Family visit, Safari and Zanzibar

"There is real value in sharing moments that don't live forever." --Evan Spiegel

Hi y’all! Back from another adventure! This time with my family! Wow it was certainly a whirlwind! I’m still reeling from the go go go that we experienced during the trip! But I think we made lifetime memories and saw our full share of animals along the way.

I flew up to Moshi a few days before my family arrived to hang out with my old roomie Gill and all her friends at their hotel, The Secret Garden. We had a blast! Gill and I took a hike to Materuni waterfalls which was quite the hike but such a beautiful sight to see!

Our day trek to the Materuni waterfall

Me and Gill by the waterfall

Epic!

hiking views

We also did a lot of Netflix binging, and getting some work done with the lovely view of Kilimanjaro. I got to enjoy chatting with a bunch of new friends!  One of the employees at the Secret Garden, Zakayo, is an entrepreneur and started his own coffee stand, I was excited to be his patron and came by for some coffee!  It is a simple place and a very nice one :)  I enjoyed chatting with some locals and seeing life around Moshi.

Enjoying coffee with Zakayo- the coolest guy at the Secret Garden!

Then was the arrival of my family! Whew I don’t envy their extremely long flight-I’ll be doing the same one very soon. My dad and my aunt (Baba na Shangazi) arrived safely and I took them straight to my new friend Zakayo’s coffee stand! One of my friends Lekishon even made my dad and aunt personalized gifts with their names on them, beaded by the Maasai women, it was a big surprise and a fun first night for them and we went to sleep early to make sure we had enough sleep to start on Safari the next day, early!

Enjoying more coffee at the coffee stand!

Lekishon dad and I enjoying the moment, also trying sugar cane for the first time!

Aunt Aggie me and dad with a view of Kilimanjaro in the background!

When we woke up for safari, we weren’t sure what to expect but we soon realized it would be an epic adventure! We hopped into the car around 7 am from Moshi and drove to our safari pick up a few hours away in Arusha. Joining us were 2 Dutch doctors also on Safari. We had a lot of laughs.

The official adventure began at Tarangire National Park where we cruised around in our safari car with the top up and spotted a bunch of animals. It was a hot day, so we sped along trying to create our own wind along the way. The heat was definitely draining but it was worth it to see the animals. That night we had our fanciest camping experience where we slept in beds off the floor and enjoyed a hot shower.

Aunt Aggie and I at Tarangire in the truck!

Aunt Aggie, dad and I

Ostrich!

I'm in love with the trees here!

A harem of female gazelle with their male  

A lioness who was searching for her cubs!  Walked right past us

Boabab tree, simply amazing and beautiful how big they were!

A bunch of giraffe enjoying their lunch!

Elephants!  There was a teeny tiny baby with them too :)

Enjoying the elephants!

Sneaky baboons!

Even sneakier monkeys-- trying to take our food and anything they could get their hands on

Male and female monkey

The next day we rose early to begin our trek to the Serengeti! First we stopped at a lookout point for the famous Ngorogoro crater which we would descend into in a few days. The story with the crater is that it basically was a volcano that imploded on itself. From the lookout point you could see a ton of animals below (just tiny little dots), moving about. Animals from all over migrate to the crater to graze and stay a few times a year. I wondered how they got over the huge wall to get in. There weren’t any giraffes in there for good reason, the walls were just too steep for them to scale.

Up and ready for day 2!

The famous Ngorongoro crater!! Can you spot any animals?

Our tour guide Nickson, Aunt Aggie, me and dad posing in front of the lookout

Prentending not to pose, but actually posing ;)

Me at the crater!  Can you see my elephant earrings?

After a pit stop at the crater we headed on to the Serengeti—it was amazing! We endured a few hours of dust in our eyes and the famous "african massage" aka bumpy roads but we got there in one piece.  Indeed it is worth seeing if you have the chance. Although yes there were many many safari cars in the park. To get there we rounded down the mountains until we arrived to a very flat planed area with nothing but field as far as the eye could see. Serengeti is actually a Maasai word which means something like wide open space I believe. We were out for most of the day just tooling around. The way the animals just walk by nonchalantly is just amazing, they aren’t scared, just living their animal lives! It is truly an amazing experience to witness!

Made it to the Serengeti! 

Taking in the vastness of it all

Crowned birds of some sort.  I forgot their actual name but they are the national bird of Uganda.

Poor hot lion trying to cool down!

We were so close to her!

