Ngorongoro and Serengeti: top places for African Safari

27th February 2009, Arusha
Wake-up time 5 am: I hate waking up at 5! I start feeling the burden of this trip. And certainly that damned dog barking and howling all night long didn't help much.
I can see some fog in Africa for the first time: a kilometre of thick bank then suddenly vanished. Incredible!
 

Serengeti National Park. © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Since we were in Malawi we've been travelling side by side with other overland groups such as Nomads, Dragoman, Intrepid. It's a continuous overtaking of each other to then meet again in the most suggestive points of interest of this traditional route, precisely Zanzibar.
The way to Arusha is long, 10 full hours, with always a keen eye at buses travelling at madly full speed and overtaking even in populated areas. It's not rare to find overturned vehicles into some ditch on the side of the road. Just today I've seen two of them, a truck and a bus, soon after an accident.
When we stop again for lunch, obviously on the road, a guy literally flies out of a bus and comes next to us, under a baobab, begging for some food. When all of us are done Takalani picks up the leftovers, tomatoes, salad, cucumber, bread, he puts them all together in a plastic bag and hands them to the poor guy who starts pigging out. It almost hurts me to see that, but when he even expects to be given a coke as a drink I'd like to send him about his business and take back all the supplies given.

Fresh, green and rich in greenery, Arusha is one of the most developed cities in Tanzania, registering a dizzying growth rate. Arusha is also the main access gate to the Serengeti protected area as well as other northern parks. This primary touristic centre is therefore the Tanzanian "capital" for safaris. Around Arusha coffee, sweetcorn and wheat plantations are present.

In the late afternoon we arrive at the Masai Camp-Site which also has a nice bar-restaurant. I have a little argument with Takalani because he wants me to cook tonight. This was not agreed before, my duty is washing dishes but today it's not even my turn.
After a small break at the bar I go to sleep, it's too late for me but the loud music (Madonna and Michael Jackson are really appreciated here) give me some problems in falling asleep.

28th February 2009
We leave the camp-site to go into town where we stop at an internet point: that piece of shit charges me 7500 shillings for half an hour! I can sniff-out the rip-off so I wait for Kasper and Lasse to see how much they are soaked. Same amount but it seems really too much to me so I report this to the two guides. They go furious, so they enter the shop to complain. The artful lady decided to charge us 7500 shillings instead of 750! Ten times as much! "I can accept being diddled as I am tourist but that's being a real piece of shit" I thought! While she is giving me the money back she even smiles at me, but I look back at her totally pissed-off and I shake my head as a sign of contempt: dishonest!

The Curio Market in Arusha. © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Then we go to the Curio Market, a real trap for tourists where I get a pair of earrings and a few cup holders at ridiculous prices. Then shopping, lunch and we leave back heading to Ngorongoro.
We stop for an hour in a camp-site because we can't enter the Ngorongoro area before 6 pm in order to have our pass (lasting 24 hours) still valid tomorrow.
Once we enter the Conservation Area, we can enjoy a spectacular view on the crater: green and blue are the predominant colours. We catch sight of dozens of buffaloes and elephants just close to the Simba A, the public camp-site where we're sleeping tonight. It's really cold and after dinner a couple hyenas roam around our tents. I decide I'd better sleep on the truck tonight. 
 

