From Arusha

Yesterday we began our journey towards a Serengeti safari. 

 

It all started with a nine-hour bus ride through the countryside of Northern Tanzania.  From an allegedly deluxe bus stop in Dar es Salaam we rode in a bus full of Ugandans, the only white people in the entire bus.   The ride was absolute sensory overload.  The singing of our Ugandan neighbors (who also described Uganda as paradise on earth and we agreed we would deliver the message to our friends), the aromas of delicious yet potentially westerner-unfriendly cooked meats sold at every stop, big packages of cashews and sacks of oranges, and the intense colors of the vibrant sari-like dresses and veils.

 

When we finally arrived in Arusha, it was a ghost town.  Sundays in Tanzania are dead.  Not only could we not arrange a tour, but we couldn't find a restaurant either and were reduced to eating at an English pub (which we now think more fondly of as a consequence). 

 

Arusha is the gateway for the Serengeti and for the Ngorogoro Crater (a former volcano with tens of thousands of animals).  As such, we expected a plethora of tourists and development.  We were astonished to find that this was not the case.  Arusha is empty of tourists at this time of year.  It seems that most westerners do not even set foot in Arusha when arranging their safaris. Paying a premium of a couple thousand dollars per person, most people arrange their tours from Europe or the US and are carefully transported around and away from this town.  After wandering the dusty streets for eights hours, we understand that this is probably appropriate for most people. 

 

The principle difficulty of Arusha are the touts.  As you walk down the streets you are swarmed consistently by really friendly vendors trying to sell you their safaris.  What makes them even more difficult than touts in India is that they start their conversations with good rapport.  They always get to know you and where you are coming from in a not sleazy way and you have to talk to them because they are just so darn nice.  Then, they swoop in for the sell and do not leave you alone for blocks and blocks.  The worse we've found is someone following us for twenty minutes and then stalking us at the hotel when we left this morning!

 

Notwithstanding the touts, we finally found a safari with a wonderful pair of Germans (or so they seem; give us five days non-stop... hehe).  We are also staying at a wonderful hostel run in the back of the only Chinese restaurant in Arusha, owned by a lovely Chinese man (never did we think that our Mandarin would be useful in Africa! ).  We learned that there is a significant ex-pat population of the Chinese in Africa many of whom came for work in construction and petrol industries.  The accommodations and the restaurant are great - check out the Everest Chinese Inn if you are ever in town.

 

Finally, one note on the people of Tanzania as we've found them so far.  They have some of the most gorgeous smiles we have ever seen. We are often awarded these smiles when we make tentative attempts at Swahili as we walk down the street.  To say hello we say 'Jambo'  and they respond "Mambo".  Say it ten times to random strangers and you can't help but smile.   Swahili is our new favorite language.

 

We leave tomorrow and will be gone for five days on our safari.  We will try to post from one of the lodges, but will likely not have a chance.  Please keep checking in and let us know how you are doing!

 

Miss you!