Life's a Stitch

(March 1)

We received the news that due to a road washout from heavy rains we would need to cross at a different border adding three hours to the trip, and missing the morning game drive.

We rode through many small communities with the same types of businesses, schools and churches.

The one that intrigued me in most villages was the hotel, a tiny square building. This one is a hotel, restaurant and minimart.

We arrived at the border and cleared immigration at three different stations: the exit visa in Kenya, then a passport and vaccination check in Tanzania, followed by the issuing of a visitor’s visa. We were a bit anxious as we travelled with a certificate of medical contraindication for the yellow fever vaccine, meaning we didn’t have the required vaccine. It is not recommended for those over age 60 as the chances for serious side effects are higher than contracting yellow fever. Turns out it was no big deal. 

We said goodbye to our Kenyan guide, David:

and were handed over to a bus driver who would take us to Arusha to meet up with our Tanzanian  guide, Steve. 

It was the bus ride from hell: a small old vehicle with little legroom combined with bumpy roads and no rest stop for three and a half hours. 

One thing I’d recommend for a safari trip? A sturdy bra for the bumpy roads. We had a good laugh at my suggestion, and the two other women fessed up as having had the same thought. 

The other thing about bumpy roads? Fitbits interpret the motion incorrectly and we were exceeding 20,000 steps daily with hardly any walking.

Our destination was the Arusha Sheraton for a delicious buffet lunch. The curry was particularly good. 

Being Sunday, the ride through Arusha was slow, due to a tent revival on the far side  of town that impacted traffic everywhere. City photos were colourful, from Sunday outfits:

Woven cages with live animals, I think this one held chickens.

Tuk tuks, a popular means of transportation, designed to hold four passengers plus the driver, but we saw some packed tight.

All vehicles, vans, busses, seemed stuffed like circus clowns in a VW bus. 

Roadside stands sold fruit and the popular snack: popcorn.

People did a good job carrying items on their heads.

It was also a popular way for porters to carry luggage to your lodge room.

We passed a coffee plantation, the tall trees shading the coffee beans, different from what I was used to from my childhood family visits to Puerto Rico. There the coffee trees were planted on terraced hills, providing shade for each other.

We had a brief stop at a large complex featuring the Tanzanite Experience complete with a mock mine and video explaining the process:

an ebony carving studio,

and a huge store featuring textiles, t-shirts, Maasai beaded crafts and all the usual suspects from the typical  souvenir warehouses. As the items were priced, seemingly more reasonably than our previous experience, we requested a return visit on our way home. The only things I’ve bought on the trip is a tiny soapstone elephant for our crèche and a T shirt, both from the elephant orphanage in Nairobi. They were priced higher than usual, but I have a soft spot for non profit fund raising.

We finally arrived at the Country Lodge in Keratu after an 11 hour day of travel and enjoyed $4 glasses of acceptable South African wine by the pool.

This post is getting as long as our road trip. I think tomorrow, at Serengeti I will split it in two.