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Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts

Friday 30 September 2011

Zanzibar - the African Safari [end]

From the previous post: "...Next day morning, Abombe would be dropping us off at the airport from where we would be flying to laid back Zanzibar. The final days of this magnificent journey were upon us..."

Be it an exhilarating journey or a deep thought train, reaching the end is always a bitter-sweet moment. So was this.

The day began as usual with the breakfast, pack up, double-check everything is in the right place, get into the land cruiser and leave for the airport. Having said bye to Joachim, our cook, last night when we arrived at the Oasis resort, now it was time to say bye to Abombe, our kind, faithful, knowledgeable and helpful driver/guide. Having gotten into the small 'Kilimanjaro' airport, we boarded the now familiar ATR aircraft from Precision Air.

Last view of Arusha

We took off on time and were soon winging our way across the sea to the island of Zanzibar and its charms.

Zanzibar

In Muscat, we had met many an Omani whose family had been Zanzibari at some point of time. There is a huge historical narrative that could be written up about it (maybe I will, in another post). I think it would suffice to say that the linkage between Oman and Zanzibar is quite strong. So my appetite for the place, its culture and cuisine had already been whetted even before ever stepping on the land.

As we finally winged over the sea and began the descent it felt great to see fishing trawlers and aquamarine blue water lashing upon the white sand beaches. Landed and collected our baggage from the handlers directly, as there was no luggage conveyor belt. Interestingly, here we had to get our passports out and again stamped with a 'visa' on arrival but there was no additional fees to pay.

We got out of the airport and waited near the exit for a bit. Our driver had not turned up. It seems there had been some mix up about the time we were to arrive and therefore the hotel had not sent the chap. After getting the communication sorted out, the guy was with us in 15 minutes. Not a very big place, really.

Reached the hotel. It was an old building, converted into a hotel. No lifts. We had to climb four levels of stairs and then some, to reach our room. It was a large airy place, with lots of sitting area on the roof as well as in the courtyard. First view was lovely. During low tide, sand bars form near the beach. Some enterprising people would set up temporary luncheon tables and food, which could be had for a fee. Sadly, we didn't have the time to be able to do this, but it certainly looked good from where I was viewing it.

Lunch in the middle of the sea!

Having freshened up, we headed out for a walk to the nearby beach, some of Tanzania's refreshing chilled brews and a wholesome lunch.

Hunger sated, it was time for some walking around and exploring the area, which is called 'stone town'. It is the older part of Zanzibar. It felt good walking around a place, that looked so ancient yet well maintained. It was by the seafront and known as Forodhani in the local parlance. The Arab influence was evident in the architecture and people.

Foradani, Stone Town, Zanzibar

There were quite a few museums around as well, which attested the historical importance Zanzibar had, in the past when slavery used to be a roaringly profitable business and African natives were captured and transported from the very same loading docks to the then new age countries of Europe and America.

The styling of the buildings, columns, stair cases and stained glasses were all very interesting to observe and capture.

One of my companions, was by this time feeling quite the 'non-city' person, having been on the safari for a week. So she went off to get some 'beautification' done and become 'presentable'. I guess, it was important for her.

Meantime, two of us decided to meander around the place. We came to a nice park, where we sat down and were conversing about various subjects. When, a man with rastafarian hair locks and dress, came and sat down right next to us. Asking us, where we were from and as I suspected, it turned out to be a sales pitch for some service. I informed him, we were really not interested. He kept insisting. Had to make it distinctly clear, we were not buying whatever he was selling. He actually had the nerve to get offended. Wow. Talk about aggressive sales.

Eventually, we caught up with the now 'glamorous' version of our companion and headed out to for some local cuisine. Had to walk around a bit, before we finally managed to locate a restaurant that had only local Zanzibari food. It was an interesting fare, though bit bland. We tried about 6 different types of food and ended it with a local dessert, as well. I discovered that what is termed 'cassava' in Zanzibar is 'tapioca' in Kerala. Muhogo wa nazi literally translates to 'coconut cassava'. Ugali - maize flour cooked to a dough like consistency eaten usually with beef and sauces or vegetable stew, was another local dish, favoured at Forodhani. Vitumbua - rice cup cakes, reminded me of the Khushboo idly found in Chennai, India. Hot and soft Crepes were also interesting.

