Tanzania was the second part of our trip to Africa. There, we had half of the time we had in Namibia and therefore couldn’t really go way further into the country and what I really wanted to see there, was the Serengeti and the Great Migration which i read goes on until July. At first, actually, i didn’t think we’d see so much wildlife in Namibia, so Tanzania was “The safari destination” in my head and Namibia was to see mostly scenery, deserts etc. but by the time we went to Tanzania, we’ve seen almost everything already. So we landed in Kilimanjaro International Airport and were picked up by the driver of the hotel where we stayed or more like from the company we went on the tour with. From Kilimanjaro to Arusha was only 50 Km but it took a LOOOONG time to get there, probably 1.5 – 2h because it was a 2-way road to Arusha and many trucks would slow us down, we even almost had a truck crash into us, i almost said my prayer when we were overtaking and the truck started going into our direction (it’s left-aside driving there) and i saw the truck didn’t see us and also started overtaking, i think i screamed a little and the driver of our car somehow managed to avoid it by moving more to the right. Gosh, that was scary, i haven’t had this happen to me since I was a child and because i’ve seen it before I’m currently quite anxious every time i overtake a truck on the highway and I more as far away as possible on my lane and drive as fast as possible to overtake. Anyway, we reached the hotel and entered the room, it was a very modest room, the bathroom was quite old and rusty and a bit dirty etc but it was ok, doable for one night, since the next day we would leave for our tour and would return the night before our flights for one more night here. The garden, though, was goooorgeous. We went to get some dinner and the first thing i noticed was.. OF COURSE, new birds on my spot list. I was so excited. I had started making a list of all birds and other animals i’ve spotted and I was very excited to add a few new species of birds from my first night in Tanzania. At some point, we were talking to the manager of the tour agency who came to explain how the tour would go and a Hadada Ibis landed on the roof of the hotel and I barely contended myself from just jumping and leaving to run for my camera, of course by the time the guy was over the ibises were gone and I was soooo disappointed and angry but I got to see them later on again so it was all good 😀

A Fair warning

The best part (for me) of Tanzania was that while Namibia was a gorgeous desert full of vibrant and rich culture, Tanzania was the place to experience the real wild – the campsites in the heart of Serengeti were not fenced at all and that meant that wildlife roams around you at night and can and WILL come just outside your tent. It’s literally a WILD experience that brings you emotions varying from excitement, through fear to disbelief and will make your imagination wild too. So think twice and make sure you are open for experiences like this which could scare you but would also bring you unforgettable memories. You’ll hear/read my stories in the next lines.