Friday September 19, 2003
[This trip report is transcribed from a written journal I kept on our trip. The accompanying photos were taken with our very first digital camera – the resolution is quite awful, though of course it was amazing technology for the time.]
We finally stepped off the plane at 8:30 pm, exactly on time. Walking across the tarmac to the terminal, the first thing that hit me was the smell – a completely natural smell that was musky or gamey, almost smokey. It made our first few minutes here seem oh so far away from home. In the terminal we filled out our SARS and customs declarations and got through pretty quickly.
A large crowd of what appeared to be tour guides were waiting just inside the exit. We found Raphael holding a sign for us. He led us to a van with a Good Earth Tours decal on the back window, and we settled in for the hour-long drive to Arusha.
It was a bit disconcerting to be led away by a stranger, and to then turn down a completely dark dirt road for the ride into town. I needn’t have worried though. Raphael was very chatty and polite. After giving us some Tanzanian culture and geography lessons, and a crash course in Swahili, he completely made our day when he said that this is an excellent time to be visiting the Serengeti because the migration surprised everyone and came in early this year. Normally the wildebeests would not return to the Serengeti from the Masai Mara until December. This year had been unusually wet, providing enough food in the Serengeti for them to return early. When planning our trip we had chosen September to coincide with the dry season on Kilimanjaro, knowing that the Serengeti would be relatively empty, but that we would make up for it with resident wildlife viewing at Ngorongoro and Tarangire.
Anyway, the drive into Arusha was a slow and bumpy one, mostly on a dirt road with villages here and there, punctuated by speed bumps at either end. It was mostly too dark to see a lot, but we could make out small tin-sided homes in each village with a single lit-up bar with a crowd of patrons out front of each. There were lots of pedestrians walking in the dark, and although none were wearing traditional dress, most were wearing red.
Lest we think Arusha is too traditional, there was the occasional reminder otherwise. My favourite was a huge cell phone billboard outside the airport that proclaimed “Whatzzzzup Arusha!”
We pulled up to the Impala Hotel, where we are spending our first two nights. Since Ndashy at Good Earth Tours had coordinated our trip, Raphael dropped us off in the front lobby and told us Ndashy would come for us in the morning. Left to our own devices, we checked into our room and went to explore the hotel. There is a large swimming pool, several restaurants that smell fantastic, a gift shop with lots of interesting crafts, and an internet cafe. It’s too dark to see up or down the road we are on. We are off to bed now, and are heading to Arusha National Park in the morning.
Cook Family Travels 