Travel stories

Unspoilt Northern and Southern Tanzania and Zanzibar

On October 19 we flew from Schiphol to Arusha for a 22-day trip through unspoilt Tanzania. The trip has been a series of highlights. The beautiful green Serengeti, the very dry and vast Ruaha and the soaking wet Selous. And then follow it up with a beach holiday on Zanzibar.

The Ruaha National Park impressed us the most. We spent three days at the Hodi Hodi Ruaha Bush Camp and three days at Mdonya Old River Camp. We imagined ourselves in a different world. The locations were far from civilization in one of the most pristine game parks in Tanzania.

We were deeply impressed by the animals, the landscape and the people around us. Lions walked around the camp in the evening while we enjoyed our dinner by the campfire. Elephants that we saw walking past the tent from our bed. The sounds of the hippos in the lake next to the camp. Impressive.

We got up early each morning; often around six o’clock. Just a cup of coffee and into the bush with the jeep we went. Breakfast and lunch were served along the way. We are terribly spoiled. In all camps we met fantastic guides who had only one goal: to make sure that we could enjoy ourselves to the fullest. Enjoying food and drinks; but especially from their extensive stories and knowledge of nature.

Lions, elephants, giraffes, wild dogs, leopards, hyenas and hippos and much more. They were all there. Also lots of birds, vultures, eagles, secretary birds, hammerheads and not to forget the thousands of hornbills. Not in a zoo but in a fantastically beautiful landscape. The overall picture made the biggest impression. For us it was the combination of the animals with the beautiful trees and beautiful cloudy skies.

We stayed in small-scale tented camps in Nyerere National Park. The atmosphere is very relaxed and sometimes almost family-like. Eating and drinking together and having good and sometimes profound conversations. Since the season was coming to an end, we were sometimes the only guests. Marion’s special diet was not a problem anywhere. We had a delicious meal. And how delicious the fruit and vegetables taste in Tanzania. I especially miss the delicious bright red tomatoes.

In Tungamarenge we visited the market and a Maasai family. Very nice meetings and conversations arose. We would like to know what their lives are like, but they are also actually interested in our lives. The Maasai children now go to school. Fine in itself; but with all the knowledge they gain there, they no longer feel at home in the primitive huts of the Maasai. They prefer a stone house with running water.

After two weeks in the bush and all the domestic flights, it was quite a transition when we arrived in Dar es Salaam by car from Selous / Nyerere National Park. What a hustle and bustle. We had to get used to it.

We had a comfortable crossing with the ferry to Zanzibar and were then able to relax in a lovely house on the beach in Fumba. The tour of Stonetown was impressive. Freddie Mercury was born there. And Zanzibar used to be the center of the slave trade. The stories about it make you shiver.

In short, it was a fantastic trip. And organized down to the last detail by Explore Tanzania.