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Zanzibar, Dar es salaam, thru Kilimanjaro, Arusha,
Serengeti,Ngorongoro (Tanzania) to Nairobi, Kenya

Sent 4/16 from Nairobi 

I am typing this from the Internet cafe
right across from the Comfort Inn Hotel in Nairobi.  Our
group is having a farewell dinner at the Carnivore
Restaurant, one of top 10 in Africa, at 6pm tonight.  I
have not yet decided if I will go, or enjoy the city after
so many days at isolated camps.  I will join them at the
Boulevard Hotel tomorrow morning at 9 for our 3-day
excursion to Masai Mara, and then separate from the group
on Tuesday (Apr. 19).  I plan to take the train to Mombasa,
get back to Nairobi and start my return trip of my own thru
Uganda, Rwanda, etc. to J'burg South Africa, some 7,000
miles from here, not to mention now in rainy season . . . 
  
1. Zanzibar.  Is actually an archipelago of several
islands.  The town of Zanzibar is on the big island, north
to south about 100km, east to west about 20km.  It is 4
hours or so by regular ferry from Dar Es Salam on the
mainland, about 2 hours by fast ferry (how we returned). 
This used to be a sultanate until 1964 and Omani stronghold
before that.  Tanzania, formerly Tanganyika, became
Tanzania, after joining with Zanzibar, though the lake
between Bujunburi, Burundi (or further south Kigoma,
Tanzania) and Mpulungu, Zambia is still named as Lake
Tanganyika.  (I intend to take the ferry of its entire
length north to south on the way back, after vising the
gorillas in Rwanda.) Zanzibar is now semi-autonomous.

Zanzibar town is at the western shores, about 2/3 down. 
The old City is called Stone Town; the beach resorts are
located on the northern shores of the island.  My travel
group is camping at a resort up north for 2 nights; they
will join me here at Karibu Inn Hostel tomorrow.
(Karibu=Welcome in Kswahili.)  I selected to stay 3 nights
in Stone Town. This is the place where slavery flourished
in the old days.  It is a quaint town with winding narrow
streets, now catering to tourists.  There are a few in
town, probably more in northern resorts.  The islands are
also known for its spices.  After the tour group joins with
me, we will take a Spice Tour on the island.  Meanwhile I
am enjoying the mixed Arab/Black culture of the natives,
the winding streets, the old fort, etc. all around me.

2.  Arusha (town and national park) is also the gateway to
Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Kilimanjaro, Africa's
highest mountain at nearly 6,000 meters.  Kilimanjaro is on
the way to Arusha, about 25 km north of the road from Dar
Es Salam.  Due to the clouds we saw only a faint trace of
it on the way to Arusha, a much better view on the way back
from our Serengeti excursion 3 days later.  The
famous--background to so many safari
documentaries--Serengeti eco system is to the northwest of
Tanzania, bordering Kenya, including the Ngorongoro Crater
and Park at its southeastern part.  Masai Mara to the north
in Kenya is part of the same eco.  We will have a 3-day
excursion to there tomorrow morning.  Then I am off my own.

You cross the Ngorongoro Protective area to get to
Serengeti.  For 50km or so it it endless grasslands of
Ngorongoro plateau joins the also endless grasslands of
Serengeti to the park entrance.  This is where we saw the
most wildlife, varieties of birds, families of baboons,
herds of zebra, wildebeast, Thompson gazelles, some
giraffes, and a lion at a kill, later also 4 lion cubs
hiding in the bush.  Later the Serengeti landscape changes
to parts that are densely covered with acacia and other
trees and varieties of bushes.  The grasslands still
dominate with occasional acacia tree dotting the horizon. 
Then there are parts where there are mounds of large
boulders adorned by some trees and bushes, just as you see
in documentaries.  Except for the initial 50km or so at the
beginning, we did not see many herds in the park itself,
but we did observe 4 growing male lions and a leopard, and
the head of a chitah hiding in the bushes.

We traversed the Ngorongoro Crater on the way back to
Arusha, our group in 3 jeeps.  It is like a bowl with a
diameter of about 22km, full of hidden parts and corners. 
We saw a huge buffalo herd first, then all sorts of herd
animals, sometimes mixed, in other parts.  This is a unique
landscape, all grass and wetlands in parts, with fantastic
wide-open views from the top of the crater, or viewing the
sides of the mountain from the bottom.  We saw several
lions and a black rhino too.  Just before we completed our
tour we came to a huge lake/pond with thousands of
flamingos all around.  On the climb back to the camp at the
crater rim, we passed thru a jungle of sorts, very similar
to the landscape and eco of the islands of Hawaii,
especially Maui.  Of course, both the Serengeti and
Ngorongoro deserve a 10 rating as two of the most natural
protected eco systems.  Aside from a few parks also in
Africa, no other place can match the rich wildlife in them.

Sirman