Being a turista in Tanzania

DSM, April 2007

So we’ve been in Tanzania for three months and have, most definitely, taken safaris (Kiswahili for travels) around the country. However, it was not until April that we gathered up our student flock of fourteen, boarded a bus, and made our way to northern TZ for a week of tourism. Because Dar is, to put it mildly, not a popular tourist destination, we actually saw far more foreigners in the cities, parks, and towns of the north than here in Dar. This week, we were full-on tourists, though we engaged in numerous activities that few tourists choose to do.

Cultural tourism means many things to many people but, to me, it’s about learning about local cultures while helping them economically. Usually, that takes the form of hiring local guides (remember, there are more than 120 different ethnic groups in TZ) to show you around villages and introduce you to local cultures. We took walks past farms and through rural villages in the Pare Mountains, visited a traditional Chagga homestead, ate local foods, hiked to waterfalls, drank homebrewed alcohol (a somewhat ghastly banana “beer” with a thick froth on top), saw tremendous views across into Kenya…For the first half of the week, we often could see Kilimanjaro in the distance, later we were able to take in stunning views of Mount Meru, which at over 15,000 feet lords over Arusha. (I hope to return and summit both of them.) We took a hike with several Masai guides in Masailand, though, really, Masai people inhabit a huge swath of this part of the country. Though the touring was trying at times, mostly because there are seventeen of us which inevitably results in “issues.”

We also took the inevitable, yet still thoroughly rewarding, wildlife safaris. We drove through Lake Manyara National Park, where we saw more baboons than I’ve ever seen—upwards of a thousand! We witnessed an angry, or hungry, elephant toot its mighty trunk and take off at a gallop towards us (our driver took off!). Driving out of the valley, we had tremendous vistas overlooking the escarpment that had a drop of maybe a thousand feet. The following day, we drove into the legendary Ngorongoro Crater.

There are many so-called “eighth wonders of the world” but this one might have my vote. You drive along the top of the crater, one of the largests intact caldera in the world and teeming in flora and fauna. The crater is more than 2,000 feet deep and the drive in is awesome. Once inside, you see thousands of wildebeest and zebra, lions, huge elephants, flamingoes, hyena, warthogs, etc. Since there is water year-round, these animals don’t migrate. Combined with the truly stunning, contained space (which guarantees lots of wildlife sightings, including of lions) and you have a big X on the map for tourists to flock to. Sometimes it isn’t clear if we are observing the lions or they are observing us, especially when there are a dozen land cruisers surrounding a lion or two. And it can feel quite invasive, as well. Nevertheless, I found the experience to be worthwhile. I bid you all a safari njema (have good travels).