To celebrate our friend Joe’s birthday a total of 8 of us went on a safari in Tanzania. Joe, Kaela, Jon, Jennifer, Brock, Denise, Cathy, and I spent about 5 days touring the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the world’s largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcano. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites. The second half of the trip was to a Zanzibar island, known as Spice Islands, where we spent most of our time in Stone Town, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, a historic trade center with Swahili and Islamic influences.

We got off to a rough start when it was discovered at Logan Airport that Cathy’s name on her plane ticket did not match her passport. On the phone with customer service for over an hour, and with departure looming, we were able to buy another ticket and hope for a refund from the first ticket (which we did receive with a penalty).  Unfortunately, Cathy lost her business class status, but it still only got her to Tanzania. She also lost her round-trip ticket back home so had to book a separate one-way home. There was only 1 seat left on our plane, for a measly $9,000 she could fly home with us or stay for a couple more days in Zanzibar with Kaela and fly home on another airline, which she did.

Smooth sailing after that…almost. We arrived to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania after an 8 hour layover in Doha. We were picked up by our guide service, GoGiraffe Safaris. For the next 5 days Luice Bayanga and his two drivers, Rajab and Rama, would be our hosts and educate us on the culture, landscape, and animals of Tanzania.

Our fist pit stop was in the third largest city in Tanzania, Arusha, for coffee and a snack. Some of the best coffee we had on the trip (sigh, last good coffee for a while) was at the café Fifi’s. Driving through Arusha was a treat because it was Saturday Aug 17 and the city was buzzing with markets and shoppers along the main road.

We were weary from the flight. Kaela and Joe had left Boston a couple of days earlier to explore a little of Egypt, but they hadn’t slept either. A few of us got good deals on business class suites on Qatar Airways many months ago, and despite being able to lay down flat on the plane over, I didn’t get much sleep. It was comfortable, though! Our adrenaline kicked in when we toured Lake Manyara National Park in our Land Cruisers. Our safari vehicle had room for 4 passengers behind the driver and guide. The top rises up so you can stand up and look outside in all directions. You do have to hang on for dear life, but it’s a great way to see everything. These vehicles are bullet-proof, they take an incredible beating on the safari roads and somehow do not break down. In the 5 safaris days and countless km we had one flat tire.

My two favorite purchases leading up to the safari were a good pair of Nikon binoculars and the National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife. A few months ago, during one of my board meetings at the Bath YMCA, I sat next to Bunny McBride. We started discussing some of the books she has authored or co-authored, and this book came up. Yup, Bunny is a co-author of the African wildlife book I brought with me (signed, too). I kept a log of the first time we saw an animal or bird in this book, there were about 70 birds or animals we were able to log in total.

Lake Manyara was a great start, single-track roads, not too dusty. We were only scheduled to be here for a couple of hours but ended after almost 5 hours. We saw our first elephant, baboons, monkeys, giraffe, lion and cub, and even a leopard sleeping in a tree. We stayed overnight at Pamoja Farm Lodge, and quickly showered, ate dinner, and had a short evening on the veranda covered in blankets before sleep took over.

Sun. Aug 18: After an early breakfast we headed for the Serengeti National Park via the Ngorongoro Crater. What an amazing sight! A huge crater with herds of animals, including elephants, rhinos, and zebras. At the top of the crater the local tribe, Maasai, were protesting their forced relocation from Serengeti to Ngorogoro by blocking safari traffic. It delayed half of our group by a few hours so we needed to rush to our accommodations, the lovely Lahia Tented Lodge in the heart of the Serengeti.

We ended the evening with drinks around a fire listening to lions and watching the sky. We were escorted to our very nice platform tents by the Maasai (a requirement due to the wildlife that wants to eat you)  where we had an outdoor moon shower and bed.

Mon. Aug. 19: The early morning safari ride treated us to a stampede of zebras and wildebeest and a family of elephants along single-track dusty roads. After a mostly full day safari we retired back to our lodge for a little relaxation around the pool and the local gin, Konyagi. We needed an early night because most of us were getting up at 3:30am for a hot-air balloon ride.

