Okay friends, I have to apologize for how long it took me to post this. This is basically a week late, but the experience was so incredible I had to do it justice by writing a lot! :) ....here it is!....
So I haven’t been able to post until now because for the last three days I was on safari! I will start off by saying that it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had, and it was nice to have a truly African adventure over the weekend. First thing that happened was getting in the cars. Pristine came to pick us up after lunch on Friday and we all hopped in and got ready for long ride. We drove out of Moshi and through Arusha. We stopped at the Shoprite in Arusha (again) and we all grabbed some snacks for the weekend. We then drove a long way out of the city. We went toward Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater and our campsite, which was located 15 minutes away from Lake Manyara.
Before we got to the campsite, however, we stopped at a traditional Massai village and we visited with the people and learned about their way of life. This was a very interesting cultural experience. Caitlin commented on the way it felt to be there and she said that it really felt like we were in Africa. I felt this way too – this was my first personal glimpse into tribal life. I understand that this tribe caters to safari companies and that they were prepared for us to come, but when I got the tour of the homes and heard their songs I still felt as though I understood more about Massai culture. The people wear very bright colors and have large gauged ears. The women hang heavy beaded earrings through their gauges and on the top of their ears. The men have staffs and they are the leaders of the tribes. The Massai are polygamists, so the men can have many wives. Usually the men have around ten wives and each wife is paid for in cows, which are given to the man. Another interesting thing about the cow dowry is that the most recent wife is the one who pays for the next wife. For instance if the man seeks to have a second wife, the first wife (or her family) gives the amount of cows that the second wife costs to the husband. I also found out that the running rate for wives is 300 cows. When we were getting ready to leave my friend TaChyla was stopped by the chief’s son Joseph and told that she could have 1,500 cows if she would be his wife! So hilarious! She kindly declined J Amanda was also asked if she would marry one of the men’s brothers and she told him that she already had cows because she grew up on a farm. I think the men like to ask the tourists these questions every time a group comes in, but it was funny anyway. The children in the village were very cute! They were extremely dusty, but very beautiful – as were the women. Some of the women were in their late seventies! It was amazing to see all of the women gather together and sing and dance in a line.
When we got into the village the women began to sing a tribal song. The men sang a undertone for the song that was deep and guttural. The song had beautiful harmonies and tones. All of the women participated and they even had us participate! We each wore these beautiful beaded collars that we bounced up and down with our shoulders. Then, throughout the song we each got to come and jump with one of the women as a part of the tribal dance. The children jumped around and the men would jump very high during the dance. After the dance we were split into two groups and each group was led into one of the huts. The huts create the perimeter of the village and are surrounded by a fence made of sticks. Each of the circular huts is made of mud with a stick roof and it takes two weeks for each hut to be completed. The wives of the chief live in each of the huts and they build each of them as well. You enter into the hut through a small door and walk around the curve into the circular room. Within the room is a flame, a tiny hole that is used as a window, a seat and sticks with cloth on top that comprise the bed area. This is where each wife sleeps with her children.
Before we got to the campsite, however, we stopped at a traditional Massai village and we visited with the people and learned about their way of life. This was a very interesting cultural experience. Caitlin commented on the way it felt to be there and she said that it really felt like we were in Africa. I felt this way too – this was my first personal glimpse into tribal life. I understand that this tribe caters to safari companies and that they were prepared for us to come, but when I got the tour of the homes and heard their songs I still felt as though I understood more about Massai culture. The people wear very bright colors and have large gauged ears. The women hang heavy beaded earrings through their gauges and on the top of their ears. The men have staffs and they are the leaders of the tribes. The Massai are polygamists, so the men can have many wives. Usually the men have around ten wives and each wife is paid for in cows, which are given to the man. Another interesting thing about the cow dowry is that the most recent wife is the one who pays for the next wife. For instance if the man seeks to have a second wife, the first wife (or her family) gives the amount of cows that the second wife costs to the husband. I also found out that the running rate for wives is 300 cows. When we were getting ready to leave my friend TaChyla was stopped by the chief’s son Joseph and told that she could have 1,500 cows if she would be his wife! So hilarious! She kindly declined J Amanda was also asked if she would marry one of the men’s brothers and she told him that she already had cows because she grew up on a farm. I think the men like to ask the tourists these questions every time a group comes in, but it was funny anyway. The children in the village were very cute! They were extremely dusty, but very beautiful – as were the women. Some of the women were in their late seventies! It was amazing to see all of the women gather together and sing and dance in a line.
