As cool as a banana in a fridge...

Jambo from Jiambiani, Zanzibar, Tanzania!  We just arrived in the quiet southeast corner of Zanzibar after a wild last ten days...


After our overnight flight from Bangkok arrived in Nairobi, we paid a stranger a bunch of cash for a safari at the airport and got on a bus with an uncertain destination.  We crossed the Tanzanian border (receiving a makeshift umbrella-pillow from a Finnish-Kenyan when we couldn't stay awake, despite the bumpy road) and were greeted by someone with a "Holy Ben" sign at the Arusha bus station.  We wandered Arusha (the center point between Cairo and Jo'berg), learned that 'hakuna matada' is actual Swahili, and crashed for the night.


And then it was safari time.  We admit that we were a bit skeptical of four nights of camping and five days of safari'ing, since we get bored after a few hours at zoos when the animals are right in front of us.   Plus, we had just left  the luxuries of SE Asian public transportation, daily Thai food, and constant wi-fi connections...but our safari was the best experience of the trip (except for the Ubud monkey forest).  Why?  How about these reasons from our off-the-grid adventure in Lake Manyara,  Ngorogoro Conservation Area (a caldera packed with animals), and Serengeti National Park (just like 'Lion King!')... 

Simbas sleeping in Ngorogoro

Tembos in Serengeti

Roar!  (actually a yawn...)

Serengeti sunset

Twiga twins in Lake Manyara

Also, we were fortunate to have the greatest tour guide/driver (Peter) and cook/tent-setter-upper (Osman).  They entertained us ('us' includes our two new Italian friends who were with us for the first two days - they should expect us to take them up on their offer to stay at their place in Tuscany) with perfect imitations of animal sounds, hawk-like abilities to spot animals in the distance, constant banter (from politics to questions about dowries in America to fun facts about the animals and landscape), swapping music (Peter sang us the latest sweet reggae hits, Osman had an Eminem ringtone, and we played Paul Simon on our ipod), and a bountiful supply of 'street Swahili' to impress the other tour guides (i.e., Poa kichizie kama ndizi dans-ya-freezy = Cool as a banana in the fridge).  If anyone is interested in a camping safari in Tanzania, request Peter and Osman from Arunga Expeditions.  And Osman, when you read this, I was right: Chelsea 2, Man U 1.  I think you owe me a beer.

Between the outskirts of Arusha and the entrance to the Serengeti, we passed literally thousands of Masai, with their herds of cows and goats, sandals made from worn tires, dangling ear lobes, and the occasional cell phone.  After we asked a half-million questions about the Masai, Peter detoured to a Masai village that greets visitors with this welcoming melody:

I can jump higher, but my outfit is way less cool...

We loved our time camping under African skies - listening to hyenas chase warthogs outside our tent - but we eventually had to leave (even budget camping breaks the bank).  After eight hours driving from the heart of the Serengetti to Arusha, we hopped on an (insanely crowded) bus to the (adorably named) town of Moshi.  The following day, we took a taxi as far as it could take us up the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  That left us only 1.5 km away from our destination: Mt. Kilimanjaro View Lodge (highly recommended for all budgets!).  We hauled our bags up the rest of the way, and we are so glad we didn't turn around.  First of all, the incredible view:

Facing south from Mt. Kilimanjaro

Sunset over Mt. Meru

Sunrise on Mt. Kilimanjaro

Too out-of-shape and poor to actually summit Kili, we instead did a fantastic 10 km-plus trek just outside the park entrance, where we reached a stunning waterfall, disrupted classes at the local primary school, detoured through banana farms and forests to the hotel manager's Chagga village (where we sang and danced and ate with his 99 year-old mother).

We walked 5 km downhill to the waterfall.  We didn't look this good after the return trip. 

After 7 dances (and 7 km of hiking) with Chagga villagers

Our visit to the local village was a very special experience, but it paled in comparison with the surprise we received later that night.  We hit it off with the hotel owner, staff, and another guest ('Ben 1', who was bailing on his freshman year at Harvard and waiting for feeling to return to his fingers/toes after summiting Kili when we met him) - in fact, we spent our entire time with this big group, discussing the travel industry with the owner, learning more street Swahili from the staff, and getting our mind's blown by Ben 1's entrepreneurial and scientific theories).  After dinner on our last night, they threw a huge 'wedding party' for us, with cake, a huge exotic bouquet, and hours of singing and dancing under a moonlit Kilimanjaro.  Naturally, we concluded the celebration by watching Lion King at 1am.

Julius, Flora, Willy (with cake and flowers), Charles, and Joseph bring the party

Singing (and dancing?) late into the night.  This is right after the 37th rendition of  'karimba,' which is basically an all-male mosh pit, but you lead with your butt and try to lift a leg.  

At 6am, we rose to watch sunrise paint Kili an array of pastel colors, and then descended the mountain to catch our flight to Zanzibar.  We arrived at the airport twenty minutes before take-off, pleaded with the staff to let us on the plane, and ran across the tarmac to find this waiting for us with the propeller already running.

The toy plane made it to the Zanzibar airport, we avoided the farcical 'immigration fee' (it's a domestic flight, but they still fool most visitors into getting another visa), and crossed the island to find this beach waiting for us.

Aahhh.  Anyway, we'll be relaxing here for a few days, recovering from the excitement of the last few weeks (few months!).  Keep in touch