Lions mating, it lasted like 30 seconds, ha!

Beautiful savannah, can you spot the tree?  They were few and far between.

Tree/Savannah up close

Safari lady!

Elephants

Hippo pool

I was just snapping away as many pictures as I could but no picture could capture the beautiful colors, the way the light hit the trees and rocks and the smell of the fresh air blowing through. The end of the day was the most beautiful with huge cumulus clouds and pink colors from the sunset. I was sad to leave but it was indeed a long day and it was nice to come back and sleep.

The sunset colors were amazing!  The camera simply couldn't capture the magic

Feeling very cool in my Maasai blanket watching the sun go down

We slept in tents on the hard ground and the showers were dirty and cold. There were also hyenas hanging around the campsite! I went out to use the bathroom and I saw three pair of eyes around the perimeter of the tents! Thankfully hyenas are scavengers moreso than predators! They scuttled away once they saw me, but I didn’t sleep too good that night!

We woke up before sunrise hopped in the Jeep and drove to the open field to watch the sunrise. I hate getting up early, but it was an amazing sight to see, two giraffes were chomping on leaves and nonchalantly strolling along peacefully as we drove up and began to see the colors of the sky changing. It was a perfect sight! And the beginning of a long day through the Serengeti!

A little before sunrise!  The light was beautiful

Me, trying to look alive in the morning, meh, not working so well

Giraffes crossing the savannah right before the sun came up!

Here comes the sun!

That day we saw tons of animals, cheetahs, lions, tons of antelope gazelles, wildebeast, giraffe elephant etc etc. We had seen one leopard the day before sitting in a tree but it was pretty difficult to make out, there were also about 30 cars parked around it so it didn’t seem so authentic. 

Zebra, antelope zebra

Cheetah!

Cheetah and all the animals were so nonchalant when cars were around, just wild!

A cheetah sniffing around a tree, there were a few guinea fowl birds around that didn't like the idea (maybe they had a nest) It was an entertaining little battle they had, the guinea fowl put up a good fight!

Four cheetahs around the tree--the guinea fowl were freaking out at this point!

A bunch of lions on a rock, it was so hot but they didn't mind I guess

We saw a lot of dust storms while we were there!

Male lion standing upright, usually they were too lazy and laying down!

We were on the hunt to see the elusive rhino the entire time on safari but as they have been hunted and poached for quite some time there are roughly 25 rhinos remaining in the park and only can be found in the Ngorogoro crater, sad reality. 

It was another long and eventful day, we drove in the car to camp next to Ngorogoro crater, again cold showers and less than clean conditions but it was worth it.

The last day we descended into the crater, it was a steep road down but once we were in it was an amazing sight to see. Surrounded on all sides by the crater walls were a TON of animals. February is also the time of the wildebeest migration so that is the animal we saw the most of along with their little bebes. Our guide also pointed out a rhino far away in the distance, again it was just another dot but I guess we can count it as seeing a rhino on Safari.

The inside of the Ngorongoro crater!  It was massive

Zebra grazing in the crater

Adorable zebra, they stand in pairs so they can swat the flies off one another

Lion crossing

Young male lion

The lions were traveling in a group of 4ish

Lioness

Wildebeest and their babies!

Pano of the animals

Water buffalo, beware very dangerous and aggressive!

Look at those horns!

Hippos!

Ascending from the crater!  Beautiful view

A big elephant butt to say goodbye!

After a few hours driving out of the crater we ascended and headed back to Moshi to sleep one night before heading to Zanzibar for our beach adventure. We arrived by plane to Zanzibar and it was HOT! So hot that if you stood under the sun for even a second you would begin to sweat. The sun and radiation is also very intense in Zanzibar! We hopped from shady spot to shady spot try to keep cool. 

My driver/friend Osama picked us up from the airport and shuttled is about from place to place on the agenda. First we stopped at the spice market and got some nice spices for a good price. Then we stopped at Lukkman’s the delicious food spot for some jumbo shrimps. Then we did some shopping. I had to show my family how the bartering was done and we had fun yelling at the shop keepers to get what we wanted. I get some kind of strange joy out of bartering, it’s quite entertaining. I even got a few free gifts here and there. We checked out the slave museum and then we were on our way to Paje the little beach town to check into our lovely hotel.

Osama, dad and I enjoying lunch at Lukkmans--note the jumbo shrimp!