When we got into the village the women began to sing a tribal song. The men sang a undertone for the song that was deep and guttural. The song had beautiful harmonies and tones. All of the women participated and they even had us participate! We each wore these beautiful beaded collars that we bounced up and down with our shoulders. Then, throughout the song we each got to come and jump with one of the women as a part of the tribal dance. The children jumped around and the men would jump very high during the dance. After the dance we were split into two groups and each group was led into one of the huts. The huts create the perimeter of the village and are surrounded by a fence made of sticks. Each of the circular huts is made of mud with a stick roof and it takes two weeks for each hut to be completed. The wives of the chief live in each of the huts and they build each of them as well. You enter into the hut through a small door and walk around the curve into the circular room. Within the room is a flame, a tiny hole that is used as a window, a seat and sticks with cloth on top that comprise the bed area. This is where each wife sleeps with her children.
Near the entrance is an area where they keep the small cows at night so that they don’t get trampled or hurt overnight. In the center of the village is another enclosed space in which the people keep the animals. Around the edge of this enclosure they have stands upon which the women sell their handmade jewelry and trinkets. After being taught about the Massai way of life while within the huts we were given an opportunity to buy some things from the women before we left. We then played with some of the kids and then got in the cars and headed to the campsite. It was very dusty there, and it was amazing to see the kids covered in dust. They also had flies all over them, and it didn’t seem to faze them. My kids at school will often have flies on their heads or faces and not mind, but these kids had them on their eyes and didn’t care at all! It was really interesting. I could tell that this tribe sees tourists often, but I was very interested in actually seeing their way of life. I hope I can visit another village before I come home…I am sure I will. I know the Massai are the only tribe that still practice FGM, and the men have a lot of liberty in how they treat their wives and other people’s wives. It is a completely different wa of life from mine and also from other Tanzanians, but it is a very prevalent tribe and a very interesting one.
After visiting the Massai tribe we went to our camp ground. It is called Haven Campsite and is close to Lake Manyara. While driving our guide Mussa pointed out the direction of Lake Manyara and said it was over on our right. Immediately our friend Caroline began to take pictures of the side of the road where a small pond was in the distance. After a minute Becca pointed out that the lake was on the horizon (it is huge) and we all began to laugh J. This was such a good moment for Caroline. Now when I say that we were camping you might be imagining a bunch of tents in the woods with sleeping bags, a campfire and some camping equipment. While we did have tents and a great campfire, I won’t fool you by pretending that we were roughing it. In the campsite there are mzungu toilets, showers and each tent is placed on a concrete platform that has a rug, two chairs and a light outside the tent. Inside the tent are two comfortable beds with wooden frames and a very nice, large tent. Our eating area had a banana tree rooftop (the branches) and we ate at a large table surrounded by comfortable seating. There was a television nearby in which the staff watched a lot of football and a open area for relaxing and a place to wash your hands next to the dinner table.
Once we got to the campsite we picked our tents and Becca and I put our stuff in our tent and got organized. We then all went to the dinner table where there was sweet popcorn (it tasted like Kettle Corn – so yumzoars) and mix for hot chocolate and the always fun instant coffee. After we ate a lot of popcorn and talked a lot the food was brought out. This was a deceptive moment because it was brought out in waves. First we had zucchini soup, which, of course, was amazing. All of the soup here is unbelievable and it always has such good flavor! We then were given yummy vegetables and the usual African dinner of meat with sauce and rice. It was all very good. Afterward we all sat around and talked excitedly about the Safari the next morning, then we went down to the campfire. The campfire was located on the edge of a small cliff that overlooked the land and allowed you to see all the way to the hills/mountains on the horizon. When we had been driving toward the campsite it suddenly felt like we were really in Africa. It felt like we had been entering into the Lion King! The view from the cliff really encapsulated this idea by overlooking the land and feeling so close to the sky. The stars here are unbelievable. Due to the location beneath the equator, the big dipper is upside down here! Also, when you are looking at the stars you feel very close to them, and this just enhances the feeling of really being in Africa. During our campfire time we also saw the most amazing moonrise I have ever experienced. It will be impossible to recapture the beauty of it, but I will definitely try. So we were chatting and then suddenly Rachel pointed past us and said, “Is that the moon?” and we all turned to see the biggest, and most bright moon I have ever seen. It was a bright orange color and it illuminated the hills far on the distant horizon as well as the entire sky. It was so beautiful I went back to my tent and wrote some Africa/moon inspired poems! We all couldn’t believe how incredible it was and we just watched it rise for a few minutes. Once it had found its place in the sky was still very big and bright. I enjoyed looking at it and really seeing its craters and its shape. After this experience we all went to bed. I slept well except that I woke up freezing (I kicked off the covers, which I’ve found is something I do everywhere! Who knew it would become an inconvenience?) and there were a lot of foreign and loud noises outside the tent so I had a hard time falling back to sleep. Otherwise it was fantastic!