Post dinner, we headed out to the 'night market' that would be set up near the park we had been in the afternoon. So through twisting alleyways we made our way to the market. The walk distinctly reminded me of the paths I had walked through, on my way to school, in the older part of Ahmedabad in my childhood. Interestingly, there were quite a few Indian shop keepers there as well. And the place was redolent of the six spices that Zanzibar was now renowned for.

By the time we made it to the night market, one of the visiting trio had become too exhausted to continue and retired for the night. The remaining two, then explored the various food fare on display, for the night market was exactly that. A temporarily set up area where hawkers would come on their push carts, display various kinds of sea food, and it would be cooked right in front of you. Some of the food reminded me of a 'tapas' style of cooking.

After this, we drifted toward the old fort in the same Foradani area, where we witnessed a uniquely local style of musical performance known as Taarab. Then it was back to hotel, climb up four floors and some deep slumber.

Inner courtyard

Next day morning, waking up the salty sea breeze twinged with the smell of fish, it felt quite different to the past week. It was pack up time. Went down for a standard continental breakfast, deposited the bags and took off again for a walk around the place, before we headed to the pier where we were taking the ferry to Dar-es-Salaam, the capital of Tanzania and our exit point back to Muscat.

When we reached the ferry site, it was crowded with passengers. After a week of the open vistas, endless plains and gorges, it felt a bit stifling. Finally, made it on board the ferry.

As we started the two and a half hour journey to Dar-es-Salaam, while viewing Forodhani from the sea, there was a twinge of regret at not having spend enough time here and a hope to return back to this place and discover more of what it had to offer. I felt this way once before, on the Andaman and Nicobar islands in India (a post will be up soon).

After docking at Dar-es-Salaam, we found our way out, with the unmistakable sounds of a city ringing in the ears. Apart from slight nausea that one of my companions felt on riding the waves, nothing untoward had happened. We were met by the brother of one of our colleagues, who was kind enough to show us a bit of the city and take us to a restaurant.

As I was walking to the restaurant, I looked up and saw a beautiful set of murals depicting the wildlife of Tanzania, on the under hang of the roof.

I must state, that while the lunch was good, the location and the view were simply outstanding. It was an outdoor restaurant by a cove, and the shimmering water out there was crystal clear and tantalizingly close by, so much so that I wished I had the time to put on swimming trunks and jump in.

After having seen and partaken in such beauty, it was that time when the airport looms in front of you and the realisation stings as it settles in, it was time to head back. While a part me looks forward to being back to the known and familiar, the soul still yearns for experiencing more such beauty that only Earth has.

If reading is living, writing is re-living. I have thoroughly enjoyed bringing to life and immortalising these memories. I hope you too have enjoyed every bit of it. And shared the joy with your friends too. As they say in Swahili, asante sana and kwaheri for now.

Friday 23 September 2011

The enchanting African Safari (Tarangire)

From the previous post: "...Dozing off to sleep was easy, given how tired I was. Plus, the thought that tomorrow will be more magnificent creatures to be spotted was exciting..."

It is a new day in Africa

Irrespective of the onset of summer, waking up in mildly breezy and cool morning was made all the more exhilarating when the thought streaked through my mind, 'hey, I am actually in Africa!' and nothing could be more poignant at that time, than hearing the beautiful songs being rendered by the bards of nature - birds.

Get ready, have breakfast, pack up everything including the picnic lunch. It was all a blur, as the heart and mind were already inside the forest. Off we trudged into the trusty land cruiser with the reliable Abombe ready to show us more magical beings.

Today we were going to further explore Tarangire for a bit, before driving off to the world famous Serengeti with a stop over at the cradle of civilization. Talk about intrigue! One more thing that I do need to mention here, is that the land cruiser had a top that could be easily raised, so not only did we get more protection from the sun, we would also be in a position of height, enabling us to see more of the place. So happily, back in our vehicle, we started traversing the African wilderness.

Started with a high cuteness quotient this time. At least for a carnivore. Just saw the little fellow peeking out from a hollow log. Introducing the Common Dwarf Mongoose.

Common Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula)

Moving on, it sort of felt like the world was a bit different in that you look almost anywhere and you are likely to see all sorts of animals, birds, trees, undulating landscapes - the sheer variety is staggering. It would take a huge journal to describe every bit of the experience, so am limiting myself to some of the ones that I found interesting enough to squarely embed in the recesses of my brain.

Also spotted quite a few White Headed Buffalo Weavers. It is a specie that is native to East Africa. The buffalo part of its name is derived from its habit of following the bovine footsteps of the African Buffalo and feeding on disturbed insects like beetles and butterflies.

