Safari Stays

As we've talked to people about our time in Tanzania, it has been difficult to describe the country overall. I mean, it's a third world country. The big cities are Arusha (which we experienced a bit) and Dar es Salaam (which we just flew through). By "big cities" I mean that the roads are paved, there are businesses, and most people who live there have houses and cars.

That was not the Tanzania that we experienced. As I've said before, we drove around a lot of the country and only encountered tribes people, villages on the side of the road, and large swaths of empty landscapes in between the amazing parks.

All this to say that there are no Marriotts or Holiday Inns. There are no hostels or air b&b's. There are either high-end resorts or tent camps. We stayed in both and really enjoyed them. Here's some info about our safari accommodations.

Most of the pictures I've posted have been of the plains in the height of dry season, but we experienced tropical areas, too. In fact, the only two resorts we stayed in were located in lush settings. Mosquito nets were a given everywhere (and we still got many bites), but especially in the wet locations.

Our accommodations were as beautiful, ornate, and luxurious as they could be, considering the locations and the fact that food, drinks, water, and amenities have to be brought long distances. We were very comfortable, the staff spoke excellent English and were genuinely friendly and interested in us (i.e. even fun for the introverts to talk to! Really!), the food was gourmet and delicious, the drinks overflowed, and occasionally there were gift shops.

Both of the resorts included manicured grounds to walk around on, pools, hot tubs, and various other amenities such as massages, manicures, pedicures, and tours. The only place I saw any of these at all was these two resorts. There was nothing like that in any other place we drove through in the country.

The food, like the places to stay, was either at one end of the spectrum or the other. It was either gourmet, 4-5 star quality, or it was a boxed lunch. We had a lot of boxed lunches :) because we were in the truck during lunch hours. But for breakfast and dinner we enjoyed freshly-prepared meals of all kinds.

In South Africa we had very creative, unique dishes (like ostrich casserole, game meats served with a variety of vegetables, etc.), but not in Tanzania. Most of the food consisted of cooked vegetables such as potatoes, onions, carrots, and spinach, with some meat. My favorite part of every meal was the fresh soup: pumpkin, potato and leek, vegetable. They were flavorful and amazing. I also had local beer almost every day. I'm sure they also served had great wines from South Africa but after a hot day outside, I was in the mood for something cool and refreshing that I could guzzle.

G ate bread and CLIF bars.

Safari Lager was my favorite African beer. Also, that napkin? Yeah, that's how the waiters would put them on us for every meal. I just left it like that? I dunno.

This is a look into the boxed lunches: a bottle of water, a juice box, a hard boiled egg (we didn't eat those), an apple (didn't eat those either), cooked chicken in that foil packet, fresh bread and cheese, and a chocolate bar. We gave Nas the food we couldn't eat and he donated it to the people who clean the bathrooms at the picnic sites. I would give G my bread/cheese and he would give me his chicken.

Here are some of the higher-end restaurant pics:

For the majority of our stay, we were in tent camps. These first pics are of the only camp that wasn't mobile; it was built into the side of a hill. Isn't it gorgeous? It was a phenomenal place to stay.

Here are some pics of a mobile camp. Notice the water buckets hanging up in the back. These were for our toilets and showers. We saved most of it for the toilets and instead of showering, we just wiped down. This was an easier way to keep water from getting into our eyes or mouths.

The walls of the tent were durable but mainly served as mosquito nets. See how nice the inside was? But we could hear the guards walking around, not to mention the animals milling around at night. Zebras would rub against the sides and snort (they sound like horses), and hyenas woke us up just about every night, often right on the other side of the tent from where we were sleeping.

A lot of people have asked us if it was scary. Not really. It was mostly cool!

If we needed to summon help, or there was an emergency, we were supposed to use the whistle.

At the end of our stay, we flew back to Arusha to catch the plane to Amsterdam. And by "flew" I mean on a toy plane that took off from a dirt air strip. Help me, Jesus. G was so excited that I basically couldn't deal with it. I was like, go take some pictures while I don a loin cloth and ashes and pray for salvation. It was...something.

See how large I look? That's because the plane was so small. I was three rows back from the pilot and could see all of his controls.

He was on cloud 9. I was not. But it was quick and then we were on a massively large jumbo jet to Amsterdam, fully stocked with movies and liquid courage, thank you Lord.

Now I'd like a Safari lager and some fresh potato and leek soup. In Tanzania again. Thanks.