15/16.12.2009
Tanzania,Arusha outskirts, Meserani snake park campsite
Soundtrack: Death cab for cutie,smooth jazz

first night in the tent on this trip.
After a long day of driving from Kenya to the town of Arusha,rising up questions if it was the right way or if we were taking a detour,sitting on the "Beach" of our truck-which is the best place to be on a long hot dayon the sandyroads of the Black Continent. I never ever had so much dirt and sand on my body after just 8 hours of driving!

Right after the Kenya-Tanzania bordercrossing-where we had to move from one ax of the truck to another( massively,all 19 of us at one time) because our truck was overweight and we didn't want to pay a fee for that-we stopped on the side of the dry, dusty, red sole padded road to have some bean-carrot-corn salad and some bread for lunch. While the cooking group of the day( we are six groups,switching tasks daily) was setting everything up,i was up on the roof of the truck taking pictures of the Masaai children,who approached our truck. They came really close,staring at our food. Suddenly the whole family arrived: long figures,dressed up in vivid colored pieces of fabric-mostly red orange-continued with super skinny legs and some weird "shoes". The contrast of the black skin and the red orange material coverinf their almost ghostly bodies is amazing. Even though the lunch was good i couldn't finish it up with all the poor people watching every bean that was entering my mouth. Jules,our tourleader, didn't allow me to share my food with them, and my other truck mates said that after Ethiopia you get used to that. I could never get used to starving people, in a place where there is nothing more than just dust and cracked, dry earth, no water, just them and a few goats-watching ME eating! That's over my limit. So i decided to go to the Nakumatt supermarket in the closest city and get biscuits for the next encounter.

Then we kept driving until we got close to Arusha at the Meserani snake park campsite. Really nice cosy place, friendly staff and my ears were happy to hear Blur, Coldplay, RHCP and Death Cab for Cutie at the bar. We had an amazing dinner with lots of salads and garlic bread wrapped in Alu-foil and thrown in the fire, joined by 3 friendly beers: Kilimanjaro, Ndovu and Castle milk Stout. All local beers because we like the locals so we support the locals!:)

for tomorrow early in the morning we planned to go to the Serengeti National Park and camp there. It is Tanzanias largest and most famous NP, a 14000 square km wilderness that offers unparalleled safari opportunities. The annual wilderbeests migration is the biggest wildlife spectacle on earth and the Serengeti's biggest draw.
But till then I have to pass THIS moment, while i am writing in my tent, alone, lying diagonally on the thermarest, trying everything to avoid hearing the roaming overland trucks( which somehow started their engines at 4:38 am) , the flip-flops clapping against the travellers " rhino-skin"- like dry and dirty heels. Every step is like a chinese drop torture method for me. I am waiting for my alarm to snooze and pack my tent for the serengeti, accompanied by Jazz music.

It's a journey on my own!

16.12.2009
Tanzania,Serengeti,2400 m altitude
Soundtrack: voice of the wildlife, frogs and owls

we are off for the Serengeti. After 5 h of driving from Arsha, we got to the famous game park, first passing by the Ngorongoro crater, the biggest in the world: 20 km diameter, 260 km perimeter and 610 m height, supposed to be the " scar" after the meteorite that hit the earth and broght the dinosaur-era to an end. One of the most amazing places i have ever seen! Standing on the edge of the crater just makes me wonder and appreciate one more time how amazing mother earth is! Down in the crater you can see nowadays a lake and a lot of wilderbeests, zebras and elephants; but 2,5 million years ago the things looked a bit different-like in an active volcano!:)
we continued driving on virgin roads, offroad tracks and wide plains, meeting all kind of animals, in their natural habitat: masaai giraffes, elephants( tembo in swahili), zebras, wilderbeests, buffalos, secretary birds, lions(simba), cheetah(duma). The 3 lions, 1 male and 2 female, resting in the shadow of a baobab tree-biggest tree in Africa, hole on the inside; a cheetah feeding a prey and the cherry on top was the leopard! While trying to snap a picture of this amazing creatures, i just turn my head a few degrees to the right and on the cliffs bwhind me i spot a lioness standing, all alone, in her feminine feline beauty, observing us carefully. This image i will never forget! It was simply WILD, just pure Africa, no zoo, no 3d movie, no documentary on discovery channel! There was a damn lion roaring at us, 10 m away! It was the absolute experience, magical,like a dream. Like in " the lion king". Can' t wait you get to see the pictures and the video! Absolutely unique, a once in a lifetime experience, i think!
Leaving the lion , a thunderstorm is coming closer, so we hurry to the campsite to set up the tents before it gets completly dark and rainy. We find the site in a welcoming atmosphere: cucumber soup, pasta with veggie sauce special for me, pancakes and chocolate. All these in the middle of the wilderness. The kitchenwas actually a free space surrounded by a fence( looked actually like a cage), so the wild animals don't attack the cooks. Gas-lamps. Stars, lots of twinkling stars- like christmas lights. Tents. Land cruisers. Magical!
But of course, i had to do something to spice it up: the cucumber soup landed on my pants, the only pair of pants i had for the next 2 days! Greeeeat!:))
now, i am writing again from the tent, cause i am a bit scared to sleep: the Jeep driver told us not to get out of the tent during the night because lions and hienas come around. Shoes should be inside the tent aswell, somehow for the same reasob.
So, all packed inside, turned myself into " the sleeping bag cocoon" and tried to fall asleep.
As you can see(...or read) i can' t sleep, because i am writing...hoping for a quiet night....till tomorrow at 6 am when the safari continues.