Through Masai Country

So I was picked up right on time at my hotel by Manyama who will be my guide and driver for the next 8 days. We have a LandCruiser all to myself so can ride in the front on the highway and in the second row under the pop top when looking for game.

Drive through Arusha and outskirts was the typical chaotic African street scenes, more so as Saturday is Market Day.

As we got to the countryside, we saw more and more of the Masai -- this is a real culture, not a tourist show. Herders wearing blankets with small and large flocks of cows and goats. Scattered here and there on the sparse pasture are the stick, grass and cow dung boma huts. Even Manyama says he does not totally understand why this specific tribe has been so able and willing to live this very hard life. A few days later, I met a couple of Masai around a fire and asked them and they say they don't feel it is hard -- it is all they know.

A couple of hours of mostly highway driving to Tarangire main gate where we are met with a parking lot full of 100 or more safari trucks. Took about an hour for my guide to register, pay the park fees, and line up to get in, but to my relief, once in, and we all spread out over this 25,000 sq. km park, it was not crowded.Read more