The next morning we set out for Ngorongoro Crater. It took around twenty minutes to reach the crater’s entrance gate, during which we talked and got really excited about the animals we wanted to see. Naturally I just told everyone I would freak out once we saw an elephant (believe me, I did). We spent a few minutes in the visitor’s center while the guide’s paid for us to get into the area and then we were off! Ngorongoro Crater is a Conservation area, as opposed to being a national park. This means that people can live within the area as long as they do not disrupt the wildlife or their habitat within the crater. The area contains mostly Massai people who take their cows down into the higher regions of the crater to feed and they live very near the top, which is far away from most of the wildlife. We drove for quite some time before we were actually inside the crater and we only passed a few wildebeest and zebra on the way down. Naturally we all took a lot of pictures of these animals as they were the first ones we saw, so going back through my photos and seeing a lot of unnecessary photos of wildebeest has been amusing. We drove along a path that led into the crater and got out for a minute. We all took pictures in front of the wildebeest nearby and then we hopped back in and set off on our safari! We popped the top of the car and we all stood on our seats in order to get a good view of the animals. The land looked empty when we were driving in, but once we got into the crater we saw a lot of animals! The crater was filled with a lot of flat grassland and it had a few areas that were wooded. We started out by driving on a path and we saw a lot of wildebeest, zebra and impala. It wasn’t until we got near the wooded area that we saw a new animal. We saw a bird with orange-red eyes! It was really big and walked toward our car and we got a lot of pictures of it. Once we entered into the wooded area we saw a lot of monkeys and then as we were driving up a hill Caitlin spotted an elephant! It was the most amazing thing of my life. I truly almost had a heart attack. Even though I have seen all of these animals in the zoo, the feeling of seeing them in their natural habitat and being able to be close to them and really see them was incredible. I just loved the feeling of being with my friends and sharing the experience of seeing these animals! It was almost surreal, I felt like I was really in Africa out in the wild. I know I actually was doing this, but the feeling of it was novel and wonderful.
Anyway, after we passed the first elephant we went out of the wooded area and back into the open. Not long after the elephant we saw some hyena resting beneath a small ridge. We didn’t notice it until it poked its head above the ridge’s edge and then they came out of the spot where they were resting. I had previously thought that hyenas were ugly (thanks to the Lion King) but I saw this one and he was adorable! J Not long after this we spotted two lions sleeping on the road. This was an amazing moment for Becca because she is a huge lion lover (similar to how I am with elephants). We got so close to them we could nearly touch them! They were both pretty passed out, but we got them to wake up and stretch a little bit. They were honestly stunning. They had beautiful manes and gigantic paws. One of them began to lick and gnaw at his paw and it totally reminded me of Fishy! I couldn’t believe how big and beautiful they were.
Right after we passed the first two lions Becca mentioned that if she saw a lion cub she could die in peace. Those must have been magic words because immediately after that we saw a few lionesses, a teenage male and a little cub that was suckling! It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen! We took around a thousand photographs here and the lions came and laid in the shade of our trucks! It was so fun to see them up close and be able to be a mere arm reach away! While we were stopped here we also got to see some black rhinos! They were in the distance, but they ended up coming close enough for us to get some good pictures of them. The black rhino can only be found in Tanzania, and it is very rare to see them even when on a safari. So, we got really lucky to be able to see them. We then saw another elephant! I was blown away. It was walking quite calmly toward an area that had a lot of foliage to munch on. It was so close to the truck I almost passed out. It was incredible. J After we saw the elephant we drove and then parked by a small lake that had a lot of hippos in it! This area was stunningly beautiful. There were wild zebra and wildebeest roaming aimlessly behind us, a beautiful tree next to the water with the hippos in it, There was also a copious amount of beautiful birds flying around and while we were eating lunch in the car Rachel and I decided to share some of our bread with them. While I was holding a piece in my hand one of the small yellow birds came and got it right out of my fingers!!