White Headed Buffalo Weaver (Dimenellia dinemelli)

As we drove onward, suddenly started hearing shouts. Go away. Go away. I was flummoxed. I mean, what could be the reason? Couldn't see or feel any danger. Then realisation struck. Right now, we, in the rumbling box were the danger to the folks in the forest and who else but the nattily dressed caped crusader, the aptly named Crested White bellied Go-away bird, was making all the noise.

Crested White bellied Go-away bird ( Corythaixoides leucogaster)

While I understand and accept, that an angry elephant is probably the most dangerous (to humans) animal out there in the wild anywhere, the sight of a full grown lion near you makes you still shiver. Maybe it was our ancestral anthropoid remnant genes. Have you ever thought, why most humans start shouting and screaming at the sight of perceived danger or that grouping and attempting to fight off or kill the intruder is the most common counter mechanism to date? Just look at any current set of monkeys and you get the answer. We are not that different, after all, on many counts from the simians.

The lions of Tarangire

Coming back to the lion, it was the first sighting in Africa and I was sincerely thankful for the vehicular protection, and the keen eyes of our guide. Take a look at the picture below. So well camouflaged and silent is this giant cat, it would have been difficult to spot until you are a few feet away. Not knowing the mood of this fellow, it may be a good idea to maintain your distance, if perchance you are not in your protective cage on wheels.

Lion (Panthera leo)

The real close brush with the Lions of Tanzania was to happen later. Meantime, as we are watching, in trot a bunch of zebras. While there is silence, mostly, except for the shutter clicks, a collective slightly audible sigh went up from the human females around in different safari vehicles, which had clustered by now. Why? Simple, the lion decided to stalk and attack his food on hooves. On this occasion, being neither smart nor a long distance runner, the lion made a rather short and foolish attempt to get some fresh food. Result: Cat-0, Zebras-1. For now. Factually, more than 70% of hunts do not succeed for the big cats.

It would be important to note, this chap was not alone. His female partner and the main hunter was also around. And smartly, she had not bothered to waste any energy going after the zebras.

Finally, having watched the lion's antics and unsurprisingly aware that nothing worthy would be happening, the lady decided to slink off to a nearby tree. Amazingly, Tanzania is one of the few places in the world, where lions climb on trees. It essentially gives them a high vantage view, which is essential to determine where the next meal is.

The male having given up on his predatory behaviour, decided to follow the lady and rest beneath the tree on which she was keeping vigil.

Moving a bit further on, we saw a small herd of elephants cavorting with their young ones by the depleted Tarangire river.

Now the time had come to move on. Having gotten out of the Tarangire park, we were back on the tarmac, smoothly proceeding to the Serengeti. Abombe, our guide/driver, explained to us that we would be passing by well known UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ngorongoro located in the crater highlands of Tanzania, about 180 kilometres from Arusha.

As we ascended the heights, markedly the greenery started showing up. The plan was to drive by the top of the Ngorongoro crater, bypassing it on the way to Oldupai Gorge. And from there on to the Seregenti plains.

The picnic lunch spot that Abombe had brought us to, was indeed beautiful. He was also caring enough to warn us, to consume our food under the branches of a nearby tree, rather than in the open - where it was extremely pleasant to sit as the temperature had markedly gone down at least 10 degrees Celsius lower, if not more.

Why the warning? The answer was soon visible and audible. We were not the only people who had decided to stop there and have our lunch. Other travellers had arrived. One lady decided to sit on the grass, lean against the bole of a tree, enjoy the beautiful weather and have her lunch, only to shriek out in consternation as a lithe, silent figure swooped, clutched her sandwich and made off. All this, in one smooth motion, as we were watching, beside a smiling Abombe. The culprit was none other than the Tanzanian Yellow-billed Kite. While the kites are general sky borne thermal gliding predators elsewhere, at this particular picnic site, they had specialised in stealing sandwiches out of travellers' lunch boxes!

Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius)

Done with the cold but tasty lunch, it was time to leave the picnic spot and drive on to the Serengeti, via the Oldupai Gorge. A point rather sorely remembered here, was the tarmac road ended a few kilometres away. Thus began some of the roughest, bone-jarring, teeth-chattering, dusty stretches across Tanzania. Slowing down was not an option, as the shaking would only get worse. The only prayer was not to get trapped behind another similar vehicle on the designated dirt road, as all the dust raised by the wheels ahead would only smother us.

