We had an amazing trip to Tanzania and, with all the traveling, now really understand that Rachel is truly on the other size of the earth!
With all of the amazing things we saw and experienced, the best part was our visit and time spent with Rachel, touring Dar and the University, meeting the Brown gang and providing Rachel with a few hot showers and some fancier meals. We were able to view, first hand, her good work at the orphanage. But, best of all, we saw how well she speaks Swahili! Though she’d argue that she isn’t fluent, there wasn’t one situation where she wasn’t able to fully communicate with the locals. And they really get a charge out of seeing a white girl from America speaking their language.
We had a relaxing couple of days in Zanibar then it was off on the safari!
We spent about 10 days with our driver/guide Shaaban (just the two of us and Shaaban) touring around northern Tanzania. We experienced the whole spectrum of accommodations, from a 5 star hotel down to a two person tent. We spent time in the Tarangire National Park, the Ngorongoro Recreation Area and the Serengeti.
We saw all of the Big Five (the lion, the African elephant, the Cape Buffalo, the leopard and the rhinoceros), plus giraffes, zebras (LOTS of zebras), wildebeest (LOTS of them too), impalas, cheetahs, hippos, ostriches, baboons, hyenas, jackals, and more. We were quite happy to see paved roads when we got home.
We met people from all over the world (not too many Americans) and found everyone very friendly and accommodating.
This was truly an experience of a lifetime. It took us 41 hours to get back (from leaving our final accommodation to our front door in California), with a small plane ride (landing and taking off from a dirt air strip and three stops), a few layovers and two international flights (one for 10 hours and the other for 11 hours). But it was all worth it!!
We look forward to having Rachel home in January.
We took over 1,100 photos and have posted three short slideshows (if you’re interested):
http://web.me.com/bquint/TanzaniaAdventure/TanzaniaMovies.html
Also, just 6 photos are posted below. Thanks for reading.
J & B
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