Ngorongoro Crater. © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

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1st March 2009
Wake-up time is 5. Wake-up time? Did anybody even sleep?!?!?! I heard all night long animals roaming around the truck, some of them even tried to shake the vehicle to find some food in the kitchen beneath. And I, the brave, didn't even have the courage make a move, so I never understood what kind of animal had been bothering me for so long. We suppose it might be some warthog or buffalo. Also the cold was quite annoying. Anyways it was worth it, the shiver of a night spent in the Ngorongoro is breathtaking, a surge of adrenaline. The volcanic crater is located at 2200 metres above sea level, is 16 kilometres in diameter and takes up an area as large as 265 sqm. This is the biggest intact caldera in the world.
Only one road runs along the crater rim. There are four ways connecting the rim with the internal part of the crater; the route takes around 30 minutes with an off-road vehicle. The abundant rains together with ponds, little lakes and internal streams, nightly fog surrounding and feeding the forests along the slopes of the old volcano, created an out-and-out ecosystem. The savannah takes up the most internal part of the crater, alternating with some wetland, scrubs of acacias and semi-desert areas; in the middle of the crater is a lake. Into the crater the concentration of fauna is impressive: over 25000 large-sized animals have been counted up. The most typical image is probably the one portraying the big herds of zebras and gnu, but inside of the crater we can find the characteristic species of the savannah such as: elephants, buffaloes, hyenas, jackals, hippos, baboons, as well as other quite rare breed of white rhinos, latest survivors of a species which is all around Tanzania threatened with extinction.
Species of birds are countless and these migrant animals are obviously attracted by the several stretches of water. Noteworthy are flamingos, constituting one of the most populated colonies around Africa. Impalas and giraffes are not present. The local Maasai tribes have the right to graze in this area and it's not uncommon to meet some of them together with their livestock.
While we enter the crater the day is dawning. We straightaway catch sight of a huge quantity of animals. In addition to the same old buffaloes, warthog, giraffes, zebras, elephants, I could also see hyenas, jackals, flamingos, livestock and other characteristic birds, hippos very closely and nothing less than six lions! Four females and two males. What a feeling! We catch sight of the first three females from afar and we try to follow them closely trying not to find their traces. They come towards us and they cross the road in front of us. One of them crouches just on one side of the road, turning its back on us to then turn around from time to time: seems like it placed itself there, to pose and be admired. Another lioness is sitting on the grass, looking around. A bit farther on the two male lions are dozing and yawning. The real Africa.

The Maasai.

Ngorongoro Crater. © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

We head back to the camp-site to have lunch then we leave again direction Serengeti.
The Serengeti National Park is a place in which African mystery and charm combine together to explode with a huge strength and where beauty and rhythm of nature can be experienced at first hand, like it rarely happens elsewhere. Along its endless plains totally lacking trees, one of the most impressive natural cycle on the planet keeps repeating itself: the amazing animal migrations taking place every year in order to find new grasslands.
The Serengeti is also well-known because of the predators inhabiting this place, lions in particular. Unfortunately we can't catch sight of any animal with the exception of some antelopes.
In the afternoon it gets more and more interesting when George manages to spot a leopard which was sleeping on a tree as far as twenty metres from us. It was not totally visible to the naked-eye because it was perfectly mimicking in the vegetation, moreover it was turning its back on us. I managed to see it only thanks to the zoom but it was amazing anyway. I can now consider myself satisfied, I've seen all the 5 Big Five.
In the early evening reach a place used as a camp-site. We are not alone, there are other trucks. Still I'm scared of the animals like last night and I gotta decide if allowing Takalani to sleep with me or not.
 

Can you see the leopard in the red panel?

2nd March 2009
At the end I decide to let Takalani sleep with me: never made a worse decision! He was snoring like a bear. Moreover there was no animal around this time! During the game safari our truck gets stuck in the mud. It's nightmarish; broken-down in the middle of the savannah with a high probability of being attacked by some lions or other dangerous animals. The trucks looks to be close to rolling over, it seems like the are not many hopes of turning the tide. After exhausting and continuous shovelling and pushing, around one hour later, we manage to put the truck back on the the right way to finally head back to the camp-site. It was a useless game, I've just seen a serval. In compensation I had the chance to take extraordinary pictures at sunrise.

Serengeti National Park. © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Do you wanna see all pics taken during the trip in Africa? Then click here.

Serengeti National Park. © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

After driving through the Western Corridor and having seen hundreds of gnus, dozens of zebras and giraffes and many other animals, we official get out of the Serengeti National Park. We don't have lunch because we had a miserable brunch after going on safari. I can't put up with this, I'm hungry and it's our right to have breakfast and lunch, because we paid for them. I point it out to Takalani. I'm really upset as well as hungry; I paid for this journey and I start being tired of sleeping in mangy places and the food is not good. To make a good impression Takalani buys some bananas for us in the first village we meet on our way.
In the afternoon we arrive in Musoma, on Lake Victoria. I don't know why all people say this place is amazing. It doesn't say anything to me, you can't even go for a swim because the water is infested by schistosomiasis and it's stinky. I finally take a shower after two days.... We have fish and chips for dinner then I go to bed. To all appearances this will be our last night spent in a tent: finally!

