This is the 2nd part of my 5 part series in Africa. In this post, we travel from Ethiopia to Tanzania and explore the city of Arusha before starting our safari! Now if you haven’t checked out the first part of the series, click on the link and go back. In August of this year, 2018, I went on a safari with my husband, my dad, my sister, my brother and his husband and this is my recount of the different parks and stops we encountered along the way.

Also I promise to have videos at some point on Africa. The problem is that I have tons and tons of video and I need to go through and edit all of them.

Ethiopia to Tanzania

If you read my last post you will know that we left Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to take our Ethiopian Airlines flight to Arusha, Tanzania, which is really the gateway for safaris. The flight was actually bigger than I expected and mostly filled with Europeans and Americans. The flight itself is not very long, maybe around 2 and a half hours, making it a pretty comfortable journey out of what had already been a long trip from the U.S. One of the highlights was that I got to see Mount Kilimanjaro from the plane window. We had not planned to see it during our trip so it was a nice touch to the flight.

Immigration in Tanzania is long and arduous and I’m so glad we were one of the first people off the plane. They only have 4 people working the desks, maybe, and that’s for everybody coming off of your plane. There is no formal system, it’s first come first serve, and so you better get yourself to the front of the line as quickly as possible or you’ll be waiting for a couple of hours. We had to pay I think 100 US dollars to pay for the visa and they checked our passports but oddly enough not to check our shot forms that we paid so much for. Whatever.

Arusha

We had a guide that picked us up from the airport and took us from Mount Kilimanjaro airport to Arusha. The total drive time is about an hour but we did get to see some of the Tanzanian countryside. Our car was pulled over for speeding but this is actually common in Tanzania. Apparently they just stop people even without radar guns and charge a fee.

We got in about midday and my brother and his husband were already at the hotel. We stayed at the African Tulip, which, from TripAdvisor, got great reviews and I can definitely see why. It’s an oasis in the middle of Arusha. All together our group took up 3 rooms and the rooms were spacious with views of the pool or facing the city.

Now there isn’t much to do in Arusha, remember this is a jumping off city for safaris, so we actually didn’t do too many touristy things. On the first day we just played Bananagrams and What Do You Meme and drank wine and ate at the hotel.

Cultural Heritage Center

So really the main thing to do in Arusha is the Cultural Heritage Center and shopping. So this is the first place we went to start our time in Tanzania. It’s actually a legit place, and they take all the tourists there to shop for authentic African goods, as well as real Tanzanite. I really couldn’t decide what I wanted to buy since this was only like our 3rd day traveling but I also didn’t know what else was going to be on our travels in the future.

We ended up spending a couple of hours there and then went back later in the afternoon to get more items. I ended up getting an African mask that I love but had to carry for the whole rest of the trip.

Market

After our time at The Cultural Heritage Center we then went to a local market to get some tiny souvenirs. The market didn’t have much and the vendors were somewhat aggressive towards us. But I did end up finding some beautiful scarves and a couple of souvenirs.

Preparing for our Safari

Like I said there isn’t much to do in Arusha, unless you’re ambitious and want to go hiking in the nearby mountains but that kind of stuff is not for us. We ended our time at the African Tulip eating and drinking or relatively cheap wine and playing games. Besides we were there for a safari and we were ready to get that started.

The planner came and outlined where we would be visiting and our guide would be responsible to guide us to the best places. The goal is to find the more rare animals like the cheetah or black rhino. So in our first stop we visit Tarangire National Park.

Tarangire National Park

We spent a total of 3 days and 2 nights in Tarangire National Park and for many this is the closest park to Arusha. It’s only about 2 hour drive to the gates but then you have to wait longer to get in as there are so many safari cars waiting to pay the fees. Seriously they should have a better system because there is no reason we had to wait that long just to pay. Perhaps pay beforehand would be more helpful? But anyways we didn’t get into until about 1 in the afternoon and so we sat in the dusty parking lot eating our prepared meals.

