We
are now in Arusha at our hotel Planet Lodge for the night. The drive in to Arusha and around Arusha is so interesting, very busy and you never know what you will see on the back of a bike, on a cart, on top of a car, being carried on a womans head... These pictures are right down one of the main streets, it's the men pushing the carts right in the middle of the crazy traffic that amazed us that no one was killed, well that we saw anyway
We were picked up at
the airport by taxi who took us back to the tour operators office who
wanted to hear about the trip. She said she had been speaking to
Felix every day and knew that everything was going well. We asked
her about shopping, we wanted to pick up a couple of souvenirs. We
told her nothing expensive, just a couple of shirts etc. She told
her she would get the taxi driver to take us to the Maasai Market and
she sent her accountant with us too for security (??? not sure what
that was about, and he didn't even have a flashlight!!). Found a few
little things, so very few tourists here and it is a pretty big
market, I really felt sorry for the sellers, I'm sure we were one of
their only sales for some of them today.
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| Maasai Market in Arusha |
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| Inside the market |
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| Clock tower in Arusha, midpoint between Cape Town and Cairo |
We
spent some time this afternoon by the pool at the lodge, had a nice swim, it is
very hot here again. They must sell day passes here for use of the
pool/grounds. Quite a few locals arrive to use the pool. What a
fantastic time, many of them are just learning how to swim, one guy
is teaching them how to dive off the side of the pool, lots of
laughing, and just a great time. Olympians in training they are now,
but a great time was had by all. There is also another family that
shows up with their children, this would be a fantastic place to stay
with kids, a really nice playground right on the grounds.
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| Swim lessons time |
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| Our room at Planet Lodge |
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| Room 22 again, not the same view as Tarangire Safari Lodge |
Supper,
then back to the room to get a little organized for travel day
tomorrow. We are only being picked up at 1PM so no urgency, nice to
just relax a little after a very busy couple of weeks.
Final Day
A
sad day for me. A few little tears while looking over some of the
pictures are reading parts of the blog. So much anticipation and it
all goes by so quickly...
We
just hang around on our little porch, enjoy the sun and heat that we
know that we will not have once we get home for quite a while. We
walk around and explore the grounds looking for birds and just enjoy
our last morning.
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| Mt Meru from the patio area |
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| Flycatcher |
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| Dark capped Bulbu |
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| Baglafect Weaver |
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| African Pied Wagtails |
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| Beautiful sitting areas, but no shade in the day, we took cover on the patio |
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| Would love to have this table for our deck at home |
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| Kitchen was in a separate building that had a covered walkway to get to |
We
do spend some time in their tiny gift shop and spend more here than
anywhere else! They had 2 beautiful carved wooden bowls for $20 and
$25 that we loved, we decided to buy them and just claim on our
customs form back in Canada that we had wood and see what happens,
worth the $45 risk. Also picked up a couple of bracelets and another
magnet for Brian I think.
Back
to the room and head over for lunch with all our stuff at around
noon. On the walk over a woman comes up and asks us if we lost a
pouch. No, we do not use pouches so we didn't lose one. Then
another man comes over and asks us if we lost something, no nothing
lost. Andre then realizes he has lost his wallet, oh no. Over to
front desk and they have it. Turns out when we were sitting on the
chairs outside enjoying the beautiful views of Mt Meru at the main
lodge his wallet must have fallen out of his pocket, this is where it
was found. Thank goodness, this would have been a nightmare,
replacing credit cards and ID is such a pain!
They
setup a nice table for us outside to have lunch with the beautiful
view. We were the only 2 people here today I think, yesterday we saw
2 other couples. Definitely low season, we spoke a lot to the staff
here as we were just hanging around so long, they said the hotel is
full starting in December. We loved speaking to the staff, they
wanted to know about Canada. Asked if we had parks and we said yes we
have National Parks too, they wanted to know if we had giraffes, no
but we do have some animals but nothing like Africa. Andre had come
Canadian coins so we were able to show them a few animals, I don't
think we explained the Bluenose correctly on the dime though. We
left them all of our change, I hope they understood it was just a
souvenir, that they will not be able to exchange it. They also went
and found all the different coins for us to take home of theirs,
something that Andre always does when we visit another country.
As
we were getting ready to leave I went back to the front desk to see
who had found Andres wallet, and also to ask if it was appropriate
for us to give her a little something, they said yes it was fine, so
a little reward passed along for finding the wallet.
The
taxi comes and picks us up at 1:00 and off to catch the shuttle from
Arusha to Nairobi. Pulling into the shuttle station is a hoot, we
are in the taxi and basically mobbed by all the different companies
trying to get us to use their service. Swala had prepaid our shuttle
service, so everyone is out of luck. One thing we learned is even if
you pay for one company you may end up with another, a little
shuffling around, not sure how they decide who goes with who, but
some people were moved off our shuttle to another company. Also,
this shuttle is much quieter on the way, no need to put luggage on
top, everything is just stored in the back row of seats.
Waiting
for the shuttle to leave is another great experience in itself.