Keep reading...My travel story continues in the next post!

Zanzibar, an earthly paradise

A collective taxi takes us to Dar ferry terminal to go to Zanzibar. Takalani persists staying around me, I nearly can't stand that anymore. As soon as they open the external access I literally fly out cause I need some fresh air. A two long hour-trip will take us to Stone Town, where we'll stay at the Flamingo Guesthouse, which is not exactly the best but at least it's clean and we just have to stay here for a night. It's around 45° C, this is what the local guide says. It's hotter than ever and I'm almost kicking the bucket. We decide to visit the Anglican Church with slave market attached, where at least 50 people used to be imprisoned in small dark cells.
Later on we take on a tour through the old town. The town rises on a triangular peninsula on the western coast of the island and it's characterized by a maze of narrow streets packed of houses, shops, bazaars and mosques. You can move around on foot, by bike or by motorbike; cars are unusable in most of inner roads, which are too narrow. Everything is crumbling but it attracts me a lot. I keep meeting lots of Italians. This place is packed of tourist shops, all selling the same stuff.

© 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.
Stone Town, Zanzibar

© 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.
Stone Town, Zanzibar

© 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Stone Town, Zanzibar

Do you wanna see all pics taken during the trip in Africa? Then click here.

The "two ladies" showed up at the hotel lounge bare-chested and they looked surprised when Angem kindly asked them to put on a shirt: don't they know we are in a Muslim country?
We allow ourselves an appetizer, we all are at the Africa House chatting and relaxing on the terrace. The atmosphere is ideal to see the day while drawing to its close.
For dinner we go to the gardens beneath where dozens of pitchmen sell fish and meat, pizza and french fries. I get two prawn skewers and fries: it's all great.
We are all very tired so that after a drink at the Africa House we decide to go back to our rooms. 

23rd February 2009 
Wake-up time is free but anyway I decide to wake up early. The suffocating heat during the night didn't allow me to sleep. I was even scared to turn on the fan cause it looked to be barely hung on the ceiling so I decided to activate it just around 6 in the morning when I obviously was more watchful. We spend the morning between the fish market of Stone Town and the spices tour. It was awesome to try different tastes from the ones I am used to as well as as fruits from the local vegetation. Unfortunately it started to pour down! I bought some lemon grass to make tea; this herb is sensational even though prices are prohibitive for being here (3 dollars a bag).

In the early afternoon we arrive to Nungwi, in the north of the island. At the beginning I wanted to cry when they showed me my bungalow, but when they serve me at the restaurant I'd like to cry even more. I think tension is the main reason for my last few days' feelings. After a couple of hours it's all gone by, I can finally relax and everything seems great now.
This is a big village, hidden amongst palm groves in the northern side of Zanzibar. This is the main area of the manufacturing of "dhows", and one of the must see touristic destinations on the island. It's also the place where tradition and modernity meet together patently. On the splendid white sand beach, fishers stay in the shade to mend the nets and the fishes caught in the morning are put onto wooden racks for the drying process; the expert hands of the carpenters axe the grossly cut boards, giving them a new life by creating dhows, practising a professional as old as centuries. Nevertheless, if you take some step away from the beach, you will enter a completely different world, with music at full blast, internet bars, a quite motley series of guest houses, one next to another and with a festive atmosphere.
In the late afternoon I pop in an internet point to then run to the beach for a swim. The blue water is warm even if not completely clean.

© 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.
Zanzibar, Nungwi Beach

© 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. "Dhow" a typical Zanzibar sailing vessel.

At 8 pm after a small appetizer under our rooms patio, we go have dinner in restaurant on the beach: that's so cool, I had never done this before! I eat squids, barracuda and fries, all pretty good. Afterwards the beach fills up with people, they all look like flower children, all seated on the sand looking at the subsiding sea and at the stars shining in the sky. Somebody is smoking joints, the strong smell starts spreading around but it doesn't seem to be bothering anyone. By the way on the matter drugs: in the afternoon Takalani draws me aside to let me know that once we are at the village some people will approach me, trying to sell some dope. He advises not to buy anything from them because at times they might be policemen in plain clothes. He also adds that if I ever needed "something", that I shouldn't be scared to ask him to arrange this for me. Wow, I have a pusher-guide!