Now Tarangire National Park is pretty big and it will take a couple of days to explore the entire area. And we found Tarangire National Park to hold up to any other safari park we saw and perhaps maybe even better. There is every animal you’d expect in a safari and if you’re lucky you’ll see the rare animals, like a cheetah or lions. We were able to see lions here but given that this was our first few days, were excited just to see animal including giraffes, elephants, and wildebeest.

The first day was pretty much a full day of a safari and if you’ve never been on a safari, it can be exhausting. The roads are bumpy and dusty and it can be pretty hot. I’m glad I brought a safari hat and I’m glad I brought my cooling rag. It really made a huge difference and it added to my experience by being prepared. I won’t go minute by minute about what we did or where we went because frankly I’m not sure. You’re literally out in the middle of nowhere and you’re exploring on the whim of your driver trying to spot animals. But here are some of the photos from that first initial day.

Kichuguu Camp

Our first safari camp was the Kichuguu Camp in the middle of the Tarangire National Park. Out of all the safari camps we stayed at this one was the best and really upscale compared. Of course you can also find more expensive but this one was pretty luxury. The camp worked like others with a reception area, dining hall and then individual tents.

The individual tents themselves were large and luxurious with a king size bed and two sinks. It can actually get quite cold at night so they’re a ton of blankets and sheets. Even the showering situation wasn’t bad at all. We had to ask somebody to heat up our water and you get like a 5 minute shower to work with. It doesn’t sound much but it’s pretty luxurious when you’re out in the middle of nowhere.

The camp even has a fire where you can drink and talk at night while you hear the lions in the distance. This is not a joke, lions really roared in the distance and within walking distance of the camp all the time. They do sometimes come into camp but it’s only when there is no fire or people walking around. Animals surprisingly do fear fire and will not set foot into camp unless it’s super dark.

To get to our tents we actually needed a guide with a flashlight at night. This was standard at every tent and really added to the experience. It’s dark out on a safari and when it’s night you really can’t see much in front of you. It was cool to look up at the sky and see thousands perhaps millions of stars.

Day 2

From our camp we explored the more remote parts of the park, including this beautiful swamp area and the edge of the park where we found some lions. Lions are actually hard to find because they blend so well with the land and usually only make kills at night. So finding lions in the middle of the day is a big deal. And once you find them they aren’t scared of the vehicle at all. They mostly lay down and could care less that they’re people around.

We also got great views of elephants, ostriches, giraffes, monkeys, zebras and wildebeests. These are probably the most common animals and you have an opportunity to see each everyday. I’m glad these animals are doing well and are thriving in their natural habitat.

During the day it was nice to come back to the camp and have some alcohol and food not in the jeep. The jeep was amazing but spending 8 hours every single day in it is not so amazing. So it was nice to come back to the camp, drink some beer, and spending some time freshening up. In fact it’s encouraged as the animals do not like to spend time out in the heat of the day. They prefer to come out in the mornings and evenings and we took trips out during those times.

Day 3

We spent another night at Kichuguu Camp before we had to pack up and move on. Only we got basically another safari day because you have to move through the park to get out. And our guide went slowly looking for those elusive animals. We saw more or less the same type of animals we saw on Day 2 so I’ll just leave this space for more pictures.

And that will conclude my 2nd part for this series. Up next we move on to Ngorongoro Crater.

Thoughts on Arusha and Tarangire

For the start of our trip this turned out to be a fantastic part of our trip since we got to see basically all the major animals we wanted to see. Tarangire is very easy to get to and provide great access to African most famous animals. Plus our campsite was the best we visited during our trip. We all agreed that Tarangire is a great park to visit.

And although there isn’t much to do in Arusha it is the hub for safaris. Anybody leaving and going on safari has to at least stop in Arusha. It’s possible to fly in and out or drive to other national parks but you have to go from Arusha. And I did end up buying my African mask and finding cool souvenirs. Overall I enjoyed my time in this region of Tanzania.