Day 1: Arusha

We’re off on the trip of a lifetime; a safari in Africa. Our party will include my parents, George and Carol, my sister Julie, her husband Jim, their two daughters Anna and Sophie, my two children, Zak and Maya, and myself. A few years ago my father began expressing some interest in going on a safari. The rest of us figured, why not and, if why not, why not now? We debated on East Africa as opposed to South Africa and decided on Tanzania in the hopes that we would find more natural scenic beauty, in addition to animals, than in South Africa (we weren’t disappointed). At that point we found a tour guide: The East African Safari and Touring Company and booked some flights. The tour company and we decided on an itinerary consisting of the Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti, and the Tarangire National Parks (again, no disappointment; in fact, after talking to others while in Africa, we would highly recommend this itinerary to anyone who might be interested). This is a journal/blog of that trip. This is primarily intended as a record for us of our travels but you are welcome to read along if you like, feedback is appreciated.

Our flight took us from San Diego to Atlanta and from there to Amsterdam where we would meet up with the Minnesota contingent (my sister' s family and our parents) for the final leg from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro International Airport. The KLM flight was so pleasant I might book my next flight to Minnesota through Amsterdam. We arrived in Tanzania in the late evening (midday in San Diego) and we all made it through the visa and customs smoothly before meeting our guides Ezekiel and Bone. We were loaded onto two Land Rovers of indeterminate age. The vehicles were a bit more rugged and seasoned (read "beat up") than many of the other safari vehicles we would encounter on safari but they proved to be extremely functional on the rough African roads. The vehicles resembled mechanical rhinoceri from which, I understand, they derive their nickname. Nevertheless, the African roads took their toll. By the end of the first week, we had blown two tires and could no longer open the back doors on one of the vehicles. The rim on one of the spares was so beat up the tire could no longer hold air. Grandpa joked to the staff at the Boundary Hill Lodge, much to their amusement, that the dents in the rim were the result of actual rhinos ramming into the back of the vehicle.

From the airport, we drive to Arusha. This is the second largest city in Tanzania and ground zero for its burgeoning travel safari industry. The road to Arusha was lined with small shops and stalls, much like every less-developed-country I've ever seen. One highlight was a stop at a gas station so Anna could make a potty stop. This was Anna’s first time out of the U.S. and she was a bit shocked by the squat/pit toilet but apparently need overcame prissiness and business was accomplished. One interesting aspect of travel is the necessity of adapting to how other people deal with bodily functions such as eating, drinking, etc. The dirt road off of the main road to our hotel, the Ilboru Safari Lodge, was in pretty tough shape. We passed a truck with loudspeakers inviting the locals to some kind of Christian religious gathering and passed a couple of lodges that looked a bit dodgy but ours turned out to be super nice. The guest rooms each occupied one-half of a traditional circular building, the common facilities looked nice, and we had some nice food and drink before heading to off to our mosquito net covered beds on our first night in Africa.