Arusha - The City where even the Banks will steal from you

While one could say that we were coming back to civilization, the girls' would say that Arusha was anything but that.

It was definitely good to get a hot shower, recharge our batteries (literally and metaphorically) and get a night's sleep in a bed instead of sleeping bag. Also while Samuel, our safari cook, did an excellent job, it was good a restaurant meal at the L'Oasis Lodge.

After spending half the day at Tarangire national park, we spent the rest of it at the Snake Park, Maasai Museum and some conveniently closely located craft shops. I quite liked some of the Maasai carvings and great animal paintings being sold but there was no way for me to send/bring it back. AT the snake park, we realized that the snake we saw being attacked by dwarf mongooses no more than 5 metres away from us wasn't the Green Mamba (Poison: Lethal and death within 10 minutes) but rather the arguably nastier Green Boomslanger 9Poison: cytotoxic, 7 days to die starting with internal hemorrhaging requiring full body transfusion).

At the Maasai museum, we learnt that their houses were framed by acacia branches then sealed with dirt/water/cow dung. Also, circumcision is performed at 14 years of age without anesthesia and if the boy cries, they're not a warrior (forever treated as inferior).

Day 4: In the morning after the cold night at Nnnnngorongoro, we had breakfast early and left for the Crater. The landscape of the whole area was truly magical and surreal as can be seen in some of my pictures depicting blue-green vistas, mountains, plains. It had such a diverse variety of colours, landscapes and animals. Nogorongoro Conservation Park is attached to the Serengeti and animals move freely between these two areas as well as the Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya. We saw numerous animals in this small area but the highlights include cheetahs and a black rhine (only 500 in Africa!)

We then spent our final night at the Jambo Camp where Erico and I bargained and bought purple Maasai blanket/cape. I also helped Erico bargain for 2 masks and small carvings for his brother. We ended the night by finishing the beers and playing various card games (including a Brazilian hybrid of Big 2/Crazy 8s, which I hated)

July 20, 2007:
As I am sitting in the Dar es Salaam domestic airport, awaiting my flight to Zanzibar, I can't help but feel a little bit sad and lonely without my safari friends. After a less-than-pleasant bus ride to Dar, I convinced myself that there wasn't enough time to buy a ticket and catch the last ferry to Zanzibar. The cabbie and a hawker then convinced me that the 15 min flight could be a good option for $55 USD. I decided to go with it to save myself the grief and have more time in Zanzibar. However, I should've expected the sudden increase cab fare from 2500 TSh to 20 000 TSh. I got it down to 12 000 in the end though still not to my liking and wondering whether I would find any accommodations. What was funny though was that the hawker had been a safari cook and knew "Super" Jalala, our tour operator salesman in Arusha.

Even now, I am missing the quirky humour of Erico, my new Brazilian friend who offered his and his parents' place if I visit Brazil. I miss Maja's antics and Ida's travel stories.
I ask myself, how can anyone want to hurt those two girls like their attackers did? I'm sure everyone feels thankful that it wasn't worse and I hope that they can continue to enjoy the rest of their trip safe and sound.

Now, as I sit hungry and unsure about what happens next, I can only hope I keep meeting people as cool and generous as Ida, Maja and Erico.

Baadaye