A group of Tanzanian tourists determined to see the beauty of their country were involved in a three days tour to Lake Eyasi (Hadzabe Land), Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The tour was organised by @utaliimbugani_tz (instagram handle). Participants of the tour was from several regions.
I and my family travelled from Dar es Salaam to join others in Arusha for the safari. On this short article I will write about the experience we got from the tour.
This tour was unique in many way, one being the way it was organised, for people to come together from various regions just by seeing the ad on the social media (Instagram) and pay their money is not something to take it lightly. Another uniqueness was the areas that we toured. Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Lake Eyasi. Below is a little bit of information about the areas we visited.
Serengeti National Park: Is the best wildlife sanctuary in the World. In 2019 it was nominated by World Travel Award Gala as Africa Leading National Park.
Ngorongoro: A World Heritage Site where wild animals and people leave together.
Lake Eyasi: Lake Eyasi houses the Hadzabe, this is one the tribes that have changed a little for many years, they still live by hunting and gathering.
Now, lets begin our trip.
The trip started 5am at the heart of Arusha city, the troop consisted 6 modified Toyota Land Cruisers, they are locally modified to accommodate more tourists.
Our first destination was lake Eyasi to meet with the Hadzabe. On the way the troop passed through Manyara National Park were we sported elephants crossing the road, they were so near that you could touch them if you extend your arm from the car. It was very interesting and frightening at the same time, to see the elephants so near was an experience that I could not foresee that could happen even before we get to Serengeti, a few minutes after the elephants passed, local appeared on the same passage that the elephants came from.
Manyara National Park is on the great Lift Valley, we only stopped on the viewpoint since that was neither our destination nor on our itinerary for the three days. From the viewpoint we could see the rift valley, the rain forests and the lake Manyara …, this is the story for another day.
The Hadzabe land:
On our way to the camp that is at Seronera area we saw many wild animals in the south of Serengeti plains, the plains are endless, you do not see the end of it we saw zebras, various species of antelope, jackals, and a pride of lions, and wild beasts on the way. We arrived at the camp around 10pm. The lights goes off at 10pm and the camp blend in the wild. The sound of hyena and lions roar at night from a distance brings the feeling of the wild and being on a the different territory.
In the morning, we started seeing animals right from the camp where buffalos were sported at a distance. The road from the camp were muddy, I came to realise that everything that happens in the wild is an adventure of its own, and they are the way they are to suit the nature, so for us we have to accept the way they are. The safari drive is very interesting, the drivers/tour guide are communicating on radio and they are helpful to each other for example when a car is stuck in the mud, the other would come and push it from behind and the safari would go on, or if one spot something interesting would call on the radio for others to come and see.
The two spare tires in the back of the modified Toyota LandCruisers are not only for spare but also they are used when the car is pushed from behind. The way the cars were dancing on the mud and experiences of the tour drivers is something to fancy about.
In the morning we saw many species of animals from elephant, to giraffe, big African crocodiles, various types of birds, lions that seems to be on mating period, we waited them to mate but they did not, we were told they might be in the last days of mating and the male is already exhausted or the female have already been got pregnant.
On our way to the camp, among other animals, we also saw the cheetah hunting antelopes. The tricks and speed of the cheetah was very interesting to watch.
At night the tension was high due to the hyena that were in the area, so many of them were spotted wondering around the camp. The sound of hyena around the tents and the lion roar at a distance brought a feeling of the wild.
The concentration of animals in Serengeti is huge.
In the morning of the third day we got up and prepared ourselves for the trip to Ngorongoro Conservation Area to have a look of this World Heritage Site (Ngorongoro Crater) which is the largest Caldera.
Our cars among others could not continue with the journey for hours due to the flood at “Oldvai Ndogo” area. Most us us we were involved on gathering stones to fix the road that were badly damaged by the ongoing rain, eventually we were able to continue with the safari.
Our aim was to get to Ngorongoro Crater on time, we did but we had little time for a safari drive in the area. The Maasai that are living in Ngorongoro we came to learn that are in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area but outside the crater, animals can freely move to and from the crater.
When entering the crater, the first animal that we saw was a buffalo that seemed to be old, it was alone. Then we saw elephants and then species of animals. Flamingos were spotted around the alkaline lake that is in the crater.
The experience we got from the trip is unmatched.
