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    • TravelerTansania
      1
      Day 2

      Ankunft Kilimanjaro/Arusha

      January 10, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Nach der Ankunft in Tansania, fuhren wir 1,5 Stunden weiter nach Arusha, um die African Art Gallary zu besuchen.
      Unsere erste Unterkunft in der Tulia Lodge war einfach aber sehr gastfreundlich. Das Essen war hervorragend!! Allerdings waren wir zu gierig und ausgehungert, als dass wir an Bilder gedacht haben.
      Nach gut 36 Stunden Reise waren wir froh etwas rasten zu können.
      Danach bereiteten wir unseren Trip auf den Mount Meru vor.      Read more

    • TravelerSabbactical 2023/24
      Day 162

      Arusha - and yet another safari

      March 13 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      Some days ago, I finally went from Nairobi in Kenya to Arusha in the north-west of Tanzania. 🙄 The border crossing was very smooth. I just had to queue in multiple lines after another to get stamped out of Kenya 🇰🇪 and stamped in in Tanzania 🇹🇿 So, my passport has now two more documented country entries/exits.
      It took a while ⏳ until all passengers of our bus went through the process so that I (and many other travelers) waited approximately half an hour at the bus stop for the continuation of our journey to Arusha. This was the perfect opportunity for the Masai women to offer their souvenirs to us. 😅„Maria“ was particularly persistent and agreed with me after a long discussion that I will buy something when I cross the border the next time - she will be waiting for me. 😉 She gave me a bracelet for free and I gave her 100 KES (0.60 EUR) in return since I couldn’t do anything with that cash in Tanzania anyways. 🤷 Then the journey continued through the surprisingly green countryside of north-west Tanzania until I arrived at 3 pm in Arusha. Kaili (from the Netherlands) - who stayed in the same Hostel as I - was also on the same bus 🚌 as me for the entire trip from Nairobi. She was researching the impact of tourism on the Masai people in Tanzania for her master’s degree and just returned from visiting some friends in Nairobi. Since she had been in the hostel (Villa Viva) before, she knew the telephone number of the driver of the hostel and arranged a free pickup for us. 👍
      In the hostel, I quickly got to know Pedro (from Denmark). He was leaving the next day to Zanzibar but it might be that I meet him there again. However, the majority of guests in the Villa Viva were from Germany 🇩🇪 The owner (Tizia) is also German and arranges volunteering and work-away trips in Tanzania for Germans. So, naturally this attracts many tourists from our country, I guess. However, a German family from Hamburg - who were there for vacation - was also in the Villa: Matthias & Yvonne as well as their kids Onno, Hannah and Irma. Hannah and Irma were on a 4-day hiking trip of Mt. Meru ⛰️; that’s why I met them only later. But with Matthias, Yvonne and Onno I went to an Ethiopian Restaurant for dinner 🍽️ one night. The food was very delicious and talking to the family was really interesting. I was grateful that they welcomed me so warmly. ☺️
      Initially, I wanted to see Lake Natron which is north of Arusha. After all, its stunning photos I had seen on Google Maps were the reason why I came to that region. But organising a tour to Lake Natron proved way more difficult than I thought. 😩 Tour operators offer trips to that destination but usually only in combination with Safaris in Serengeti or other close-by conservation areas as well as at least one overnight stay in a camp 🏕️ I just wanted to see the landscape as I had been already on enough safaris in Kenya and had seen plenty of animals. Also, safaris in Tanzania seemed to be almost twice as expensive 🫰as in Kenya. So, I would have had to get up at 5 am in the morning, organise my own 4-5 hour long transport to some village north of Arusha and then meet a local guide who takes me from there to Lake Natron - too exhausting and too complicated! 🥴
      Instead, I pivoted to visiting the Ngorogoro Crater (actually also a safari) which many travellers coming from Tanzania had recommended to me and negotiated with a tour operator the price for a one day trip (more or less reasonable 220 EUR). And I believe I could not have made a better choice! 😌 It was still a long day with a start at 5 am and a finish at around 8 pm but at least pickup and drop off were at the Villa Viva. I was picked up at 5.40 pm though - apparently there had been a change of plans so that I had been the last one to be picked up instead of first but I didn’t knew that at the time. I wished I could have slept 30 min. longer … but stuff like that is simply normal in Tanzania because everyone is on “African time”. 🤣
      After pickup we drove for approximately 2 hours to meet the others of our group for breakfast. In my group there were 7 other travellers (mostly from Europe but also a woman from Japan) and Omari - our driver. I befriended Jonas & Marlin (from Denmark) during the day since the three of us sat in the back of the 4x4 vehicle 🚐 and during the drive we had plenty of time for entertaining conversations.
      After breakfast we made our way to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This natural reserve 🏞️ hosts - on an area of 8.300 square kilometres - one of the most wonderful combinations of landscapes and wildlife 🦁 that I have seen (so far) in Africa. It is part of the so-called Serengeti-Ngorongoro-Masai Mara ecosystem which’s eastern border is formed by the Great Rift Valley, while in the west it borders with the world-famous Serengeti National Park. Our first stop was a viewpoint at the edge of the crater which gave us a fantastic overview of the whole area. 📸 The crater exhibited a strikingly green and dramatic scenery which ranged from forested mountains to smaller and bigger lakes as well as rivers in vast open plains. Besides that we have seen many other animals as well as all members of the big five - except for the leopard 🐆 The Ngorongoro crater alone usually has 20.000 to 25.000 wild animals which cannot escape from it - no wonder it has been declared a World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve.
      We spent the lunchtime in the middle of the crater at an idyllic picnic site 🥪 near a small lake and continued our game drive in the afternoon until we left the conservation area at about 4 pm. Then we started our long way back to Arusha. There was a bit of confusion about where everybody had to be dropped off. 🤯 Neither did our driver know where our respective accommodations were nor any efficient order of the locations to drive us to. So, we ended up crisscrossing through Arusha town until everyone was were they supposed to be. 😵‍💫 I was one of the last ones to be dropped off but I had no plans for the evening anyways - so “Pole Pole”, I guess? 😂(Pole Pole = Kiswahili for “slowly” or in this context rather “keep calm”)
      On the next day, I deliberately took a day off: resting, swimming in the admirably cold pool of the Villa Viva (definitely the coldest in Africa 😅) and reading an exciting novel about 3 very different characters experiencing the civil war of the 1960s in Nigeria (the book 📕 is called “Half of a yellow sun” and I had exchanged it for another one in the Jabulani Hostel in Nairobi). I didn’t do much else since I was merely waiting for my flight ✈️ to Zanzibar on the next day. With only a couple of days left in my sabbatical, I am moving rapidly to the final destinations now. On Zanzibar I want to relax a bit more and enjoy the sun ☀️ before I have to go back to cold and rainy Germany. So, I will get back to you from Zanzibar again - until then: have a great time! 😌      Read more

