Curry inversee

Tanzania was a like a good curry in reverse: we had sore bottoms from the long ride getting there but finished with the wonderful taste of the Spice Islands in our mouths!

It was a quiet day for some following our night out in Nairobi. We made our way to Arusha with some new travellers on board. We camped at a snake park whose residents included a man-eating python, a two-metre long black mamba and a few sizeable crocodiles, which we fed after dinner.

On Merran’s 19th birthday, we left Wiley the truck behind and took 4WDs for the next stage of our journey: the expansive and unforgettable Serengeti.



Maasai tribespeople in traditional garb walked beside the road, often for miles between towns, or tended their herds. The men invariably carried spears and bows, getting on with a life apparently uninfluenced by the industrialised world - they still subsist primarily on meat, complimented with milk and blood (the latter for men only) - but they do wear sandals made from old tyres.

We visited a Maasai boma, which was fascinating. We had, however, been spoilt by our village experience in Kenya because, unlike the Pokots, we were seen by the Maasai we visited as a commercial opportunity (understandably, of course). We were still treated to traditional dancing; some of the men could leap nearly a metre in the air!



Apart from the gorillas in Uganda, the other overall highlight for us was our three nights in the Serengeti. By lunch on the first day, we had seen four of the (variable) Big Five: buffalo, elephant, lion and leopard.



We drove around the vast plains of the Serengeti with our heads out the top and the wind in our hair, past kopjes that looked like islands in a sea of grass. Probably the best part was spending nearly an hour with a pride of lions as they feasted on a couple of kills, whilst hundreds of wildebeest and zebra looked on (keep your friends close but your enemies closer?).



We sighted an elusive leopard, the most striking of predators, just before it dragged its fresh kill up a tree to avoid losing it to hyena. Other creatures of note were the secretary bird, Maasai giraffe and marvellous topi (a tan antelope with blue/black flanks).



For the duration of the trip, Weisie and I had been campaigning for a convoy to visit Oldupai (aka Olduvai) Gorge, a long, steep-sided ravine wherein grows the useful oldupai plant, whence the name. Its well preserved and conveniently exposed stratigraphy has made it one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world. Many different hominid remains and tools have been found there, some more than 2 million years old. Famous finds include the humanlike Australopithecus boisei and the first discovered specimens of Homo hablis (our ancestors). Being there, for me, was another dream come true (pictured below, next to where Mary Leaky’s celebrated australopithecine was found in 1959).



Our final day in the Serengeti was spent in the Ngorogoro Conservation Area, inside the soaring walls of the Ngorogoro caldera (an enormous extinct volcanoe). Wildlife was everywhere you looked. We saw a cheetah give chase and just miss an impala before returning to its furry little cub; wildebeest head butting; and a warthog wallowing in a puddle of mud. Truly memorable!







We left the Serengeti back along roads dotted with massive anthills and baobab trees (solitary, deciduous trees with exceptionally swollen trunks). We had just had the kind of experience that leaves you smiling for days. Back at the snake park, Wiley had gone walk-about leaving us to wait and drink beer in a bar wearing the same clothes we had been wearing for four days - phewee.



The road to Zanzibar was long. We had packed up our tents and were on our way just after 5 am, arriving in Dar es Salam 12 hours later. We passed several flamboyant beach weddings, each with energetic brass bands about 20 metres apart. Some of the guests were wearing fruit-bowl halls! A short car ferry later, we were at our camp for the night surrounded by the tallest coconut trees we have ever seen.

Next day, we said farewell to Wiley and said hello again to the unforgettable Niamh (“Oh, Louise!”) before taking the ferry to Stone Town, Zanzibar. After checking in to our hotel, we walked around Stone Town’s old-worldly, labyrinthine streets and admired its ornately carved wooden doors. We sipped sundowners at Africa House then haggled over cheap, barbecued seafood along the waterfront - a fantastic experience that provoked all of your senses.

We visited the old slave market site (now occupied by an Anglican Cathedral). Our guide was Morgan Freeman’s twin brother; the way he explained the site’s history was enthralling. Below is an artist’s installation next to the Cathedral (the chains are genuine historical artefacts).



Our final days were spent on Kendwa beach, reached on a packed minibus via a bumpy road lined with palm trees and villages. The hotel/resort was great. We stayed in an inexpensive bungalow on a volcanic wall overlooking the beach.


Apart from eating, drinking, scuba diving, swimming, playing volleyball, strolling, shopping and having massages - we did very little. The water was perfect: refreshing and clear. The sand was so white that in spite of the insufferable heat, it remained relatively cool (well, it wasn’t hot). The sun was relentless though, and we struggled in the heat of the day, often retiring to our bungalow to cool off on our emperor-sized bed under the ceiling fan.



We said farewell and bon voyage to the remaining truckers on Kendwa (apart from Taryn and Louis who were on our plane back to London). It was a great holiday and we sincerely hope to stay in touch with all of our new friends.



Other images:

• Lioness with cubs (Serengeti)
• Another lion! (Serengeti)
• Cheetah (Serengeti)
• Buffalo (Ngorogoro Crater)
• Zebra (Ngorogoro Conservation Area)
• Giraffe (Ngorogoro Conservation Area)
• Wildebeest (Ngorogoro Conservation Area)
• Hippo pond (Ngorogoro Conservation Area)