24th February 2009
Takalani knocks on my door because I gotta have breakfast and go snorkeling. I say goodbye to Bianca which is going back to Johannesburg, this was her last trip as a tourist guide, from tomorrow she'll start working in a totally different position.
At 9 am we leave for the adventurous day of snorkeling, which actually lasts not more than half an hour itself, but it keeps us busy all day long. A 2 hour-trip to get there and another 2 to get back, plus about an hour spent on a desert beach, eating fish and tuna for lunch. On the way there we ran up against a tropical storm that washed completely even though I was staying under the boat canopy. The barrier reef is quite disappointing, the one in Red Sea is definitely much better. In short the excursion was only one as well as the ones the natives can traditionally give. I had fun anyways and I had the chance to meet a group from Avventure nel Mondo, the same group I had been keeping an eye on for months on the internet because I would have loved to join them during a tour: life is full of coincidences!

The group asks me to have dinner with them and I accept with pleasure. Takalani gatecrashes but remains aside almost all night without bothering anyone. I'm a little bit sorry for him but he perfectly knew what he was going to head for; he's lived to his own cost the matter of the foreign language, to be semi-excluded from conversations, to be isolated. But he doesn't seem to be worrying to much about it. He watches me closely. A bit later on he told me that he wanted to take advantage from this situation to understand my behaviour and my real nature when I'm next to people speaking my same language. His conclusion was that I am a surprisingly agreeable person, wonderful when I smile and sociable. Not that big news! To go back to the dinner, I ate some delicious octopus with fries and I spent a really nice night. Then the two ladies and a Danish guy join us because they had arranged a meeting with the Italian group to go watch the soccer game Roma-Arsenal. But I am too tired and I decide to go back to my room. Takalani doesn't want me to go back alone and he wants to go with me at all costs and seeing that everything is dark around the village, I accept willingly and thank him. He would like to pay me a beer at the beach bar but I refuse and decline the invitation also for the massage he'd love to offer. I start thinking he is either badly love in me or he is having a strong sex abstinence!

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25th February 2009

The day starts with a long walk on the interminable foreshore of Nungwi to then relax between the beach and the bar. Today total relaxation, I don't do absolutely anything. Takalani keeps hovering around me and this is starting to annoy me: so much that soon after having dinner, I pay my bill and hole up in my room. I wanna be alone. Maybe it's also because I can't stop thinking of Gio, today is the anniversary of his death and I can't stop thinking of him. I try not to cry but sometimes it's just so hard. I go straight to bed feeling totally empty.

2009 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Zanzibar, Nungwi 

26th February 2009
I wake up in the morning and I found myself bombarded with text messages from Stefano which is totally pestering me, today I'm totally intolerant towards anyone! During the morning we leave Nungwi to head back to the same flea-bitten place where we had lunch the other day. Evidently Angem has some good rate of return for the tourists she takes there.
At 1 pm, according to the African timetable, the ferry-boat sets sail. The crossing doesn't last to long between a nap and a not much reassuring movie about a family who go on safari to then be all torn apart by lions: really nice preview as we're actually gonna spend the next few days just going on safaris!
We finally arrive at the same campsite in Dar Es Salaam, I pitch my damned tent again (never put up in a worse way before) and I have a shower because I'm really pissed off today!
I'm shagged off and even though nobody wronged me, I'm sad, anguished....I'm simply alone and probably in the worst period of the year. It was my choice to go away from the people I love trying to hide the worst side of my character, the one I hate the most and that I can't control: pretending everything is fine doesn't help at all. Whenever you are said and desperate you gotta cry and let off steam. That's that.

Keep reading... My travel story continues in the next post!

What a traffic jam in Dar!!!

We got up again at an ungodly hour, another transfer day awaits us together with an another technical issue with our truck: I'm almost fed up!! We cross the Mikumi NP and we catch sight of buffalos, giraffes, impalas, kudus and elephants. Quite a featureless day, same old stop for lunch in the middle of the road and usual and never ending police roadblocks: this time is policewoman to stop and at the moment at the driver's seat we have Takalani who loses his head as soon as he sees any woman weighing less than 100 kilos.

Welcome message...

A few elephants at Mikumi National Park.

