What we hadn't thought about were the crossings...

What we hadn’t thought about were the crossings…

10 July 2021 | Hans, Larissa & Fabian

Around the autumn break 2019 we decided to travel to Tanzania. For July 2020 Marjolijn put together a trip for us through the alternating National Parks Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. Unfortunately, Corona changed everything. we decided to postpone the holiday for a year. So this year, after some doubts and after consultation with Marjolijn, we decided to make the trip after all. Hans and I are vaccinated, Fabian is 13 and has already had his first vaccin.

The first days we stayed in Arusha at the Rivertrees. In this lodge we could relax for a while.

At Tuesday Aloyce picked us up and our safari started. He speaks good English. He is humble, a great driver and knows so much about flora and fauna. We learned a lot from him and we loved it!

We had already read it; all four parks were different in landscape! We enjoyed each one. You sit in the good strong (that has to be) car all day. The roof can be raised, so you have a good view of the world around you. We were sometimes surprised about the roads, they were downright bad. But it certainly didn’t make the safari any less.

We spotted many animals during the safari. You have to be really lucky and sometimes you don’t. That is what makes the safari so unique. It was our journey.
What we hadn’t thought about were the crossings. We hadn’t realized that the wildebeest just cross when they want to, logically. This meant a lot of waiting. Small side note that we had to drive two hours to drive from the camp to the crossings, and two hours back. We thought that was a shame.

The lodges / green camps were a great experience. Sometimes in idyllic places. We really enjoyed that. At night we heard lions and hyenas. There were also elephants eating next to the tent, a great experience. Everyone was equally friendly.

We were told that 30% of the tourists were there now, compared to before Corona. That was noticeable in the tranquility. Sometimes we were the only guests. In the Green camps we dined with the other guests, which we also liked very much. The food was always well taken care of. Sometimes you could choose, sometimes not.

Friday 23 July we flew to Zanzibar. We had to change trains twice, they were beautiful flights over the Serengeti in Cessna’s. New experience for us. We were staying at Pearl Boutique Hotel. Nice location with everything you need. It was also quiet here. For the return trip, only Fabian had to undergo a PCR test. Return flight all went well.

We look back on a great trip that we will remember often!