A Life in Africa

Giraffes before the storm hits Mikumi National Park in central Tanzania

We welcomed our first New Year in Africa at midnight and five hours later we were driving through the Tanzanian dawn dark on our way to Mikumi National Park, about 100 kilometers from Morogoro.  It was our first African safari, even though it was only a day trip.  We were determined not to be the only people in Tanzania who have never seen a zebra.

On the way, we didn’t pass through many settlements, just 4 or 5 small red clay villages.  The last one was situated right on the park borders and almost as soon as we crossed the invisible line into the park, we started to see animals.  Andrea yelled “There is a herd of elephants!”  Just like a vision, suddenly there were huge beasts walking delicately among the baobab trees.  Then an impala ran by and suddenly we felt like we had arrived in Africa. [Read more →]

What could be better than driving your own car through some of the wildest places on Earth.  National Parks in Tanzania are perfect for do-it-yourself safaris.  We recently drove to Mikumi National Park in central Tanzania for a quick holiday.  Once in the park, we drove everywhere ourselves, choosing when and where to go, how long to stay there and when to leave.  It’s the most freedom you can have if you travel to Africa to go on a wildlife safari.

Whether or not a do-it-yourself safari is for you depends on what type of person you are to start with.  If you prefer to let someone else make all the decisions and just go along for the ride, then a do-it-yourself safari may not be for you.  However, if you like adventure and want to be in charge, it’s relatively easy, if not much cheaper, to do it on your own. [Read more →]

Top Ten - Best Things We Found in Stone Town, Zanzibar - Not in any particular order

1. Archipelago Café
Located in the center of Stone Town, near the shore, the Archipelago was the one restaurant we found that consistently had excellent food at decent prices.  We ate there a few times and it was great, except for the last time when the waitress forgot to put our order in and we waited a long time.  We’d definitely eat there again.  Skip the swordfish.

Muslim woman wearing hijab in Stone Town, Zanzibar

2. Serena Hotel Bar at Sunset
The Serena Hotel is rated as one of the best in East Africa and the rooms go for US $350+ per night.  The Serena bar also has one of the best sunset watching spots in Stone Town and you can drink there even if you’re not staying in the hotel.  We couldn’t afford to stay there, but we could afford a cold beer ($3.50) or two while the sun set over the Indian Ocean.  It’s a prime spot and they often have a live house band at night.

The staff got a bit stuffy when they realized we weren’t staying at the hotel, but just ignore them and ask for the free bowls of roasted cashews served at the bar. [Read more →]

This is our top seven list of things we did not like about Stone Town, capital city of the Island of Zanzibar.

1.  Too Much Tourism
Admittedly, the Christmas Holidays are known as the high season in Zanzibar but it was really annoying to be asked every few steps if we wanted to buy music, cashew nuts, t-shirts or taxi rides.  It isn’t the worst place we’ve been as far as street touts, but it definitely takes away from the ambience of Zanzibar.

2. Sunset at the Africa Hotel
Touted as “the place” to see the sunset in the Lonely Planet guidebook to Tanzania, sunset from the deck bar of the Africa House is just too much of a scene.  Dozens, maybe hundreds, of tourists gather here to watch the sunset each evening.  It’s a feeding frenzy of cultures, languages and [Read more →]

Sea Anemone and little protective fish that kept attacking my camera, off the coast of the Island of Zanzibar

On the last day of my PADI Advanced Open Water Course in Zanzibar, I elected to try two new dives.  The first was a drift dive and the second was underwater photography.  I thought both would be easy – how hard can it be to simply drift on a current through water?  And I’ve been a photographer for years, so underwater photography would be a natural, right?

Out at sea, things didn’t quite pan out this way.  First of all, for our “drift” dive, there was no current so we basically just swam around and looked at things.  There was no drift to it, but I did see two big puffer fish that looked really strange and a huge Lionfish.

In the afternoon, Debbie the Dive Master, talked me through the basics of underwater photography and I asked all kinds of questions about flash distance, shutter speed and similar things that I’m used to adjusting when shooting on land.  Then she handed me the camera for the dive. [Read more →]