As we drove through, the vistas were simply breath taking. Mostly empty mountain ranges, interspersed with a rare Masai village and their cattle. You could see far enough into the horizon and make out the dust columns being raised by similar land cruisers far away. The intrigue of visiting the 'cradle of civilization' kept the mood high.

The adventure continues in the next post...

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Thursday 22 September 2011

The African Safari (Tarangire)

From the previous post: "...From thrilling vistas, to open expanses of land never seen before teeming with wild and free life, it was majestic Africa that was to open up in front of my eyes..."

The adventure truly begins

Waking up to a calm and cool morning, it was time to get ready, have a leisurely breakfast. The land cruiser was loaded up, with all the equipments, food and luggage and off we left for our true blue African private safari. This meant that we would be sleeping in tents at public camp sites and have access only to common, basic facilities like cold water showers and toilets. In terms of private, what we would have as we discovered during the trip, was a cook who would whip up a good meal specifically for us and a guide/driver who would be dedicated to showcasing the best of wild Africa to us.

As Achmed, our tour operator, had explained previously, the journey initially would be quite comfortable as the roads were made of tarmac and rather well maintained. Further on, we would be down to dirt tracks and all its associated ups and downs.

We had a rather normal drive. Visible to us were large swathes of dry land with thorny bushes, a few Masai thatched hut villages and their herds. The scale of the land is only understood, though, when you are on the road. It takes ages to reach any destination. Not that you are being driven slowly. And we were only covering a limited portion of the northern safari circuit of Tanzania.

Finally we reached a public camp site, 118 kilometres south west of Arusha. As, Abombe, our guide pointed out, the smart thing to do, is to plan the journey such that, you manage to reach a public camp site before it gets filled up with other travellers like us. It gives us the advantage of scouting and pitching the tent in a better spot, within the place. As everything is on a 'first-come-first-served' rule, even the kitchen spot availability is a matter of concern. If our cook is not able to set up his paraphernalia then our food is likely to be of the very limited variety.

Now, another thing that I had realised during my pre-trip research, was that in Africa you have to be aware of the season in which you go. Whether it is summer/winter or dry/wet. In Tanzania, summer is usually December-March and winter is March-May with rains. So we were travelling at a time, where the onset of summer was imminent. In summer, the sun sucks the moisture out of the landscape, baking it dry and leaving withered grass as brittle as straw as well as trees minus most of their foliage.

The Tarangire National Park about 2,850 square kilometres (1,096 square miles), part of the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem, is the sixth largest park in Tanzania named after the Tarangire river. In summer, the river reduces in size to a mere shadow of its wet season self, but attracts nomadic herds of wild life in search of life sustaining moisture. Outside of the Serengeti, this location contains one of the largest concentrations of wildlife herds, bringing in predators following them. The lions of Tarangire are also famous for being among the few tree climbing ones in its species. This promised us with some rich sights and being a nature/wildlife enthusiast, I was very keenly looking forward to it.

Having unloaded our luggage, set up the camp and after consuming an early lunch, we set off to have a look at what we could find in Tarangire.

It was a lovely start, indeed. The two main seasons were beautifully showcased in a stained glass artwork set up at the Tarangire park entrance.

Baobab (Adansonia) also known as monkey-bread tree

The first proper visual of the Baobab tree. Local lore was that as God was irritated with the tree, it was planted on Earth - upside down! The baobab, being of the deciduous type, especially in summer, minus the leaves does look upside down with the roots in the sky. Reputedly living for thousands of years, one of the key facts is that the tree stores thousands of litres of water inside the massive trunk to survive during summer and elephants especially love to bore holes into the trunk and suck the moisture to survive.

Tickets procured, we started driving into the park range.

Tarangire park range view

The first thing, spotted was one of the most colourful birds in Africa. The Lilac breasted roller. Usually found alone and sometimes in pairs, this bird loves to sit on a high vantage position especially tree tops or poles, so it can search out ground based insects, lizards, scorpions, snails and rodents to hunt.

Lilac Breasted Roller (Coracias caudata)

Following this, I spotted a welcoming committee of Zebras, Wildebeests and Elephants. I would be seeing many more of these beautiful and sometimes strange animals over the next few days (more pictures and descriptions coming up later).