Ferry outside of stone town

We drove about an hour to Paje and started looking for our hotel, after Osama was asking around from place to place for our hotel, “Zanzi Mystique” with no luck, after about 20 minutes of looking we found a guy who was some kind of caretaker there, he asked to see our reservation and said that the owner had left town a long time ago, he showed us to the space and it was clear it was an abandoned building, with cows and cow poop everywhere near. We were not impressed and we were now stranded! Ugh what to do? Osama drove us to a few different places and none were what we were looking for one was a hut with a bed in the sand, the other was really expensive and the third time was a small lounge away from the beach but a perfect spot for a good price. We were skeptical at first after all the craziness but once we settled in it turned out to be a perfect paradise (despite the heat).

We went down to the beach and everything was all good! The next few days we spend snorkeling and trying to enjoy the beach and eating some delicious seafood.

Finally made it to the beach!  Aunt Aggie and I enjoying coconuts

A cool beach restaurant we had to stop at

The hotel staff made a cool altar/creche thing in front of the hotel

Aggie dad and I outside of "The Rock" restauraunt-- literally on a rock!

A frozen margarita in the hot hot heat- aka heaven!

View from The Rock

Beautiful blue water

Me posing pretty at The Rock

Getting some flowers put in my hair

The most beautiful table setting/decor

The view heading out to snorkel a the blue lagoon, I wish I had pictures of the fish they were simply amazing!

Dhow fishing boats going out to sea 

We stopped at a nice coffee shop in Paje called Mr. Kahawa

When the days were hot and we weren't at the beach we entertained ourselves under the shade playing cards - we met a couple from the Czech Republic and they showed us a traditional game from their country, it was kind of confusing!

The staff at the hotel were great cooks and went out of their way to make sure we had a good time. That night the manager even took us to view the sunset at a special local place, as the sun rises on most of Zanzibar we got to see the special sunset at a little inlet area and it was so nice. Zanzibar is very “hakuna matata” no worries and after a few days relaxing there it really felt like there were none!

Going to the local sunset spot-- so many palm trees!

Dad having a good time at the beach

Posing for a perfect sunset

I <3 Zanzibar

Perfect vacay

Hotel staff cooking up some freshly caught fish

On the last day my aunt and I went to go swim with the dolphins in a bay close to the hotel, we had to get up early and it was nice and cool. It was a crazy experience, I didn’t know what to expect but it was similar to safari, a bunch of boats following the animals around once we saw the dolphin surface the guide told us to jump in and for a snap second you could swim with the dolphins, it was amazing, but a short experience. The last time I jumped in it felt like I was getting pinched all over! It turns out that there was some stinging plankton and jellyfish in the water—ouch! So it was a short lived thrill but now I can say I did it!

A beautiful morning for a boat ride

Aunt Aggie and I ready to see the dolphins

Zanzibar mornings

After checking out of our hotel that we headed back to Stone Town to catch our flight, we checked out the Zanzibar palace museum while we were there also, it was the old palace of the Arabian sultans from Oman from way back in the day and rulers during the time of the slave trade. Zanzibar is interesting in that way, it is a huge mix of cultures and influence which gives it a special identity. I’m glad my family got to visit!

I just love the Zanzibar style doors/hallways, very Arabic

Taking photos of the extensive mirrors in the palace

View of a the clocktower from outside the palace

Dad outside on the palace balcony

View from the Zanzibar palace balcony

A room where they used to entertain guests and host events in the palace

One last stop at the Freddy Mercury bar in Stone town!

Dad and I in front of the Queen/Freddy Mercury pic

After all that excitement I said goodbye to my family and made my way back to Dar again! I jumped right back to work and into a few new projects.  I hope I have time to finish them in the short time I have left here.  I get around fine now and my Swahili is improving each day, mostly out of necessity!  Making headway on my paper too, its due March 30 and I've got the majority done, just one last section- home stretch!

This upcoming weekend I have one last trip planned (for now at least ☺️). My friend Vivek who I met at Brandeis is coming to visit and we’ll be staying the night in a Maasai village and maybe even visiting Arusha National Park. I’ll fly back to Kilimanjaro on Thursday and have a fun and quick weekend with my friend before the final stretch! Just like the quote at the beginning of this post states, sharing time can be the greatest gift, so glad I get to share my experience here with family and friends! I’m very grateful!

Enjoying my morning soup and chapatti breakfast outside my house!

A little more than a month remains, let’s see how many more adventures I can squeeze into my short time! Hakuna matata, until later!