Tanzania

Wednesday 02 August Left behind a comfortable Nairobi, and an enjoyable Kenya visit.

The travel time to the border at Namanga is around 2 hrs 30 mins. Here we complete border formalities, which, yet again this simply involved simply filling in a form, paying the entry fee for the visa, and never any request for a yellow fever vaccination certificate!

We arrive thinking that with the roads generally being better in Tanzania, we could have driven ourselves around. However, just after an hour a pothole rendered the back axle broken and there isn’t any AA service out here! Our driver Daniel, who often proved the worth of his experience, simply took it as part of Africa and off he went into the bush. I forgot … the trusty stick and rubber band approach! Soon enough, he got us going again, for all of the next 40 miles! I erased the thought of driving myself after that. The other issues such as a lack of road signs, and when it came to viewing wildlife Daniel could spot anything, made me realise that a driver is certainly the way to do things out here.

We are based at the Serena Mountain Village in Arusha, again another of the excellent family of Serena hotels. This is an amazing place, even though to get to the hotel you have to encounter a very rough and tumble lane. Designed as an African village, the accommodation is housed in banana-stem thatched huts, grouped amongst tropical shade trees. All the 46 guestrooms have private balconies with magnificent views of the snow-capped Kilimanjaro on one side and Lake Duluti and Mount Meru on the other. The restaurant and bar are located in the Old Colonial Farmhouse, and the food on offer is absolutely top rate. There is a nature trail around Lake Duluti and the bird life is amazing.

Arusha itself is the undoubted Tanzanian capital for the tourism industry and effectively the whole of the town revolves around those either going to or coming from the Serengeti.

Thursday 03 August
We travelled westwards to the Lake Manyara area and stayed at E Unoto Retreat, perhaps best known as Masai Village, located in the heart of the Masai countryside. This was certainly down a dirt track but what lay at the end was a very special place indeed. This 5* lodge is 1½ hours drive from Arusha and in close proximity to famous national parks, as well as the Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara.

Twenty-five spacious bungalows provide luxurious accommodation for all, and each bungalow has been designed in Masai style and decorated with exquisite furnishings and carvings continuing the Masai theme. Each bungalow is a private suite with its own balcony offering panoramic views of Lake Miwaleni and the towering escarpment. The suites also feature relaxing leather armchairs and separate shower and toilet facilities. Additional features include a coffee table, writing table, mosquito nets, telephone with access to reception and other areas of the lodge. The open-air restaurant and bar overlook the lake and swimming pool. International cuisine (including a children’s menu) is offered daily in the restaurant, whilst butlers provide drinks and snacks to you by the pool. The rooms were just wonderful, staffed by the local Masai people. The food was excellent here, and guests are entertained with a culture show during the evening. Lake Manyara was also good, but you basically have a 1 in 365 chance of seeing any of the famous tree climbing lions!

Friday 04 August
Our target location for the day was the famous Ngorongoro Crater, or caldera. It is certainly a most fascinating place to visit, a real Garden of Eden, with a great array of animal life inside the crater itself.

We stayed at Ndutu Safari Lodge, and whilst the location was great and they had a wonderful fire on in the evening for sundowners, the standard of the accommodation was at the lower end of what we had enjoyed so far. There were more families here and the menus reflected this, and it also became obvious that the wonderful array of animals that saw the previous week in the Masai Mara was the result of the migration having taken place ... from here! Nevertheless, the whole area was still very busy and there were still plenty of animals to see, especially cats, and the ‘Big Five’ were still in evidence in the Serengeti. The word ‘Serengeti’ comes from the Masai word 'Siringit' meaning 'the place where the land runs on forever' and refers to the flat grassy plains which make up about a third of the park.

Saturday 05 August
A two-night stay was a welcome change, and staying at Mbalageti Safari Camp a real treat. Situated on the Mwamyeni hill, the camp offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the Serengeti plains and the Mbalageti River. Each side of the hill accommodates 12 of the 24 luxury tented chalets, made from local rock and wood. The bathrooms have a spectacular view, and the private sheltered veranda extends from the bedroom. The swimming pool is made out of local rocks and situated on the edge of the hill, and again, offers a 360-degree view of the Serengeti. The breakfast, light lunches and dinner menus are influenced by both the Serengeti environment and continental cuisine and are served in the restaurant, which also overlooks the plains. There is a bar situated in the centre of the main building, and a lounge loft in the main building where you can relax with the board games, puzzles, magazines and books. There are two shops (‘dukas’) selling local products, art and crafts as souvenirs or gifts.