Young African female Elephant

It was a rather strange experience in being able to see these amazing creature so up close. My experience with nature has been such that usually, all creatures maintain a 'flight or fight' distance from humans and their natural predators. For most animals and birds, it is flight that they choose when an human intruder gets close. Here, they had gotten used to big black boxes on wheels, smelling of diesel and trundling along without harming them. As a result getting really close was possible and that's one of the charms of being here.

Next sighted was one of the varieties of Kingfishers that exist on this continent. The tree based Grey-headed Kingfisher which, unlike most Kingfishers, is not aquatic.

Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala)

Driving a bit further on, I spotted one of the most striking antelopes, I had ever seen till date. The Roan antelope. Such a handsome fellow. Fearless. And in his prime.

Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)

By this time, adrenaline had kicked in. Full steam. Absolute salivation. When such magnificent creatures were there to view, enjoy, capture on camera and with the comfort of being driven by, what more can an nature enthusiast ask?

A bit further down and there was this dappled, long legged fellow giving me the look. What could I do? I shot him, too.

It had been a good day so far. It was getting late and as with all parks, after sun-down ideally no humans should be anywhere inside. That being the case, we headed back to the camp. A shower, change of clothes and we were ready for our first safari dinner. Our cook had come up with a selection of assorted dishes that was simply put - tasty and filling. An avocado starter, main course of rice and chicken, followed by a mildly sweet dessert and coffee, left us feeling satiated and ready to hit the sleeping bags in our tents.

Dozing off to sleep was easy, given how tired I was. Plus, the thought that tomorrow will be more magnificent creatures to be spotted was exciting.

The adventure continues in the next post.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

The African Safari

As mentioned in my post on Passion and being a passionate traveller among other things, I thought it would be a good idea to publish, some of my travel related adventures. I started with Hong Kong in Asia and am now shifting to the African continent.

The idea

It usually is a rather simple conversation that strikes off a decision to go somewhere, isn't it? In this case, it was a discussion among friends in a book shop about where would be an exotic place to go, during a forthcoming holiday. One of my friends held up a guide book on Africa and that's when the idea got generated.

The thing with a good idea, is that once it takes seed in your head, it tends to grow roots and flower and eventually turns into a fully matured tree, which you can't afford to ignore any more. And so began the discussion. Finally three people, including I, had decided that we would go to the East African country of Tanzania - probably one of the oldest known inhabited areas on Earth. The United Republic of Tanzania was derived from the two states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, united in 1964.

As luck would have it, my American and the Hong Kong companions left it in my hands to do the research and organising the trip. With the week long Eid holidays coming up in Muscat, where we all were stationed, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit a land that none of us had ever been to. Also, there was another angle to consider.

While US and Hong Kong citizens are privileged in that, their passports are good enough for most countries to welcome them with a free or paid visa on arrival, it is not so the case with the Indian passport. Most often than not, I have had to apply for a visa well in advance. Not in the case of Tanzania, where the Indian passport was considered good enough to be provided with a paid visa on arrival. Given the few weeks left for the public holidays to start, this seemed a great, not-to-be missed opportunity that could be really accomplished.

Africa. The dark continent. The launch pad of human evolution. Exotic cultures, customs and cuisine. Wild animals. Majestic mountains. Parks and ranges that most of us have only so far seen on a Discovery or National Geographic TV channel. It was a thrill just to think about it, imagining how truly exciting it would be to have a real safari. A once in a lifetime kind of thing.

The Research

Starting with turning to Google search and various forums where other world travellers had provided information and feedback on services and other such things to keep in mind, I got into some quantitative and qualitative secondary research.

One organisation came across as quite decent. And as it turned out for us, Base Camp Tanzania, owned and managed by Achmed and Zainab Phillips was the best choice we made.

The feedback on the forums about Achmed, his responsive nature, professionalism and ability to adhere to indicated costs, while providing the best economies of scale turned out to be correct. I started by corresponding with him. It was impressive in that he responded to every request I made - information, domestic flight tickets, itinerary, etc. I also checked out the best and economical way to get to Africa from the Middle East. I wouldn't say that the overall costs were cheap, but were they worth it? A resounding yes! I had to literally push one of the trip companions as the person was having some difficulty in confirming the choice, despite having made the decision. Finally, we agreed on the trip details. I went ahead and booked the flight tickets. It also meant, some of the excitement started off in Muscat itself.

