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Exploring Tanzania


In this week’s travel feature local couple Louise-Anne Manasco and Max Pizarro camp in Tanzania exploring Africa’s ‘Big Five’ – lions, leopards, rhinoceros, elephant and buffalo.

By Louise-Anne Manasco and Max Pizarro

With so much to potentially see across the North-Western region of Tanzania and so many competitive tour operators offering very similar opportunities, the big question is how best to split up your journey and with who?

Having wanted to maximise our time during our safari across the national parks and conservation areas, we were after more of a tailor-made safari which focused on our preferences in terms of the parks, accommodation and animals as opposed to a standard pre-planned package tour.

Having done a fair bit of relevant research, a lot of our requests pointed in one direction… Lion King Adventures.

Along with the considerable number of different itineraries and opportunities, there are also a number of options as to where you start your adventure, however many tours do start and end in Arusha.

Despite the option of flying straight into Serengeti National Park, we chose the option to start from Arusha where we were able to spend the remainder of our arrival day at Ilboro Safari Lodge by the pool.

The Journey

The Serengeti National Park itself takes the best part of five hours from Arusha and so with the fact that we were only visiting the Serengeti and Ngorongoro, we knew at some point, either going that way or coming back, we had a long drive on our hands.

Home to some of the planet’s richest wildlife, Serengeti provides arguably some of the most impressive game safaris along with the spectacular opportunity to witness one of the most iconic wildlife spectacles - The Wildebeest Migration.

The Serengeti National Park itself covers an area of approximately 15,000 square kilometres however the Greater Serengeti Area does encompass a number of the surrounding reserves and conservation areas including the Ngorongoro conservation area and Massai Mara in Kenya, doubling the area to 30,000 square kilometres.

Along with its fascinating migratory display, the Serengeti does also protect possibly the greatest and most varied collection of terrestrial wildlife on earth which includes Africa’s famous ‘Big Five’, the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and buffalo.

Elephant Fun

Located along the South-Eastern border of the Serengeti National Park is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area which within it contains the ever impressive Ngorongoro Crater. Completely surrounded by its intact 600 metre daunting rim, the 300 square kilometre caldera (21km N-S and 18km E-W) creates a natural, almost impermeable enclosure sustaining its virtually own independent animal kingdom which contains all of the ‘Big Five’.

Lion Family

Along with the conservation and development of natural resources within the conservation area, following the expulsion of the Maasai people from the Serengeti national park in the 1950s, the NCA work tirelessly to safeguard and protect the 42,000 Maasai citizens which have inhabited the area since the end of the 19th century.

Lion King

Wrapped in rich red sheets and embellished in brightly coloured beaded jewellery, the Maasai people are a beautifully unique sight as you cross large expanses of the arid, barren plains of the conservation area.

Despite major civilisation throughout Tanzania and the increasing influences from the western world, the Maasai people have been able to hold onto their great warrior culture and traditional way of life, living in harmony with the surrounding wildlife and the environment.

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Having been able to maintain their nomadic lifestyle, the men continually care for their livestock following the rainfall patterns whilst the women build the houses, cook and clean as they teach the children.

Their traditional circular huts known as Bomas are basic made from wood, mud and cow dung which contains a fire pit for cooking, a traditional stick bed and a number of animal hides to cover themselves at night.

As we made our journey across the NCA, we did make a stop at one of the local Bomas where we were able to get a feel as to what life as a Maasai might be like.

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Welcomed with their traditional song and dance, shown around their camp and given a little bit of a talk as to how they live their lives, we did find it fascinating as to how different our lives actually are.

Some may say it is somewhat of a tourist trap as you do have to pay your $50 to visit and they will want to sell you some of their jewellery, however, if you don’t visit you will not actually see first-hand what their life is actually like.

In our eyes, a camping experience was the most fitting for an authentic safari adventure where the only thing that kept us apart from the wild animals, was the waterproof, canvas fabric of our tent. With no boundary fences safeguarding the campsite from the wild animals, wondering around the camp at night was strongly advised against unless accompanied by the local Maasai.

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Throughout the night we did expect to potentially hear the movement of animals across the dry scrub in the area, however it got much better than that when we got to experience the true natural noises of the Serengeti such as the clear roaring of lions in the distance and even the occasional cackling of hyenas within metres of the tent.

Zebra Love

To read more about Louise-Anne and Max's travel see their website: www.lifeoutofourbackpack.com
Or check them out on instagram: @lifeoutofourbackpack

Are you a keen traveller? Or do you enjoy short weekend breaks up the coast? The Chronicle's weekly travel feature is open for local writers to share their experiences of the places they visit. Email: features@chronicle.gi

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