We arrived in Tanzania on Feb 1, settling in for two nights in a hotel in Arusha. Arusha is the centre of tours into the northern highlands, where most of the animal parks are situated. Rich has visited this part of the world extensively over fifty years ago when he was teaching in Dar el Salaam. We are only doing a superficial visit here because of the extensive nature of our trip, mostly to give me a feeling for the Tanzania Game Parks.
We each went out own way on our one free day in Arusha. Rich headed off to visit a major museum. I wanted to walk the streets a bit, my first real opportunity to do that. My street walking ability is greatly hampered right now, but it is a large part of what I like to do everywhere I go. Walking along the streets in Arusha is complicated by the absence of anything like a real sidewalk. People walk on the side of the road, make their way through merchants and their wares, clamber over road works, dirt and debris of all manner. For the crowds of people it is different; as I stumble along what is like an obstacle course for me they dance across everything without apparent notice of the obstacles.
So I walk slowly, I can’t afford to trip and fall. Which means there is lots of opportunity to look around and talk with the odd person. There are a few people in any tourist area that are selling things, but it has not been obtrusive, and I initiated the conversations on most occasions. I had my small camera and so took a few photos, but mostly I just ambled with no objective for much of the day. The side streets were more pleasant than the main streets, as it was easier for me to walk and my conversations were more relaxed. I have included a shot of a group of guys with old Nikon cameras. One had an opportunity to try my newer model by shooting me with his Nikon buddies. When I needed a break I found a western style coffee shop with a nice place to rest. It is hectic walking but I love it.
Our three days in the parks began at 5:00 am with a two hour drive to a hotel, The Fig Tree, close to the three parks we would visit. We spent both nights and had our breakfast and dinners at the Fig Tree, always nice to not pack up every day, and to get to know people a little.
After a quick breakfast we got into a Safari type vehicle, seven clients and a driver guide, and headed for Ngorogoro Crater, our primary destination. An hour put us, along with about 30 other vehicles, at the gates. Our guide had to take his permits to be cleared to enter the park. The road, now rough unsurfaced, continued to climb to the rim of the crater and then along the rim before dropping into the crater, which is the attraction. As we cleared the deep jungle an open savannah began with some Masai villages, which I could only snap from the window as we whistled by.
We dropped from about 2300 m at the rim 600m to the crater floor, which is flat, open and contains a small lake. The walls of the crater have created an environment that supports a resident family of many of Africa’s animals. Missing are giraffes because the crater does not have the acacia trees that they need.
The three tours we joined, shared with other clients, are not birding tours. Most other clients were more interested in the animals, but the guide did know their birds and so on each tour we did get some birds to add to our collection. Highlights of the Crater tour was the big flat expanse where animals of all sorts were always in view. We saw nine lions in two different places, all indifferent to the trucks filled with people driving by. Good opportunities were had for elephants as well. Thousands of flamingos and other water and shore birds were in and around the lake. This day was great for me as Ngorogoro is a storied wildlife location, and Rich remembered little of his trip here over fifty years ago.
On the following days we visited Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks. Each with different clients and a different driver guide. They also teemed with animal and bird life to appreciate. Each day we had a hot lunch that was loaded in the truck in the morning. We had the lunch in a picnic type spot with dozens of other trucks of people. There seem to be no end of different providers of the booking and delivery of these safari offerings. There will also be many higher end safari offerings with remote lodges or tent camps to stay at. We only had time to taste this world, but it was great for me to add this to our birding trip.
We flew to Dar es Salaam, for a four day visit. It was our big city experience on this trip. Dar is not a tourist attraction, but it is where Rich lived and worked for four years, so it was nice to see that through his eyes. Fifty years does change these places though. I had a little more street walking here, enjoying yet another market area.
kenmyhre 
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