically drove as fast as I could, The many villages all had speed signs, but I never saw a policeman and basically cruised through them at 80.
It was a long 407 km to Maswan, a fairly large village. It got dark and I went to the only accommodation marked.
ON Maswan Lodge. A very basic place (and the only place to stay) is 12,000 Tsh. I tried to find some food. there were about 15 men sitting around some small tables drinking coffee. I tried some plantain with salt and some salsa – not very good. A lady outside the guesthouse made me hot water for coffee (2000 Tsh) over a charcoal fire. I sat outside and read for a while as it was only 7:30.
Day 11 Wed May 2
The plan was still to take the train from Dar to Zambia on Friday.
I was up early and returned to Tanzania East (Dar es Salam)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Dar Es Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi
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TANZANIA – WEST (Kigoma, Katavi, Tabora)
Borders: Burundi-Tanzania, Tanzania mainland (sea border/port/lake)
Gombe National Park Tentative WHS (27/05/1997) is mountainous 52 sq.km. of the western rift escarpment on lake Tanganyika. The valleys support Guinea – Congolean forests, while the driar upper slopes are clothed with miombo (Brachystegia) woodland of Zambezian type. These two floras mingle as semi-deciduous forests on the valley – sides. this productive mosaic provides a rich habitat for forest mammals especially primates (cereopithecus, colubus), but Gombe is chiefly known and valued for its chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes achwernfurthii), and the results of Dr Jane Goodall’s study of them over thirty years. Present hazards to this population include disease and the pressure of a dense local human population now – increased by the influx of refugees.