    • Euro-African Adventure 2023
      Day 14

      A fun afternoon w/ our Tanzanian family

      July 13, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

      The rest of the day we were so blessed to spend time with Moses, Janeth and their 'kids' who are 8 nieces and nephews they are raising who range in age from 9 to 20. After a delicious home cooked meal we spent the afternoon telling stories and playing games with the kids. We took part in the evening bible study of Psalm 88 and wrapped up the evening with some celebratory ice cream and cookies. This day will be a very cherished memory of our trip!

      Moses told each of his leaders and their families, how much we've meant to him over the last 10+ years we've known each other and that he considers us his family. Such a humbling day and we are so unbelievably fortunate to know him and be able to finally meet and spend time with his family and be a part of their lives. It sounds cliché but we believe we learn and receive so much more from being a part of his life than we could ever give in return. That's just how it works in God's economy I guess!      Read more

    • TravelerTo the motherland
      Day 170–173

      Arusha and maasai

      March 4 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      Being in countries so bent on incomes from tourism, I also went on a safari and did tourism stuff with a friend here...

      All tourists that come here, and there are many, come for Kilimanjaro or Safaris. So I felt like I had to do one, to see what the fuss was about. Well, it's fun seeing these animals =). The coolest was spotting a hornbill (I think an eastern yellow-billed hornbill...), red and yellow barbets, and vultures... But no pictures of that.

