“We don’t make a journey, it is the journey that makes us.” (John Stebeck)

The most beautiful thing about spending so many years in this profession is that what begins as a working relationship can grow into a friendship, a good relationship. If you also add joint trips, then the relationship will be forged as if it were family.

I got a call in April 2018 suggesting to travel in A family journey. They are introduction or courtesy trips that are offered and paid for almost entirely by tour operators to travel advisors and this helps us examine and learn about the destination from a first person perspective, allowing us to sell it to our customers with more experience and confidence.

was the call to TanzaniaNext month’s travel date and best of all, the company. The person in charge who was going to accompany us from TTOO was (and still is) a great friend. The guy from the airline (the only guy out of 11 women, OMG!) actually flew with me and had an excellent working relationship with our agency. The others turned out to be a like-minded group, very excited and eager to discover One of the most beautiful countries in Africa.

We’re going on Safari!

Once you arrive at the airport, the destination name is already pretty cool. ¡Kilimanjaro International Airport! Which is what they called located in Arusha.

Tanzania It is a country in East Africa known for its vast wildlife areas. Among its gardens Kilimanjaro National ParkWhere is the highest mountain on the continent located, Kilimanjaro, called the Roof of Africa, a climbing paradise that welcomes you as soon as you get off the plane, if you can see it clearly. stands up between kenya and tanzania It consists of three dormant volcanoes. This magical mountain that contained it UNESCO on the Heritage List The world of humanity in 1987, was the origin and spectacle of legends, books, poems and films. Its eternal snows testify to the most daring adventures.

The Dodoma is the capital of TanzaniaLittle visited. however, Arusha at the foot of Mount Meru, It is the northern safari gateway for its location and proximity to the national parks. It’s a city anarchism, which seems chaotic, where everything works and flows. Its people live on the street and you will be able to see thousands of people who come and go and come to sell you handicrafts. Do you cradle of humanity Since it was here that an ancestral skull more than a million years old and a skeleton of a human habilis were found. to her Private National ParkA quiet environment where you can take refuge in a few minutes’ drive from the hustle and bustle that surrounds it.

100 kilometers to the east you will meet Lake Manyara National Park. A gem of a landscape that stretches At the foot of the rift crack. It is a shallow, saline and alkaline lake that covers an area of ​​up to 240 square kilometers during the rainy season, but almost disappears in the dry season. This is due to its colors for the concentration of salt, clay and three million flamingos It inhabits a distinctive orange-pink color.

Its landscapes are amazing, fun and serene. It is a semi-arid region where you can see bushland, swampy areas, reed beds, meadows, thorny bushes, and sulfur hot springs, but without a doubt the areas that will catch your eye the most. Trees infested with blue monkeys and baboons, as well as lions perched on acacias. I will tell you curiously about this strange tree. Previously, in towns it was believed that the fever was caused by yellow-stemmed acacia, hence the name yellow fever. Later, as you know, it was discovered that it is transmitted by mosquitoes, but the name has not changed.

The key to the safari is to get up very early, just before sunrise, to be able to see the animals in action. During the heat of the day they take the opportunity to sleep and conserve energy. The normal thing is to leave around 05:30 in the morning. Wear comfortable, new, light clothing and good shoes. A hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen are not lacking and add a raincoat if you are traveling in the rainy season. Don’t waste your time and go get acquainted Eden Tanzania: Serengeti National Park, It is the largest nature reserve in the country and is named after the Maasai, because the Serengeti in Swahili means “the endless plain”.

Since animals do not understand the borders of the country, it is strange to know that this park does not end in Tanzania, but continues in Kenya in the north and there it takes the name Maasai Mara National Reserve. It also extends to the west until Lake Victoria, on the border with Uganda, but everything is part of the same ecosystem and the Serengeti region. During the rainy season wildebeest and zebra are found in the south, but when the rivers dry up, they gather in flocks and migrate north or west in search of food and water.

You will be able to see the Big Five (your palm): elephant, lion, rhinoceros, buffalo and tiger. As well as predators: cheetahs, hyenas, and jackals, to which should be added about 200,000 zebras, giraffes, gazelles, impalas and wild boars. We will have to apply the three advantages of safari: patience, silence and common sense. Here the animals are not in a zoo, they are in their own habitat and in the midst of nature there are no specific times or places. The best thing is to let yourself be guided by a guide and before you know it, you’ll see dozens of animals and you’ll think they’re shooting a scene for National Geographic (or “man and earth” for the older of us, haha).

If you have a chance to ride a balloon, don’t even think about it! I had an occasion which is indescribable. It’s like feeling you Karen Blixen In “Out of Africa” ​​you soar over the migratory zone and the plains with elegant acacia trees. And as the icing on the cake, a wonderful breakfast awaits on cloth tablecloths, complete with wooden chairs, jugs, porcelain mugs, cutlery, and champagne. A true luxury in the middle of the savannah. An experience that is hard to forget.

Let’s leave the plains behind and go inside Ngorongoro Conservation Area, whose crater is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Watch out… It’s the largest intact volcanic caldera on the planet and is considered to be The eighth wonder of the world. It is not considered a national park because there are still Maasai living inland. 300 square kilometers of its surface is insulated by a wall 600 meters high. Stepping into this small world means discovering 30,000 animals of different species and different “genius” living together in peace and harmony with Maasai pastoralists and without migrating in any season of the year. It is a unique ecosystem that is able to simulate Eden. It’s Noah’s ark. In fact, the guide told us that if one day the earth sank, but this hole was saved, life could go on and no animal species would be lost in the world today!

And with all the pain in our hearts, we leave Ngorongoro, translated from Swahili to Toulon Toulon, and go to Tarangire National Park, Where you still have some surprises to discover. named after Tarangire River (in the Swahili Pig River) that runs through it. Among its trees is prevalent and a baobabs and a type of acacia. It is the park with more elephants per square meter They usually eat the baobab by making holes in it, something that poachers take advantage of to hide. In the dry season, it is chosen by many animals thanks to the river, but in the rainy season the hoofed animals disappear due to the formation of black mud that can infect them. There are a lot of giant termites pile.

There we had the privilege of sleeping tree hotelBold and innovative. It was conditioned to prevent any animal from creeping inside, with an emergency bell and the obligation to go to or from the reception we had to accompany him from the Maasai tribe, especially because of the presence of reptiles, especially snakes and some elephants.

visit some Maasai Village They bought beadwork made from a small batch of beads and wood carvings. bargain Discover their colorful colors where red is the color of warrior, father, blue is the color of lake and mother, green is the color of mountains, savannas and jungle, and yellow is metal.

Enjoy meat fare (buffalo, wildebeest, and antelope steak) and fresh fish (tilapia, trout, oysters) washed down with fresh beer with local and non-original names: Kilimanjaro, Serengeti or Sabana.

Remember the Swahili words you heard before, like Jumbo, Hakuna Matata, Simba, Bomba…

Do not doubt that you will see animals. I had the chance to see 55 different species including mammals, reptiles, cats, predators, scavengers and birds. I’m not a very enthusiastic person about animals, but there, back home, I learned to love, appreciate and respect them. Their behavior was just smart to survive. It is clear that “the journey is what makes us”.

Tanzania lives with nature in its wild state. I guarantee that nowhere else on earth will you see the colors of sunrise and sunset in Africa with the noise of animal life in the background. Will you miss it?