The rooms were wonderful, tented, and much personalised. The bar and restaurant was one of our favourites and I would highly recommend this place … getting up for breakfast at day-break is a real pleasure and the staff are excellent.

Game drives at this time of year yield less animal viewing as the majority have migrated, so best to visit during the wet season from November to May. There are sufficient animals on offer and plenty of cats to keep visitors happy, but you should consider visiting when these vast plains are teaming with wildlife. The migration itself and those river crossings, now all but dried river beds, must surely be one of the greatest spectacles in the world.

Sunday 06 August
We rose early and we got to see more than sufficient animals and return to have lunch after which we took advantage of an opportunity to relax, enjoy this beautiful lodge and take in this wondrous part of the world. A good shop on site yields a positive shopping opportunity. The Manager is South African and about to leave to ply his trade in England. Whilst the level of service here is good, it seems one thing to enjoy and another to manage on a daily basis, so generally speaking, the responses from staff are quite direct.

Monday 07 August
During the day we enjoyed more game viewing.

One point to note should anything go missing during your visit: Calling to the local police office to pick up a report which they had to compile due to the ‘loss’ of my Blackberry. Boy, how things are archaic! One form for another form, for another office to go to, in another town, then you find out they close on bank holidays, everything is hand written, and so on. This is third world, after all. We also learn that this is the sixth such report of a theft at Mbalageti, so something the management needs to act upon.

We stay at the luxury tented camp of Mbuzi Mawe Serena. The camp lies at the epicentre of the Serengeti, located on one of the main annual migration corridors for wildebeest, zebras, gazelles and their accompanying predators. Mbuzi Mawe (‘Klipspringer’ in English) makes excellent use of its wilderness location, offering al fresco breakfasts, safari lunches and lantern-lit bush suppers, campfire roasts and dance displays by the Ikoma people, as well as game-drives and ranger-led bush walks. There are 16 luxurious tents radiating out from a central lounge, where the natural stone terrace looks out over the plain. Each tent has 24-hour electricity, ensuite bathroom (supplied with hot water!), a dressing area, two double beds and a verandah with double sun-bed. In the lounge there is a cocktail bar and boutique with gifts, safari accessories and cultural crafts on offer, and the traditionally-styled dining tent has its own shaded terrace for outdoor dining. This camp is typically Serena and first rate. The food and service again were excellent.

Tuesday 08 August
We transfer the short distance to nearby Seronera airstrip. Flights are scheduled, but neither the airline nor the operators know the timings, usually until the day before or even the same morning. Grass runways and everyone lending a hand is how things are done at these airports. Fantastic!

We have to connect in Arusha and whilst we are there we went to a local craft village, recommended to visitors. Although Arusha is a place in its own right, it does not have a great deal else to suggest it would be useful place to stay, although we did enjoy our original hotel stay here.

Our connection with Precision Air, from the international Kilimanjaro airport, some 70 kms away was all fairly straightforward, although the flights are all full, and re-confirmations (handled by the local ground operators) are still necessary in this part of the world.

Arriving in Zanzibar and a four-night stay ahead us in a beach resort was very appealing. La Gemma Dell’ Est, located in the north of the island, so an hour away from Stone Town and the airport, is unsurprisingly Italian owned, and very continental in style. The resort is located on the north-west coast and overlooked the Nungwi beach and the Indian Ocean. All the rooms have French windows that open onto a private terrace with a sea view. The guestrooms are supplied with mosquito nets, air conditioning, ceiling fan, a direct line telephone, satellite TV and mini-fridge, and the ensuite marble bathrooms include a walk-in shower. There is an outdoor swimming pool with a jacuzzi, evening entertainment and a watersports centre. The main restaurant serves buffet meals, but a la carte dining is offered in the evenings at the over-water restaurant, and there is also a beach bar and a lobby bar. With all this amazing food, it was certainly difficult to keep the weight off. I would perhaps rate this resort as a 4.5* rather than 5, but still very enjoyable.

Those folk who did the honourable thing and went to Stone Town, which is a site of historical significance, were, on the whole, a little disappointed by their visit. The mystique of the island and its attractions are the beaches and the chance to chill out after doing the safari bit, which is what most did and this was a fine and fitting end to the trip.

Click to read about Andrew's experiences in Uganda and Kenya before he arrived in Tanzania.