      I am flying back soon from Kigali, and wanted to blast through the last days to end it with a bang. First day had to cycle up to the plateau of the ngorongoro crater (long climb), and yesterday along lake Eyasi: super long hot stretch with nothing to see except masaai walking around. And then the road turned into sandpaths, which disappeared, reappeared, and turned into a river... I had to call a friend to ask for translation, and apparently I could take a canoe across. Which was fun, except the other side was flooded, so the mud turned into clay, which clogged up my wheels completely... Again.

      So I spent that evening, just before dark, removing clay from the wheels and fenders, and about two hours the next morning because I was constantly stuck. If it wasn't for a local woman patiently helping me, I would probably still be in the mud (screaming). This was not fun. Oh, I also took of my front fender because it was the hardest to clean. So no rain anymore for the next stretch, please.

      But the pictures are nice.      Read more

    • TravelerAdventure of my life

      Ankunft

      March 8, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

      Hey liebe Leute ich lebe noch. Gestern waren es ab den Flughafen einfach zu viele Eindrücke und ich war fertig mit der Welt so das ich nur noch ins Bett gefallen bin. Aber nun kann ich doch noch ein bisschen erzählen.

      Die letzte Strecke von Nairobi zum Kili bin ich gestern mit einer kleinen Propeller Maschine am Kili vorbei geflogen, das war schon mal großartig! Als ich dann aus dem Flughafen raus kann erwarteten mich Ela und ein guter Freund Charlies (der Gefahren ist) mit meinem ersten afrikanischen Bier. Sehr lecker!

      Dann ging es weiter zur ersten Autofahrt auf einer gut ausgebauten, ich würde sagen schnellstraße. Noch mal vorbei am Kili und seinem kleinen Bruder. Und auch vorbei an erst wenigen dann vielen vielen einheimischen Menschen, Ständen, Geschäften, Autos, dalas (kleine öffentliche Busse), pikis (Motorrad Taxis), Flora, Fauna ... Ich war vollkommen sprachlos.

      Und dann kann die Straße welche hoch zu Simones Haus führt (Simone ist die gute Freundin bei der wir grade wohnen). Ela erzählte schon das diese straße abenteuerlich sei. Abenteuerlich ist gar kein Ausdruck. Ich weiß nicht mal ob ich sie wirklich als straße oder eher als unbefestigte Piste für alte offroad Liebhaber betiteln würde. Und genau auf dieser "straße" hielten wir an um noch schnell ein paar Kleinigkeiten und das Abendessen zu kaufen. Achja: auf der Straße selbst herrscht übrigens das blanke Chaos. Als fährt durcheinander, egal ob rechts oder links, man versucht hat die Autos verschlingenden Schlaglöcher zu umfahren.

      Als wir dann nach Hause kamen hab es einfaches einheimisches, sehr leckeres Abendessen, noch ein Bier und dann das Bett. Wie gesagt ich war platt!

      Heute morgen sind wir dann zum Kinderheim gefahren. Die Kinder sind großartig! Sie haben mich super herzlich empfangen. Die meisten haben mich sofort umarmt (ok, man muss natürlich dabei sagen das Ela mich mitgebracht hat und die Kids sie schon ins Herz geschlossen haben. Aber trotzdem) und zusammen haben wir viel viel gelacht, gespielt, gegessen, Katzen gestreichelt und Bücher geguckt. Das es eine sprachbarriere hab war egal.

      Danach so sind wir wieder mir dem dala zurück und mir dem piki die Straße bis zu Simone hoch. Und nun sitze ich hier und freue mich wie ein Honigkuchenpferd hier zu sein.

      Liebste Grüße aus dem weit entfernten und wunderschönen Afrika!!!

      Ps: das Wetter ist übrigens, zumindest hier im Moment, sehr angenehm!      Read more

      See translation
    • TravelerTanzania 2.0
      1
      Day 6

      Ndoto zetu

      August 31, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Schock verliebt trifft wohl für uns beide am besten zum gestrigen Tag(Mittwoch)

      Wir sind das erste mal im für mich neuen Projekt gewesen. Es ist ein richtiges Familienzentrum.
      Die Eltern sind ebenso im Projekte eingebunden und die Ernährung der Kinder sogar auch am Wochenende geregelt.