Tue Aug 20: The very early departure meant we got to see a different Serengeti, more natural. We happened onto a lioness with a recent zebra kill and a pack of hyenas gathering around to share the spoils and nip at the lion. The lion was defending her food, a scene that was as real as it gets. We stayed for just a little while as we had to get to our balloon ride. The second car followed a couple hours later, and the only thing left was a vulture picking at a zebra head. It doesn’t seem like fresh kill lasts too long in the Serengeti.

The sunrise balloon ride was a lot of fun. The balloon takes you just above the treetops to you can see many animals without the bumpy roads. After breakfast we met up with the rest of the group to explore more of the Serengeti and ended up eating lunch while watching a leopard and her cub. The evening ended with a celebration of Brock and Denise’s 30^th wedding anniversary.

Wed Aug 21: It was a travel day as we passed through the Serengeti back to the Ngorongoro Crater through the grassland that is so expansive that we cannot see past the curvature of the earth. Truly mesmerizing, there is nothing here other than grassland and some birds and animals. It reminds me of being on the ocean where you cannot see land, but just the horizon. We scouted hard for a cheetah, the last big animal that we had not checked off our list, but never saw one.

The second time through the crater was just as fulfilling as we witnessed water buffalo, lions, flamingos, and hippos “playing.” Our destination was the Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge. I wish we could have stayed here longer; our accommodation was exquisite. We ended the evening playing our travel game, Pass the Pigs. We are good teachers – we taught our guide Luice, how to play and he quickly won a game.

Thur. Aug 22: Our safari was over. After breakfast we travelled to Ashura Airport headed for Zanzibar. Luice treated us to an authentic Swahili lunch, ugali and tilapia on the grill. We were also presented with traditional clothing made by Luice’s mother and tribe. I received a traditional robe called a shuka, a very nice gesture by Luice.

Before heading to Stone Town, our first stop in Zanzibar was the Paradise Beach Resort. Not really appropriately named, we made the most of our stay here sitting under shade next to a pool and bar overlooking the beautiful Indian Ocean. We did not enjoy Paradise much. After leaving the next day Cathy realized she had left her tanzanite earrings in our room and our amazing guide Luice was able to track them down for her. Luice has really been wonderful; we highly recommend Go Giraffe Safari to anyone interested in visiting Africa on a safari.

Sat Aug 24: Stone Town was a culture shock. An old trade city known for the slave trade, and now spices, the majority of its residents are Muslim. We began by taking a walking tour led by Imran. He takes us through the very narrow streets and alleys and through the meat, fish, and spice market. Our dinner took us to the highest rooftop restaurant in Zanzibar, Emerson on Hurumzi, for a traditional Swahili dinner and music while watching the sunset. It was the highlight of Stone Town.

On Sunday we explored Stone Town on our own and did some shopping for street art. The constant badgering from shopkeepers can get wearying and annoying. You do get used to it after a while and put on your New York City face and limit eye contact; it’s not threatening, just tiring. We visited the Freddie Mercury Museum, located at his old house when he lived in Zanzibar.

The nighttime open-air food market at Forodhani Park was one of the most incredible scenes I have ever witnessed; it seemed like the entire city was here eating shawarma, meat on a stick, seafood, samosas, and other foods I could not identify. It starts at 6pm every night, I think I could have shawarma every night, too.

Mon Aug 26: Our last day (except for Cathy and Kaela) in Stone Town, we did have time for a spice farm tour. I really enjoyed learning where many of our spices come from and sampling the leaves and bark before they are dried into spices. Zanzibar is known for growing vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, and many others. After returning to Stone Town Brock, Joe and I headedinto the city again so I could purchase more spices from the spice market. We ended the evening at the fancy Park Hyatt hotel veranda overlooking the ocean and final drinks.

The flight home was long, over 18 hours in the air. We landed safely in Boston, and after a long drive home, collapsed in bed processing a memorable vacation. Cathy came home 2 days later.