Brian's Visit to Tanzania

There will be a lot more pictures to see – Brian is a “photo Otto” after all – but meanwhile here is a summary of our thoroughly enjoyable, action-packed week.

Saturday March 31: Jimmy (my taxi driver and good friend) and I drove to the airport to meet Brian’s flight at 11pm. He arrived on time, with all his luggage!

Sunday April 1: After one night’s sleep Brian had no signs of jet lag at all. (That is something both of us are grateful for – neither of us have experience jet lag in life so far.) In the morning we walked downtown and had breakfast at Africafe, visited the Maasai craft market, and walked around town so Brian could experience some of the sights and sounds of Arusha. In the evening we went out for drinks and dinner with my good friend Ingeborg. 

Brian singing "Lili Marlene" for Ingeborg (special request!)

at Lake Duluti Lodge

Monday April 2: The safari began! Our driver/guide Boniface picked us up in the morning and we drove to Lake Manyara National Park, where we had a wonderful day seeing elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeasts, buffalo, hippos, gazelles, monkeys, baboons, and a great assortment of exotic birds.

Tembo! (elephant)

perfectly posed twiga (giraffe)

Tuesday April 3: Boniface drove us to Ngorongoro Crater, where we spent the day driving around in search of animals – and we saw many! In addition to those mentioned above, we saw lions (including 3 sets of lioness + 2 cubs) , rhinos (from a distance), hyenas, and a cheetah.  Boniface impressed us with his knowledge and  his incredibly sharp eyes – he could see something that looked like a dark-coloured blob in the distance and recognize right away what kind of animal it was. He is obviously highly skilled and enjoys his work; he said it was what he had wanted to do from the time he was a boy. Training to be a safari guide requires two and a half years of school plus at least a year of apprenticeship with an experienced guide.

Watoto wa simba (lion cubs)

Wednesday April 4 (Marlee’s birthday, by the way): To the Serengeti! After seeing many animals on the way, the vast plains of the Serengeti at first seemed empty of animals. Later in the day we began to see more – even a leopard in a tree! The high point was watching a cheetah walk through the long grass and cross the road.

Thursday April 5: Saw many more animals during our morning drive in the Serengeti, including a large herd of elephants up close.

 We arrived back in Arusha in the late afternoon. In the evening we went to hear the house band at Via Via, a local band who play mostly Tanzanian pop music and reggae.

Friday April 6: No visit to Arusha is complete without the experience of traveling by dalla-dalla, so we took a long ride to the Snake Park, where we saw some of Tanzania’s formidable poisonous serpents – all safely behind glass, of course.

one of the non-poisonous variety

We then traveled back into town and spent the afternoon at the Cultural Centre with its beautiful art gallery.

 In the evening we joined my colleague and friend David Seng’enge – one of the best guitar players in Tanzania, and his son Ray – one of my students and an amazing improviser on violin – for a jam session and performance at Blue Heron.( http://www.blue-heron-tanzania.com/index.html) What a great eclectic combination of music: Tanzanian, Reggae, Canadian folk, African styles, Jazz – and Ray and I even jammed on some J.S. Bach!

Saturday April 7: We went with Jimmy and two guides on a hike to a nearby waterfall. The drive to our start point was treacherous, on a narrow, slippery dirt road that was under construction – great driving by Jimmy! The hike itself also had its precarious points as it was on a muddy descending slope, and more than once one of the guides had to catch me from slipping. The view from the bottom was well worth the effort though.

with our guides Akron and Joshua

  In the evening we attended a great collaborative live music performance: a kora player from Senegal, David on guitar, Mama C (jazz/blues singer based in Arusha), excellent local musicians on bass, drums, keyboard and hand drums, plus a few other traditional African instruments whose names I don’t know. The music was an exhilarating fusion of reggae, jazz, blues, and African styles. Before the band started we saw an excellent dance performance by three hip-hop dancers, about the best I’ve seen anywhere. A great evening.

Sunday April 9: A day of visiting friends. Lunch with David and his family, an afternoon drink with Umoja’s administrator Annette, supper at Jimmy and Lilian’s house with their family. Got to love Tanzanian hospitality! Jimmy drove Brian to the airport at 3am.

A great week all around. Back to work on Wednesday for the final term, 11 weeks till I return home to Canada.