Arusha

Trip Start Aug 15, 2008

Trip End Dec 16, 2008

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Flag of Tanzania Arusha, Tanzania
Monday, September 1, 2008

We got back to Hotel Africana in Kampala late saturday afternoon, and in the evening we had the last team dinner at Caffe Roma. It was a good end to a fantastic trip with some great new friends.

The next day was spent sorting pictures and writing the early blog entries about Uganda you have all been reading. Early next morning at 3am our shuttle left for Entebbe Airport and the next adventure in Tanzania. Though we arrived in the Airport at 4am Air Uganda's office did not open until 6am (we had to pay for our tickets), and our flight was furthermore delayed until 9am - so we could have stayed in bed a few extra hours. :/

Parrot flower

We flew to Kilimanjaro International Airport, where we shared a taxi with a teacher from Uganda, who taught English in Arusha. We were dropped off in front of Sunny Safaris, whom we had been recommended for a camping safari to the Serengeti. We had a chat with them about when to go and what to see. We would prefer to go with another 2 people in the car, because then it would be cheaper, but they had unfortunately no other people looking at that time. However since it was Monday they would contact us as soon as more people wanted to go, which should happen within a day or two - so we did not book a safari straight away.

As we needed some Tanzanian Shillings we headed for the ATM where we were met with a enormous queue. At first we thought it was because it was the first of September and pay day, but as we were standing there for a while and started to talk to people we found out that this was how it was every day in Arusha... Of the two ATMs at the bank there was only one of them working at a time and for the 1 1/2 hour we were there it broke down four times - patience (pole pole).

Cecilie at our veranda at Visiwani Lodge

We were staying at Visiwani Lodge http://www.visiwani.com/, which is owned by Sammy. We had been recommended Sammy from some Danish friends of ours, who have known him for many years. We had called Sammy the day before, and arranged that we would call him once we were in town. Sammy picked us up and took us to his lodge. It is a fantastic place close to Mt Meru and still also close enough to walk into town. We got a really nice room with a nice veranda to sit and relax on at a very friendly rate.

Sammy, the owner of Visiwani Lodge

Sammy helped us the next day to sort out our safari. We went to Shideloya Tours and ended up booking with them as they had a 5-day safari leaving on the Thursday with already another couple signed up. It also ended up being cheaper than Sunny Safaris. It was really good getting this sorting as we could then focus on the important stuff - relaxing.

As Arusha is the safari capital in Tanzania, due to its location close to the Serengeti, Ngorogoro, and Kilimanjaro, there are a lot of safari companies here, and it can sometimes be difficult to find the best value for money or simply not get ripped off. Just take a walk down Boma Road and you will get approached by several touters trying to get you to use their contacts for a safari - very annoying.