Day 17

Sign warning about AIDS at Tanzania border

After a poor night of sleep in our tent, I knew I hadn’t escaped getting sick after seeing all the happy children. I assumed it was travelers diarrhea because I was drinking the same water our guides were drinking rather than bottled water. My sickness made for a very uncomfortable travel day. After an hour, we crossed into Tanzania where I pretended to be healthy to avoid any questions about Yellow Fever or Ebola. I tried to sleep most of the drive but all the bouncing on detesting roads made it very difficult. We didn’t arrive at our campsite until after dark. After Sara and I quickly set up the tent, I crawled inside and went to sleep while she got dinner with the group. They had a meal traditional to the local Kihehe tribe which was prepared by the lodge, Kisolanza Farm; beef stew over ugali with spinach greens (basically the same traditional dish, pop, that Nash has previously prepared for us but with slight variations).

The next morning, we were woken by commotion in one of the neighboring tents. Poking our heads out we learned that two of the tents were covered in biting ants! Yikes! I did not want to deal with that while being sick – luckily the ants stayed away from our tent.

Day 18

Baobab Valley

Jojo was pleased to let us know that we had a shorter driving day today and would have lunch at our next camp. On the drive we made a couple of scenic stops – one of which was in the unofficial baobab valley. Baobab trees are a spectacular sight. These massive trees have huge trunks to store water and they can live for hundreds of years. This valley had more baobab trees in a couple kilometers than the total I had seen the previous two weeks. After leaving the valley, we wound through more mountains before getting to the campsite around 2:00. Nash hurriedly cooked lunch while Sara and I started setting up our tent. When we were about halfway done, Sam came out from the hotel and offered a bed in her room. We jumped at the opportunity and quickly put away our tent. After a quick lunch, we got ready for a game drive excited to see more animals!

Unlike in South Luangwa, This time the trucks were more enclosed so we felt a bit safer. We drove around Mikumi National Park for a few hours enjoying the beautiful scenery and herds of zebras, wildebeests, buffalo, and giraffes. At one point, our driver got suck on a rough patch of road. There were two trucks in our convoy and with a bit of nudging from the second truck we were free. No lions this time but we still enjoyed the game drive and being back out in nature.

Day 19

Traffic into Dar Es Salaam

We only had a short drive to Dar Es Salaam our gateway to Zanzibar. But as we have come to learn, it always takes longer then expected. That lesson really hit home this day. The traffic was at a standstill about 10 kilometers from the city. According to Jojo, it doesn’t matter what time of day, there is always traffic. Unfortunately, the roads were such that we needed to drive through the city to reach our campsite south of city center. While stopped in traffic, we entertained ourselves playing games and waving to locals out the window. There were many impatient drivers that would ride up on the dirt and sidewalks to get ahead. Four and a half hours later, we had completed the 35 kilometer drive through the city!

Entertaining ourselves with yahtzee stuck in traffic

Our place for the night, Kipepeo Camp, was right on the shore overlooking the Indian Ocean. As we enjoyed another wonderful meal prepared by Nash, we shared highlights and lowlights of the previous week. Sadly, six members of our safari family were ending their journey as four more joined the group. The student, Will (from Wales), played In the Jungle from the Lion King on his souvenir xylophone as his final performance. Tomorrow we head to Zanzibar!