      Es war der Hammer. Wirklich. So viel Gefühl lässt sich schwer in Worte fassen, darum lassen wir heut einfach die Bilder sprechen!

      Was noch zu erwähnen ist, Stephans Koffer ist immer noch nicht geortet :(

      Liebe Grüße aus der Ferne.      Read more

      See translation
    • TravelerAfrican Adventure
      1
      Day 13

      Arusha

      June 16, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

      Today we are leaving the Massai Mara. We’re all a bit sad about that it’s been such a wonderful experience. It rained again last night and the river is up so the trip to the airstrip is a bit more challenging. We have to go to another camp and over their suspension foot bridge with our luggage and then into another car and on to the airport.

      Joseph doesn’t seem to concerned about time. He kept stopping to show Graham different birds, point out a giraffe or an antelope. All the while I’m thinking we better hurry up and get there. Then I think he realised we were running out of time and he put his foot down, well as much as you can on slippery black soil roads after a decent shower.

      The trip between airstrips and airports was pretty seamless and we had someone there to walk us through immigration and customs. We had so many documents out, Passports, Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificates, Visas, Covid Vaccination Certificates. Needed them all except the Covid nobody gave a toss about that, how things have changed.

      We had a bit of a hiccup at Kilimanjaro Airport when our driver didn’t turn up. Lots of people out there with signs but no Long/Boyd. One of the airport security rang the accomodation and tried ringing the driver, no luck with either. He’d just gone off to check the VIP lounge and our driver Charles turned up. Reckoned he was there all the time but we have our doubts. I think he was having a nap in the car and didn’t realise the plane had landed. Anyway he was full of apologies for being late, and he did bring us a nice gift of a Massai Mara Shawl,

      We finally set off for Arusha, far out it was a long drive to the accomodation and the car Charles had bought was not actually roomy. Graham, Pam and I were crammed in the back seat. I think it took about an hour and a half to get to our Hotel. By that time the caged lion beside me was over it.

      We’re going to Mt Kilimanjaro tomorrow which is out past the airport, think it would have made more sense to stay somewhere out there because now we have to do that horrible drive again tomorrow. We’re leaving at six in the morning so hopefully there won’t be so much traffic to contend with.      Read more

    • TravelerRenault Roaming
      Day 418

      Back at school

      December 19, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      In 2015, with the motto “start small, start now”, Steven Saning'o founded the Kyosei Training Centre Foundation and began teaching English and computer skills to 10 underprivileged students.

      Having dropped out of the Tanzanian educational system himself at a young age, Steven understood the difficulties children without school certificates face . He was lucky to have family able to support him and cover the cost of restarting his education; but he couldn't help noticing that many of his friends and peers were in the same predicament without the support of a family network to help them. High school fees, failed classes, poverty, unawareness of the power of education, family challenges and cultural issues, combined with a “one-shot only” policy in Tanzania that does not allow students a second chance in education, threw up enormous challenges to the youngsters trying to improve themselves.

      In 2009, having successfully completed school and subsequent vocational training and armed with a passion to provide a proper educational foundation for children to support his community, Steven set out to teach the power of education, provide support and create long-lasting change. Initially he worked in the private sector gaining experience, but within a few years was inspired to launch his own free programmes in his own school.

      The Kyosei Training Centre is located in rented premises whilst the new school is built. They have some nursery school pupils, and some who have gained a post-school vocational qualification. The majority of their students are trying to improve their exam scores at different levels in order to complete their schooling with a Secondary Advanced (High School) certificate.
      John is one of the ex-students who is now teaching at the school. We share a room in the dormitory compound.
      The 2 x 20 year old girls are Danish volunteers with better English skills than many Brits.      Read more