After lunch we continued to drive and we looked for cheetah and other new animals. Caroline was in the other car and told us she spotted a serval cat, but we didn’t see it. The rest of our drive was mostly admiring the beauty of the crater as the sun began to mosey its way down toward the skyline. We all talked about how beautiful it was and how lucky we were to see so many animals! As we left the crater we took a few more pictures and we stopped near the top to take some of each other. The drive back up was insane – the paths cut across the crater’s edge and it was so steep! Mussa had us look back after we were at the top and our paths were ridiculous! We were joking that we were glad to have each other just in case we died haha. All in all, Ngorongoro Crater was unbelievable. It left us all wanting to go back and it really got us excited for Lake Manyara the next day.
After the crater we stopped at a Massai market and it was gigantic. It had rows upon rows of tables, a back table and many things hanging on the walls. Everything was smashed onto the tables so it was almost an optical illusion. I found some cool necklaces, and Becca found a really beautiful elephant! I’m excited to get some sweet elephants. After we got back to the campsite we washed up, ate a fantastic meal with yummy chips and tilapia and then we went back to the campfire. This night I sang some songs because the Pristine guys asked me too and Becca found some crazy animal shapes in the fire haha. J
The next morning we woke up at 5:45 so that we could go by 6:30. While we were at breakfast we witnessed a stunning sunrise! I got a few pictures of it, but it is really hard to describe how beautiful it was! We then ate and hurried to get our stuff in the car. I packed all of my stuff to go home so I was mega prepared haha. We then set off for Lake Manyara. It is only a fifteen-minute drive to the National Park so we arrived really early. The guides wanted us to see the hippos out of the water, hence our early departure. Once we got there it was very chilly and we had to be very quiet. Everytime we entered into the safari areas it seriously felt like we were going to Jurassic Park. I honestly felt like I was getting ready to snap some pictures of a raptor or something. Anyway, we went into the park and this experience was very different from the crater experience. Here everything was wooded and very quiet. Not long after we drove in we encountered some baboons. As we continued to drive we saw some small black monkeys and then before we knew it there were baboons all over the road! It was funny to watch them fighting and playing with each other. Throughout the entire park there were copious amounts of monkeys. This made sense because most of it was very forest-like. We drove for a long time before we saw anything other than a monkey and, lucky me, it was a family of elephants! They were very hidden by the trees but way awesome nonetheless. We also saw some giraffes just standing quietly in the trees. We all kept our eyes peeled looking for a tree-climbing lion, but we never saw one. This was disappointing, but we saw a lot of other cool things! At Lake Manyara we saw gazelle, warthogs, birds, monkeys (baboons, the “blue balls” monkeys and vervets), cape buffalo, flamingo (from very far away!), hippos (thank goodness!) and a TON of giraffe! After we freaked out about the first giraffe it wasn’t long until we saw them standing around everywhere! It was so cool to be so close to them! They are very serene and they have incredibly cute eyes and faces! They just stand there, so if you are quiet you can just get very close to them. A lot of the animals in this park were skittish and could only be seen if we were all silent. When we first went to the hippo pool we were sad because they were all in the water. However, later that afternoon they were all out of the water and lying near the pool! They are huge creatures and they are really goofy looking! Just fatty little dudes haha. After seeing the hippos we drove around in search of a lion for a little while, and then we left. We took some pictures by a huge baobao tree near the entrance and headed back to camp! After eating lunch we started our long drive home. This drive was interesting because of two things – 1. Giraffe crossing 2. Camel riding. Now I don’t care how touristy it might be – I was freaking stoked to ride some camels. Before the camel riding, though, I have to talk about the giraffes! We were driving home and suddenly we had to stop because two giraffes were crossing the main road! We all got out and took pictures in front of the giraffe that were grazing on the trees by our car! It was so crazy, we got so close to them!
After the giraffe experience we went and paid 1,000 Tsh to ride some camels. This was really fun! Becca and I shared a camel and before she could get on it straightened its back legs! I was sitting on the front and I thought I was going to fall forward; it was way hilarious and awkward! Riding the camel was fun, and Becca and I wanted to go into the snake museum next door, but we were the only ones who did so we didn’t go. The rest of the drive home was pretty uneventful. I got some pictures while driving through Arusha so I could show the contrast between Moshi and Arusha and once we got home we all ate dinner, took really enjoyable showers (after two days it was heaven!) and tried to start our blog posts about it. Clearly it took me eons to do mine, but here it is! So … overall it was an unbelievable weekend. We all got home and said we wanted to go again! J I definitely lala salama that night, and woke up bright and early for placement on Monday!
Thus ends my safari experience, tutaonana! 
