Some Safari Photos!
I am now back in Dar es Salaam and presented my final report/exit debriefing to the staff here this morning. It went well and we had a good conversation. It has been an amazing experience here.
Last weekend I managed to do a safari in Ruaha National Park. It was difficult because I had limited time and the park was about 10 hours away from Mbeya. At the time I didn't realize quite how far it was but bad roads and traffic can really prolong the drive. I ended up going to the park with my city counterpart and his friend, going in his friend's car. This was a considerably cheaper option than going with an official tour company. We left around noon on Friday and drove most of the day.
We arrived in the town of Iringa that evening and stayed there. At 5am the next day we left for the park but it took around 4 hours to get to the park because the road was really bad and our little car had to go slowly. As we were getting close to the park but not yet in it we saw a monkey run across the road! And then a little closer we suddenly saw giraffes right next to the road, which was really cool.
When we eventually got in the park it was pretty amazing.We drove our own car around the park and hired a park ranger guide to accompany us.We saw all the animals: lions, giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, monkeys, buffalo, zebra, impala, and more. I had really wanted to see elephants and we weren't coming across any but then toward the end we saw a lot of them. I also really enjoyed the baobab trees. It was very, very hot and dry in the park. In late afternoon we left the park and headed to a village outside the park to stay the night. This was another cool experience to meet with people in the village. The friend who drove us had family in this village we went and surprised them. The area where they lived didn't really have electricity so the night sky was absolutely amazing. There were so many stars. The next day we drove all day to get back to town by the evening. It was a long drive but much of it was in a beautiful setting.
The weekend before, I went to Kitulo National Park for the day. For that trip I hired a local tour guide who had been recommended by two people separately and he was really great. We first went to Lake Nygozi which is a crater lake on top of a mountain. We hiked for 20 or 30 minutes through the forest up this mountain and then there was suddenly a lake down below! It is possible to hike down to the lake but it looked very steep.
After the lake we drove to Kitulo which is absolutely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The park is know for its hundreds of varieties of wildflowers, including orchids. Since this is just the beginning of the rainy season, the flowers were only starting to bloom but the ones I saw were very nice. I can't even imagine how beautiful it must be when they are all in full bloom. The setting was so pretty and the sky was wide open and full of pretty clouds.
After driving through the park for some time and stopping to walk a few times, I thought we were wrapping up. But then we stopped to see a waterfall. Our guide didn't tell us how far the waterfall was. We ended up hiking quite far down to see the waterfall, which was really pretty, and then hiked back up. This wasn't too bad since there were rough stairs built into the hill but the last little stretch down to the waterfall was a little nerve-wracking. The whole experience was so beautiful. We drove out of the park as the sun was setting.
Tanzania has so many national parks. I hope I can come back and visit others and spend more time in them. I would love to see Kitulo with all its flowers and would like to camp in the park. It would also be amazing to go to the Seregenti park, Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria, and many other places.
Last weekend I managed to do a safari in Ruaha National Park. It was difficult because I had limited time and the park was about 10 hours away from Mbeya. At the time I didn't realize quite how far it was but bad roads and traffic can really prolong the drive. I ended up going to the park with my city counterpart and his friend, going in his friend's car. This was a considerably cheaper option than going with an official tour company. We left around noon on Friday and drove most of the day.
We arrived in the town of Iringa that evening and stayed there. At 5am the next day we left for the park but it took around 4 hours to get to the park because the road was really bad and our little car had to go slowly. As we were getting close to the park but not yet in it we saw a monkey run across the road! And then a little closer we suddenly saw giraffes right next to the road, which was really cool.
When we eventually got in the park it was pretty amazing.We drove our own car around the park and hired a park ranger guide to accompany us.We saw all the animals: lions, giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, monkeys, buffalo, zebra, impala, and more. I had really wanted to see elephants and we weren't coming across any but then toward the end we saw a lot of them. I also really enjoyed the baobab trees. It was very, very hot and dry in the park. In late afternoon we left the park and headed to a village outside the park to stay the night. This was another cool experience to meet with people in the village. The friend who drove us had family in this village we went and surprised them. The area where they lived didn't really have electricity so the night sky was absolutely amazing. There were so many stars. The next day we drove all day to get back to town by the evening. It was a long drive but much of it was in a beautiful setting.
The weekend before, I went to Kitulo National Park for the day. For that trip I hired a local tour guide who had been recommended by two people separately and he was really great. We first went to Lake Nygozi which is a crater lake on top of a mountain. We hiked for 20 or 30 minutes through the forest up this mountain and then there was suddenly a lake down below! It is possible to hike down to the lake but it looked very steep.
After the lake we drove to Kitulo which is absolutely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The park is know for its hundreds of varieties of wildflowers, including orchids. Since this is just the beginning of the rainy season, the flowers were only starting to bloom but the ones I saw were very nice. I can't even imagine how beautiful it must be when they are all in full bloom. The setting was so pretty and the sky was wide open and full of pretty clouds.
After driving through the park for some time and stopping to walk a few times, I thought we were wrapping up. But then we stopped to see a waterfall. Our guide didn't tell us how far the waterfall was. We ended up hiking quite far down to see the waterfall, which was really pretty, and then hiked back up. This wasn't too bad since there were rough stairs built into the hill but the last little stretch down to the waterfall was a little nerve-wracking. The whole experience was so beautiful. We drove out of the park as the sun was setting.
Tanzania has so many national parks. I hope I can come back and visit others and spend more time in them. I would love to see Kitulo with all its flowers and would like to camp in the park. It would also be amazing to go to the Seregenti park, Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria, and many other places.
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