Some of my German friends just got back from their holiday in Tanzania.....although the one writing was born in S. Africa, she has not been back since she was a baby. These are her impressions......I thought you would like to see them:
"I wish you all a very happy New Year and all the best for 2007. I hope all your wishes come true and you stay healthy and happy! I feel a bit guilty because I have not contacted a lot of you lately, but I thought I will take the chance now and tell you a bit about our trip to Africa and wish you a happy New Year.
Jens and I went to Tanzania for three weeks and came back a few days ago. We had such an amazing time. Africa is different then other countries and time does not seem to be as important. We realized that already when we were arriving. We were waiting for our luggage for 2 ½ hours! After two hours I got a bit nervous and was asking this black lady what had happened and she just looked at me with her big eyes and told me that the plane had 10 containers of luggage and that this is so much work! If I would not have know that in all other countries they get the same work done within a couple minutes I would have told her that I completely understand that! The next morning we were supposed to take a bus from Dar es Salaam to Arusha and the bus company told us that the bus leaves at 8am and that we have to be there by 7:30am latest. (What is quite early for me on a vacation day) So Jens and I arrived at 7:30 am - all tired and without a morning coffee - and then it took 4 hours until the bus was finally leaving! That seemed to be very normal since we were the only ones that were annoyed about that.
Another thing that I found very impressive how much patience everyone has and how quite African kids are. There was a family squeezed into the seats next to us (4 people on 2 seats) and the kids hardly ever complained nor were crying on that 10 hour journey in the heat! The bus was supposed to have air condition, but it did not work and I was so happy when we finally arrived in Arusha!
The next day we rented a 4 wheel drive car and they took out the back seats for us, we bought a mattress and the safari could start. We visited the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks. We saw a lot of animals like giraffe, elephants, hippos, tons of wild beasts, zebras, lions and even a leopard. The leopard we saw on a night drive and it was so close that if we would have lowered our window we could have petted him… When we continued with our night drive we realized that we saw the leopard just 500m away from our campsite where we stayed all alone that night. I was a bit scared and was happy to sleep inside the car and not in a tent!!!
We celebrated Christmas in the Serengeti and at Christmas Eve we decided to go for dinner to one of the lodges. When we arrived at the lodge we found out that the Tanzanian president was staying at that lodge over Christmas and we were sitting 5m away from his table during dinner. Very funny! When we were driving back to our camp site Jens told me that my Dad had told him that he always saw a lot of animals on night drives. Since we were driving already for 15 minutes without seeing any animal we were making jokes about may Dad making up all those stories, when all of the sudden a group of 12 lions was walking on the street towards us…Scary!!!
After our safari we went to Pangani - a small town between Dar es Salaam and Mombassa on the Tanzanian coast. We stayed at this beautiful beach retreat and it felt like paradise. The accommodation and food was exceptional and the beach was nearly empty! If anyone ever plans to go to Tanzania you should not miss that place!
I am happy to pass the information. It was just great! We celebrated New Years there and on the 1st of January we wanted to make our way back to Dar es Salaam and then to Zanzibar. When the hotel owner heard our plan he offered us to take us with a boat immediately to Zanzibar what would save us at least a day or more of travelling. So we decided to take the boat, but got a bit nervous when we realized that the boat was just a small wooden boat with one motor and 2 life vests. The boat ride to Zanzibar took 4 hours and the waves were huge! For at least two hours we could not see any land anymore and I was so happy when I touched ground again!!!
Zanzibar was amazing with turquoise waters, white sand beaches, palm trees and nice people. Stone Town was architecturally very interesting with old wooden doors, narrow alleys and great old buildings.
I hope that all of you had also great Holidays and the chance to relax and enjoy!
I will try to stay in contact again more frequently this year. Please feel free to come and visit me in London!
Big hugs and kisses to all of you,"
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