The Swahili word 'safari' means to embark on a journey. To go away. To move between two points. Thus, you can have a successful safari without seeing lions, elephants, or giraffes. And in Tanzania, the thrill of the safari is the process of the journey itself. Like life, the safari is not about the destination so much as it is about the ride itself.With this meaning in mind, I went on several safaris over the course of my stay in Tanzania.
Zanzibar
It started with a two hour ferry ride across a sliver of the Indian Ocean to arrive at the turquoise waters off the Zanzibar coast, and ended with a terrifying 12-seater flight back to point A three days later. As the previous post describes in detail, my journey to Zanzibar was a weekend I'll never forget.
Mwanza > Musoma > Arusha > Dar es Salaam (by bus)
The second largest city in Tanzania, settled on the southernmost point of Lake Victoria, Mwanza made a great stopping point during my trip's second safari. The city itself is pleasant; smaller and more spread out than Dar es Salaam, it has a more communal feel than either Arusha or Dar. Capri Point provides a nice spot to look out over the fishing boats and trading vessels traveling across Africa's largest lake, and the market - accessible and friendly - shows the life of the city.
People often provide the defining memories of a safari. And the Tanzanians I got to know in Mwanza were truly gracious and welcoming. I was invited to join the airport's soccer team - consisting of taxi drivers who shuttle foreigners from the airport to the nicer hotels in town and several airport employees. Though I didn't produce a goal, I was able to provide an assist en route to a 2-2 draw against another local team. Our team wore Manchester United replica jerseys (completing my transfer from Arsenal to Manchester United; see last summer's post from Ghana). Lake Victoria was beautiful, and Mwanza was an excellent launching point for my safari back to Dar.
From Mwanza, I took three bus rides in three days to return to Dar es Salaam. My safari took me first north to the fishing town of Musoma, then back east via the Serengeti to Arusha, and finally southwest past Mount Kilimanjaro back to Dar es Salaam. After spending 25 hours on a bus in 3 days, I emerged with a new appreciation for paved roads and deodorant, as well as several new friends and fun stories from the journey across Tanzania. It was truly a great safari, and the highlight of my trip.
The Mzungu Safari...
With 18 days in country, I was able to spend some time on what a Westerner ("Mzungu) considers a true 'safari' - driving around for hours in hopes of seeing some of nature's most incredible creatures in the wild, before they run off at the sight and sound of a vehicle. With friends from the embassy, I traveled to Mikumi National Park, a small game reserve a few hours southwest of Dar, which proved to be a very inexpensive yet successful alternative to the Serengeti. And, as mentioned, my safari from Mwanza to Dar took me on a micro-safari through the Sergenti itself, though my bus-driver's break-neck race-pace down a road full of pot-holes and gravel sent the herds of zebras scurrying and kept the larger game out of sight. Still, seeing these animals in the wild - whether at Kruger in South Africa or Mikumi in Tanzania - is truly awe-inspiring.
