Tanzania - from the Serengeti to the coast...

I crossed into Tanzania by walking over the bridge at Resumo Falls - a spectacular waterfall on the border.

 In 1994 this was the location of one of the world's biggest migrations and half a million people left Rwanda in 3 days after the genocide - a human steam of traffic 10km long... The day I walked across I was on my own...

My first aim in Tanzania was to go on safari in the Serengeti - just the small matter of 1000 km to get there!

Several long bus journeys later I had reached Arusha - the starting point for safaris. The Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater are amazing landscapes in their own rights - add in elephant, lion, rhino,  leopard, buffalo and all the rest of the "Lion King" cast and you have something truly amazing.

 On safari sometimes you can go for an hour or so and not see anything... the Serengeti is huge (the size of Wales!) so there is plenty of space to hide!  As the guides often say you can't make an appointment to see a leopard!

The Serengeti is also home to the Maasai - this tribe are unique in this area in wanting to hold onto their old life and traditions.  They are cattle people and can be seen all over the plain taking their cattle to fresh pasture.  They wear distinctive red plaid cloaks with a knot over the right shoulder and always carry a stick.  In the vast landscapes you can see them for miles as little red specks...

After all those days sitting in a Land Rover I needed to get back on 2 feet and do some hiking.  I travelled up to the Usambara mountains - my accommodation at Cliff Inn was well named don't you think..the photos really can't do justice to the magnificence of this view over the Maasai plain which stretches all the way to Kenya.

After all that hiking I was ready for some R&R - no destination sounds more relaxing than the spice island of Zanzibar..

The catamaran surged through the heavy seas and driving rain - it didn't feel like I was heading to a sun drenched white beached island - it felt more like the ferry to Mull!

The rain did eventual stop and I ventured out. Stone Town which is the islands capital is a labyrinth of small alleys - I don't care if you have a map - GPS or a local guide - one thing is certain - you will get lost...

Therein lies the beauty - each turn reveals an new vista - an ancient hammam - an Anglican church with a mosque just behind it - kids playing football with an empty plastic coke bottle...

Muslim women dressed in black shopping in local markets.. a different experience in every street - actually maybe not so different as going round in circles is surprisingly easy...

As the afternoon fades I wander to the beach - an ice cold Serengeti beer hits the spot - the sun goes down and the local kids play in the water and then sing on the shore - then I realise it's not Mull - it's Zanzibar..

But Zanzibar is really all about the beaches... I hopped on a Daladala - the local form of public transport. They only go when they fill up - which takes time!! One long, hot, dusty, bottom-numbing ride later I had reached Paje - 10km of turquoise water and blinding white sand.. a place to stay for a few days don't you think...

This area is often described as a paradise but as you can see the curse of plastic bottles can't be escaped.  Unbelievably beachside hotels charging hundreds of dollars per night will clean their own beachfront but no more.. so as you  walk along you get alternating pristine and then bottle strewn areas..

Well A guy can only handle so much travel time and I moved to the middle of the island to spend some time at ZAASO. www.zaaso.net This is an animal welfare NGO founded by a Dutch woman Anna.  Read more about my time there on 
http://wandervetwork.blogspot.com/2016/04/zanzibar-animal-affection-society.html

After my time at ZAASO I headed back to the mainland - the plan was to head south towards the Malawi border... The travel choices were air, road or rail.. Air was out as I want to travel Africa overland.. Road.. well I had been on enough crowded  boneshaking buses to last a lifetime and the  prospect of 16 hours with my knees up near my ears wasn't attractive! 

 So it was decided - it was going to be rail. The exotically named Kilimanjaro Express from Dar Es Salaam to Mbeya.  They even had a first class sleeping car... but let me dispel visions of an Orient Express type experience...  No crisp linens or waiters servicing breakfast with coffee and croissants. Just a hard vinyl covered bench,  a thin blanket and a noisy intermittently working fan..

Then there were legendary stories of delays.. The journey is 900km and is supposed to take 26 hours.. however delays of 2 or 3 days are not unknown..! In the end we arrived 6 hours late - which apparently is excellent.  

 Also excellent was the experience... trundling past villages - seeing real African life and existence...little kids would run to the train excitedly,  when the train stopped (which it did often!)  sellers would appear with apples, pears, corn on the cob and drinks... 


We saw people carrying out their everyday activities-working the land with their hoes and of course walking with large bundles on their heads or carrying large yellow jerrycans of water.. (always it was the women who did this work..)

 

Mbeya was the end of my Tanzanian experience - the next morning I stamped out at the border and walked across a bridge and was in Malawi....