Jambo! Karibu Tanzania!
(Hello!  Welcome to Tanzania)

We're off on the adventure of a lifetime - a visit to the east African country of Tanzania, formed in 1964 by the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar.  Tanzania is just south of the equator, on the east coast of Africa. This land is one of the oldest known inhabited areas on earth; fossil remains of humans and pre-human hominoids date back three million years.  It also is home to some of the world’s most amazing wildlife, much of it protected in the large wildlife parks that we are here to see.

Our travels will take us from Arusha to the foothills of Kilimanjaro (on the Kenya border), to Tarangire National Park, to Ngorongoro Conservation Area, to Oldupai Gorge and to Serengti National Park.  We’ll see a small part of the country, but hopefully a big selection of wildlife.

We left home midday on Friday, August 19th and traveled from Columbia to Atlanta to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro to Arusha - 8,000 miles in a mere 27 hours.  We arrived on Saturday in the dark of night and checked in to the East African Hotel - a nice place on the outskirts of a dusty, dirty, crowded city.  We're here just to spend the night and to meet our guide and traveling companions.

  

Our guide is David Mollel; he is Maasai by birth and has been working with Overseas Adventure Travel for five years.  He’s married (to a Maasai woman) and has three children.  There are 15 travelers in our group:  in addition to our friends Vicky and Dennis Shepard, there are folks from California, Montana, Ohio, Florida, and two more from South Carolina. 

Click on the links below to see what we did each day.  Our first sighting of a specific animal is underlined.  And remember - you can double-click on any picture to make it larger, and then return to the narrative using the back-arrow.

Sunday, August 21 - Travel Arusha to West Kilimanjaro; nature walk
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/sunday-august-21_21.html

Monday, August 22 - Game viewing in Sinya Game Management Area
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/monday-august-22.html

Tuesday, August 23 - Game viewing; travel West Kilimanjaro to Arusha
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/tuesday-august-23.html

Wednesday, August 24 - Coffee plantation and Shanga House in Arusha
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/wednesday-august-24.html

Thursday, August 25 - Travel Arusha to Tarangire Nat. Park; game viewing
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/thursday-august-25.html

Friday, August 26 - Game viewing in Tarangire National Park
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/friday-august-26.html

Saturday, August 27 - Visit Maasai boma; travel to Ngorongoro Highlands
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/saturday-august-27.html

Sunday, August 28 - Visit Oldupai Gorge; travel to Serengeti Nat. Park; game viewing
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/sunday-august-28.html

Monday, August 29 - Game viewing in Serengeti National Park
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/monday-august-29.html

Tuesday, August 30 - Game viewing in Serengeti National Park
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/tuesday-august-30.html

Wednesday, August 31 - Game viewing in Serengeti National Park
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/wednesday-august-31st.html

Thursday, September 1- Game viewing in Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/thursday-september-1.html

Friday, September 2 -Visit Bashay Primary School; visit brickmaker & family in Karatu
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/friday-september-2.html

Saturday, September 3/Sunday, September 4 - Travel Karatu to Arusha to U.S.
http://safariserengeti2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/saturday-september-3.html