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As soon as we approach Dar Es Salaam the amount of palm trees increases, as well as the the traffic, the trucks, the dirt and the stink. I need to make a correction: this is the ghastliest city I have ever seen!
Dar es Salaam, in arabic "home of peace", is the biggest city in Tanzania, the main economic centre and the the main harbour of the country. Even though it's the most developed city in Tanzania, Dar is very different from the more westernized Nairobi and keeps preserving nowadays the typical atmosphere of a colonial city. Skyscrapers and large boulevards in some quarters are an exception, most of buildings are low, roads are dusty and crowded, palm trees and mangroves still overlook on the coast. Cruise liners and merchant ships dock put into port, but also dhows and fishers' canoes. The poorest part of Dar population is formed by youngsters who gotta face a huge quantity of problems. Peri-urban areas are more and more characterized by crumbling houses, crowding and poor sanitary conditions; latrines are common, with cesspits (subject to overflow during rainy season) and garbage collection is on an irregular basis. So that waste is often burnt and buried, with bad consequences such as air and soil pollution and toxic substances contamination in the environment. Not to talk about Dar traffic which is unbelievable, never seen anything like this: total anarchy, everybody does whatever he wants. People crossing the road at the last very second and you gotta have good reflexes not to hit them. People overtaking from right then from left (including us); I don't understand anymore what the right lane is. Obviously even people crossing with the red light. It's a total delirium!
All this is enough for me to make this city unbearable.
We decide to camp at the Silver Beach Camp Site which is directly on the beach. It's not an idyllic place but we are feeling good here. There's even a bar with some music.

Keep reading... My travel story continues in the next post!

Lake Malawi: a very very beautiful place

Malawi, Nkhata Bay (Kande Beach) – Chitimba

Soon after our departure, we decide to have a break for some shopping in a typical Malawian marketplace. There was such a stench all around me. The marketplace is organized into different sectors: fruit, vegetables and fish on one side, home accessories and music stuff on the other. Anyways it's really stinky all around, and I don't really think I could eat all that food and come out alive.

On the northern shore of Lake Malawi is located Chitimba, a village placed up north, close to Tanzania border. We climbed up and down a little mountain where we could enjoy the beauty of a breathtaking panorama. The water of the lake was turquoise blue, but when I reached the beach it had weirdly turned into brown: Bianca suggests us to have a dip. The lodge-campsite is located on a golden sand beach surrounded by palm and pawpaw trees. I decide to spend the whole afternoon dozing in the shade, nothing special. I'm all dirty, I take a look at the clothes I've been wearing for 3 days: they're filthy as well but I don't feel like changing them and taking a shower either: that’s Africa man!

In the evening it rained in torrents as usual and it keeps going on all night long, but I pitched my tent under a protective canopy so that I am not very much bothered by dampness and wet. 

View of Lake Malawi 2009 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

View of Lake Malawi 2009 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

20th February 2009 

Tanzania, Chitimba – Kisolanga.

4.30 a.m.: we woke up very early today, we gotta leave to Tanzania at 5.45 a.m.  It's gonna be a long trip today.

While at the customs I catch sight of a man whose trousers are so large that he is forced to fasten his belt at armpit level. I know I shouldn't be laughing but he also looks a little bit stupid, or perhaps I'm just a little tired of such a poverty and I'm becoming indifferent to all this.

All men walk around holding in their hands wads of worthless banknotes. They're looking for someone to dupe, or they try to sell any sort of items, even the most useless stuff like card decks.

Soon afterwards Bianca runs over a pig puppy: who knows if it died or not. The other guys keep laughing all day long on this topic but I don't find it funny at all!

In the afternoon we arrive at the Old House Farm Kisolanga where we examine our situation but it's raining cats and dogs and none of us is willing to pitch a tent around here.

Bianca is not gonna take me in anymore; she always passes every location off as "very very beautiful place", when they totally suck to me or when they are completely featureless, exactly like the place where we are now. I'm a bit concerned about it because when I asked her about the place where we are going to stay in Zanzibar, she even added an extra "very"…

In the twinkling of an eye evening has come cause I forgot to put my watch one hour forward. We finally have dinner at the camp which is very characteristic: it's made of mud and dung and has a thatch roof. In short like all african houses.
Tomato soup with butter bread is awesome but the rest is revolting: tonight meal is light as usual, so that at this rate I'll be back home weighing 10 kilos less.

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