Bags packed. Child fed and ready for takeoff. Our first flight from Stockholm to Amsterdam made it on time and we found our next gate quite easily. First malaria pill for the little one was due so while waiting for the next plane we made a few attempts to find out the best way to trick a very picky eater. After screams, frustration and looks from fellow travellers we figured that hiding it in chocolate milk was the best way. Now there was nothing stopping us, Tanzania here we come!
The flight which lasted 8 and 1/2 hours went well, apart from some tantrums from Óskar/Magnus every now and then. Armed with iPads, iPhones and tv screens we all made it eventually and were greeted with familiar faces at Kilimanjaro airport, Elliot, Jamal and Jamie who are our friends from Macalester College. We headed straight home to Elliot's house where we rested for our big safari trip the following day.
We wake up to an amazing view of the house (there is something about arriving in the dark and seeing what everything looks like in the morning) and start loading up the safari truck. No one was more excited than the little man who had never seen such a cool car!
A few hours later we are off to Ngorogoro and Serengeti. After a whole day of driving we spent the night at a motel before getting up early in the morning and drive into Ngorogoro. There are no words to describe such an amazing place and for someone like me who has never been to Africa nor on a proper safari it was simply unreal. First we saw some wildebeests, then some water buffalos, zebras, hyenas, hippos, elephants and a lot more -but my favourite was a hyena feasting on a dead hippo a few meters from us.
After a great safari day we reach our campsite by Serengeti. These were not your regular tents -they had built in showers (with hot water!) and a my-kind-of-sitting toilets. We were greeted by a warm and welcoming staff who cooked us food and poured us drinks. As the sun was setting we sat by the fire and drank the local Kilimanjaro beer with big fat smile on our faces. Óskar was running around like a cow in the spring and also loving life. As an Icelander I did not worry about him running around because he was in sight. Then the nice staff member tapped our shoulders and told us to please keep him close because of lions and cheetahs in the area and as the sun was setting they could be out hunting. Magnus hurried to get the poor child and to make a long story short we kept him close the entire time, always on the lookout. After a great meal we all headed to bed before another early safari wake up call. In the night you could hear the wildebeests running from their enemies and at dawn the lions took over all sound. Waking up to lion-chat is again unreal and I certainly did not manage to fall back asleep. We took our breakfast to go and went lion-searching. Our very own safari-guide Elliot found them just by a road close by and we saw the sun come up as the lions graced us with their presence.
Another great safari day and we headed back to camp where we were served our last meal. Again Óskar was on a close leash and we enjoyed the sunset over fire, drinks and good friends. Right after dinner we hear a lion call uncomfortably close to the tents. Then we hear the staff call to each other "simba" which means lion in Swahili and the chef had just seen a lion outside the kitchen. Yes, there were lions right by our campsite. The staff turned the safari trucks with the big lights on to try and chase them a little further away. We got escorted to our tents and stayed there until the morning. By far the most surreal experience of my life, but man the rush you got when you made it from the dining tent into your tent without being eaten by a lion!
I don't know the appropriate adjectives to describe this beauty so I will just leave it to your imagination and hope that someday you can experience it as well. Jamie and Jamal have now left us and they are surely missed! Thanks for a great time guys!
It will be hard to top this experience -but we have a couple of more weeks here in Tanzania before heading to Thailand. Óskar is doing great and loves to feed the chickens at the house and bully the poor cat. Everyone is healthy and happy -and our hosts Jana and Elliot are incredible and very patient with us. We cannot thank you enough! Our plan is to stay here in this dream house until Thursday -then we are driving to the beach. Hope this finds you well and remember wherever you go, there you are!
Until next time,
mama Goose.
As a way too brief interlude to our time at Lengijave, we spent three or four days at Pangani last weekend on the Tanzanian coast. Elliot and Jana had rented a beautiful house on the beach and we tagged along for the 10 hour car ride, which felt much shorter thanks to intense listening of the Serial podcast. We can strongly recommend Pangani for those who intend to make a trip to Tanzania in the future. Definitely off the beaten path, around a 1.5 hour boat ride from Zanzibar. Gordeous, rugged beaches lined with palm trees. Perhaps a bit too much seaweed to be called pristine but we loved it. In a way it also served as a trial ahead of our time in Southeast Asia where 90% of our time will be spent on the beach. We now know that Oskar Fulvio loves to go in the ocean, and surprisngly he was not foolish enough to jump in without his swim vest thingy.
