Three Sunsets And Three Sunrizes In Northern Tanzania

We are now back in Arusha, in northern Tanzania. But wait! What are we doing here?!?! I thought we were only going to pass through Tanzania on our way to Mozambique! Indeed that was the plan, but then we realized that we are going to pass in perhaps the most beautiful country in Africa, with the highest mountain in Africa (Kilimanjaro), the second deepest freshwater lake in the world (Tanganyika), amazing wildlife and many many more and not see anything? As some people told us - we must be mad! So we decided we should be sane and spend a few weeks in Tanzania.

So instead of heading south, we headed north, to the capital of Safaris - Arusha. Getting out of the 12 hours bus is a shock, dozens of people approaching you 'safari? do you want a safari? where are you from? painting? jewelry? Maasai? how are you? where are you going?' and so on and on and on... After a couple of days they recognize your face and leave you alone, but the first hours walking around the city are challenging.

We decided on a 4 days safari with a well reviewed company and then we were on our way... We had with us our great guide Masawi and our wonderful cook Solomon.

First we went to Tarangire, this amazing park is known for it's large elephant population, and indeed we have seen many many elephants, including a particularly hilarious scene of a female elephant who suddenly got angry at a few zebras and started running towards them, making it's trumpet like sound and flapping it's ears angrily. We almost fell off our seats laughing as the zebras ran away hysterically. We also saw dik-diks who, at shoulder height of 30-40cm, are the smallest antelopes in Africa and the beautifully patterned maasai giraffes.

Next we went to meet the Hadzabe and Datoga people who live in the area. The Hadzabe are also called bushmen, and like the San they are hunter-gatherers. They live in temporary huts they make out of grass and refuse to leave their traditional life style. So we went hunting with them. It was an interesting and funny experience - funny because they smoke pot all day. Yes, you read correctly, about every 2 hours they did a joint break. But they were sharp when hunting - spotting a small antelope, surrounding it and sneaking up on it - though eventually it managed to get away.

Last, but definitely not least, we went to Ngorongoro Crater. It is an old volcano who collapsed in, leaving a crater with extremely fertile land. Many animals live there and cannot go out of the crater. We have seen many lions and hippos, buffaloes and wildebeest. And then an amazing and horrifying thing happened in front of our eyes - from a far we saw a wildebeest running chased by a smaller animal who turned out to be a spotted hyena. We were thinking the hyena must be mad - the wildebeest is more than 3 times it's size and indeed it seemed as if the wildebeest is getting away. But then, as they crossed the road in front of us, the hyena caught up on the wildebeest and grabbed it's lower belly. The wildebeest tried to shake it off, dragging it along and attacking it with his horns in a crazy dance. The hyena persisted, until the wildebeest fell to the ground. Then, in front of our horrified eyes, the hyena started eating the wildebeest alive. Unlike the big cats, the hyena cannot kill such a large animal with a single act. So it simply starts eating it, as the wildebeest cries in agony, until the wildebeest fell completely quiet. It was a crazy scene and it still hangs in our minds two days after.

Now, before going to Mozambique, we are heading towards Mahale National Park, where we hope to track some chimpanzees...