As we discovered, it was necessary for travellers to get a Yellow Fever vaccination prior to reaching Tanzania, else it would a jab at the airport and 100 US dollars down the drain. As with most African states, various diseases are always a possibility and thankfully today we do have a plethora of preventive medication available to ensure we do not suffer during or after such a trip. Since all the hemming and hawing on the trip had happened, while we were supposed to get the vaccination about 10 days prior to the trip, we eventually ended up getting it a day before we were supposed to leave! Luckily, it was September and a good time to go with low instances of mosquitoes and therefore fewer chances of being infected.

The Start

Finally it was D-day. Backpacks with essentials and sleeping bags were packed. Anti-mosquito and basic medications in our survival kit was assembled. Tickets were re-confirmed. Travel money had been converted into US dollars. Passports were in hand. And with big smiles on our faces, off we went to the airport.

Our itinerary was quite packed. We were to land in Dar-es-Salaam the capital of Tanzania. Take a domestic flight to the town of Arusha. From there we would be taking a private safari vehicle, with a guide and a cook to various parks, ending up back in Arusha almost a week later. Then it would be a quick flight to Zanzibar. A sea ferry back to the capital. And return to Muscat.

Flight to Dar-es-Salaam was uneventful. Landed at the airport. One terminal building contained both the international and domestic sections. Security and infrastructure were minimal. We had a gap of a couple of hours before we boarded the domestic flight. So we headed out of the building, and waited.

It was also the day of Eid. And kids from a nearby ghetto were being provided free access to the airport and tubes of ice candy. As a bonus, here was an American, a Chinese origin and an Indian trio just outside. I had gone for a short walk to take some shots of the building. When I started walking back, I couldn't see my companions. Instead, I only saw a multitude of bobbing heads! Turns out the kids were gazing and feeling the exotic looking visitors sitting in front of them.

I was laughing a lot. It was really crazy, watching these kids stroking the white skin of one person and the straight hair of the other. Maybe they had never seen such exotic creatures before! Finally had to wade in and 'rescue' my companions, got the kids to move off and we trundled up the domestic section for our journey to Arusha.

Arusha

It is not a very long flight - about an hour or so. And interestingly it was a turbo-prop aircraft that was to transport us. It was branded - Precision Air and the emblem on the tail wing of the aircraft was a jumping antelope. The colours also looked really nice. As we were walking up to board the aircraft, one of my companions had a 'eye-opened' look, for having never seen an ATR-type plane before. Gave me the opportunity to inform that there are plenty of these in India. They tend to bob up and down a bit, especially if there are air pockets, but it was generally safe.

The airport, near Arusha, where we were going was called Kilimanjaro - the famous African mountain that has been written about by just about anybody who has ever been enchanted with this beautiful continent. Interestingly the beer served on board was also called Kilimanjaro!

It was night by the time we landed. We were met on time by our guide - Abombe. A very interesting character, whom I came to know quite well over the next week. He was in a largish vehicle - the indefatigable Land Cruiser. Again, a vehicle we all got to know quite well as we spent most of our time in it. Abombe took us from the airport to Arusha and the drive was pretty decent. But when he took the turn off the main road to take us to the resort, where we were being camped for the night, it felt like we were in the real Africa. A non-existent road, houses and shops inches away from the body of the vehicle, people standing and looking. Finally we end up in front of a large gate and inside was a really lovely resort. And Achmed, who was waiting to meet and greet us.

Now, I had only corresponded with Achmed and given no other indication, had assumed he was a full blown Tanzanian. Well he was Tanzanian alright, having married his wonderful wife Zainab from the country and having settled there. But the accent and look was as British as it gets! With a handle-bar moustache, twinkling eyes and a penchant for straight faced jokes, he was an interesting character. It seems he fell in love with this place and the people and decided to settle down. Even changed his name to Achmed and would not disclose what his full name or previous name was. He regaled us with some stories and a briefing, as dinner was being prepared and served to us. Here was the first time, that I had a taste of a local refreshing beer 'Safari' and an interesting carbonated ginger ale called 'Stoney Tangawizi'. The place was enthralling in the type of furniture and furnishings used. Especially worth noting was the roof made from banana plantation bark, after curing and drying. All in all, a great trip so far. It was a bit cool as well and I certainly looked forward to the shower and the bed. As the 'real' adventure starts the next day.

From thrilling vistas, to open expanses of land never seen before teeming with wild and free life, it was majestic Africa that was to open up in front of my eyes. Coming up, in the next post.