White skin = bring on the vendors. So many laughs, I told Andre he was sitting by
the window, I was filling out the paperwork needed to cross the
border and it started. All kinds of paintings, jewelery, shirts etc
being passed in through the window for us to look at. One very
persistent young man with the wax art kept saying when Mamma (me) is
finished with the paperwork she needs to look. He did have beautiful
work, but not interested. This went on for about 15 minutes, then
Andre says how much? Oh no, the guy beside me on the bus and I just
roll our eyes, here we go, this will never end. Andre went through
all his work again and picked 2 pieces. At this point Esther from
Swala Tours gets on the shuttle, she came by to make sure everything
was fine, so we then get her involved in the purchase as well. We
basically had the whole shuttle going, telling this poor vendor that
he was charging us too much, lots of laughs from everyone. Finally
came to an agreement on price, everyone is happy, and a fun last
experience in Tanzania. The vendors are running beside the shuttle
trying to finish up a final sale as we are pulling out!
The
ride back to Kenya was quite fun as neither of us really remembered
it as we were so exhausted on the way here. A different bathroom
stop than on the way over, I guess they want to spread out the
shopping. Again the driver is really helpful at the border, there is
just us and another group of 3 that are not from Kenya or Tanzania
and he pretty much walked us through everything. I wasn't positive
if our single entry visa that we bought when we landed in Nairobi was
still good, but I guess so as we were asked for nothing else. I
think I read somewhere it is good for 2 weeks going back and forth,
but I could be totally wrong. On the way back we did see some impala, on the way to Tanzania 2 weeks ago we didn't see any wildlife.
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| Bike taxi, Andre liked the winter jacket |
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| <5 liters of gas = 10,000.00 ouch |
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| One last view of Mt Meru on the way to Nairobi |
Nairobi
airport is not nearly as bad as I remember it. I have been here
twice before by myself and remember it being very nasty, and spending
most of the time waiting sitting on the floor. There now seems to be
more chairs available, still definitely not the airport you would
expect from the amount of traffic that goes through here, but it
works. Lots of clean bathrooms, a decent place to sit, what more do
you need? Not sure about the restaurant, we never did go in, but I
think it is the same one restaurant that has been there for years.
Flight
home is Nairobi, Brussels, Montreal and finally Moncton. Lucky Andre
got emergency exit all flights except last one to Moncton. If you
are early at check in it doesn't hurt to be friendly and ask, no
additional charge for this. Brussels gave us the opportunity to buy
some crazy expensive chocolate, Montreal gave us the chance for
Moe's Smoked Meat, yummy!! Much better connections on the way home,
left Nairobi just after midnight, and got into Moncton at 5:30 PM on
the same day.
Customs
in Canada (Montreal), what a treat, they finally have changed it and
Canadians have their own lines when you return home! We have now
joined the rest of the world. It is all electronic now as well, so
easy. So, I did check off that I had wood, we were sent to the
customs officer who asked what I had, I said 2 salad bowls, I carried
them with me on the plane so I showed him, he said fine and we were
off! So easy, wish I had know for sure before, but I guess we saved
some money :)
Swala Safaris - We were very happy with the service they provided us. As I mentioned earlier it was not the least expensive quote we received, nor was it the most expensive. Something just "clicked" when I was emailing Rose back and forth and we chose to go with them. She promised us an excellent safari, not to worry about anything, and they delivered. This is a very small company, 6 jeeps, and we felt we got some very personal service from them. A note about Felix, we were very happy and pleased to have Felix as our guide. One of our main requests was we have a guide that would be willing to start early in the mornings, and Felix was more than happy to do so, and was always on time! He was able to read us well, and we could tell he was adjusting our days to fit our style. Felix would not be a fit for everyone, he is not a big talker, but is very happy to answer when you ask him questions and show interest. Felix was the reason we saw the Big 5, and experienced so many special moments on safari, thank-you so much to Felix.
Final
counts from Safari:
Lions
- 83
Leopards-
6
Cheetah-
9
Rhinos-2
Not
enough fingers and toes to count anything else!
Sounds
I hope I never forget:
Birds
singing in the morning and evening
Kids
giggling when they see their pictures, and Andre poking them in the
stomach
Wake
up call - “Jambo Jambo” from a worker outside your tent
Warning
call from a lion when you get too close!
Purring
cats
Clash
of antelope horns
Silence
of elephants moving, until they destroy the tree!
Hyena
crunching on bones
Vendors
saying “mamma mamma you need to see this”
Karibu from everyone, constantly
So
we are now home and reflecting a little more on our trip. I can
honestly say we have never experienced somewhere that we felt so
WELCOME. I have never been asked so many times to please come back.
This is coming from someone who lives in a part of Eastern Canada
that is known for its hospitality, we have nothing on Tanzanians.
All this and we barely knew 5 words in Swahili, one thing I do regret
is not learning a little more of at least the basics.
Big
question we are being asked, will you go back. In a heartbeat we
would go back, will we go back, another question. We still have many
places we have not seen, but Africa definitely does have a special
place in our hearts. Along with Galapagos, so special, if only they
weren't so far from home, and the trips so expensive.
We
really have had a fantastic trip, the trip of a lifetime. I wish
everyone could experience this at least once in their lives, words
and even pictures just cannot describe what we have experienced.
Until next trip....
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| Welcome! |