    • TravelerRenault Roaming
      Day 419

      Roads Scholar

      December 20, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

      Tanzania is located between 1 and 12 degrees South of the equator.
      The country is renowned for what people dig up. Even before Dr. Leaky uncovered Lucy and evidence of numerous pre-Homo Sapiens peoples, foreigners have come here to take the 885,800 sq. km. of land away. (The 61,500 sq. km. of water doesnt seem so attractive at present but I'm sure that will change.)
      For example, it is the 4th largest gold producer in Africa, and thanks to Tanzania China International Mineral Resources Ltd (TCIMRL), the third largest African producer of iron ore. Coal, soda ash, gypsum, salt, phosphate, and lately graphite, (very large fields have been recently discovered, across the country,) are also extracted in large volumes. Enormous quantities of uranium are being exported with the help of Russia’s Uranium One Inc.
      They have pretty stones as well: diamonds, amethyst, aquamarine, garnet, ruby, sapphire, tanzanite and tourmaline. "Tanzanite" is actually the mineral "blue zoisite". The Tiffany and Company marketing team thought this was too boring and trade marked the name "Tanzanite" for it, referencing the fact that it has been found nowhere other than Tanzania. Nice blue colour.
      Its no wonder the Germans marched in and took over, followed by the British. Both of whom inhibited the creation of manufacturing industries that might compete with their own, limited the education of the people and excluded them from the civil service.
      Despite the best efforts of Julius Nyere, who led the country into independence and whose vision of African family based socialism outlined in the famous Arusha Declaration, (famous here at any rate,) managed to annoy the capitalists, the socialists and the communists, the wealth of the country still today does not flow back to the 50 million inhabitants, most of whom rely of subsistance agriculture for their survival. 2017 figures show a labour force of 24.89 million, of which 66.9% was in agriculture, 26.6% in services / tourism and a paltry 6.4% in industry earning themselves a mean income of 2805 USD per annum. The UNDP Human Development index ranks them 159 out of 189 countries.
      Julius can be lauded for many things, like improving the ratio of highest to lowest salaries from 50:1 in 1961 when the British left to 9:1 in 1976, but in my mind one thing stands out: he united the country without the bloodshed other African countries experienced. This is the most genetically and tribally diverse parts of Africa, reflecting the long time that people have been here. Starting 3.6 million years ago, our earliest known ancestors Australopithicine, wandered around Laetoli, closely followed by Homo Habilis in the Olduvai Gorge and they have been here ever since. . In modern Tanzania there are numerous tribes, covering all 4 main African language groups: Khoisan, (who arrived > 6000 years ago,) Cushitic, (who came from Ethipia 3-5000 years ago,) Bantu, (arriving 2000 years ago from the Niger delta,) and Nilotic speakers from the Sudan who came in the 15th - 18th C. One way he achieved this aim was by making Swahili, the lingua franca of the Omani run East Coast trading route, the offical language.
      They managed to stay out of the clutches of the World Bank and the IMF until 1986, when the Western powers imposed "structural adjustment", driven by large aid donors who directed the Tanzanians into grand but unsuccessful development projects.
      The financial sector in Tanzania has expanded in recent years and foreign-owned banks account for about 48% of the banking industry's total assets.
      As an example - one which has been repeated all round the world - this road to Nairobi has been built with infrastructure development funds. As you can see from the massive traffic loads, it should be a dual carriageway and that is what has now been ordered. Unfortunately, most of the country has no feeder roads for they highway.
      My motorbike is on the 10m access ramp and the standard road system can be seen. Graded, hardpacked road surfaces would not be a problem. These mud roads are simply scraped onto the bush and become unusable as soon as someone spits on them.
      The drain on the side of the road in town is an example of the size required to keep the road surface relatively free from flooding or washouts.      Read more

    • TravelerRenault Roaming
      Day 420

      Totally Loco - motion

      December 21, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

      I took a selfie on a piki-piki on the road to the new school.

      Clumps of motor-cycles wait in strategic locations to grab piki-piki fares who jump on the back like this lady - no helmet provided. In this case she has been re-assured by the petrol tank declaration.

      Dalla-dallas are ubiquitous and cheap: the 3km trip to town from our lodgings costs TSh 400. Usually Toyota Hiace vans with seats for 18 people, they can be seen everywhere running their own bus routes into town, crammed with as many as 26 people inside. If you can't fit inside, hang on the outside or get a tow. Same goes for the piki-piki ride - only 3 on this one.

      Slightly up market are the Indian made tuk-tuks who want TSh 1000 even if they manage to get 4 people inside.

      Dalla-dallas like to flaunt the rules of the road. Here we have one trying to drive up a one-way street.      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Arusha City, Arusha Urban

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