Well, where to start about my journey to Tanzania? I departed from London, and I had a 14-hour long journey ahead of me, cut into two by a stopover in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Abeba. I was already an oddity at the London airport as a solo female traveller; I couldn’t escape from the curious looks. The majority of the passengers were loaded by huge pieces of luggage, visiting home after a long time – at least I had this impression. On the plane, I got next to another solo female passenger, who was about to return home after 2 years to see her sick sister. I started thinking how hard it could be for these people, who came to Europe in the hope of a better life, to study and work, who started their families here, at the same time left their loved ones back in Africa not knowing when it’ll be the next time that they can afford a flight ticket to visit them, or if they have to face any bureaucratic limitations. Compared to this, it feels so luxurious that I can afford to fly home more times per year, and if I really had to, I could get home by evening any time.
But let’s get back to my journey! The flight itself was pleasant, even though I had had concerns towards the quality of the service of the Ethiopian Airlines, but hats off: kind stewardesses, quality service, delicious food (I usually don’t have any problems with airplane food), and well-equipped entertainment system. I don’t think it is any worse than the American, Iberia or any other big airlines, I’ve flown so far. After a 7-and-a-half-hour flight, we got to Addis Abeba by dawn. This gave me the first magical experience: flying into the sunrise. We departed late evening, so we covered most of the journey during night, and as we were approaching our destination, we were leaving the darkness behind us. When I looked back, I could still see the night, but as I looked ahead, I saw on the horizon how the sun’s rising rays painted the bottom of the sky reddish and dissolved the blackness of the sky. The sight felt so unearthly, what magical power could conjure this combination of colours in the sky.
From this first amazement, I fell into the next as we approached the land and I could see the Ethiopian landscape from bird’s-eye view. I think I was most surprised by the sight of the mountains. Oh and those colours; how different it is from flying above Europe! Here you won’t see lakes, rivers, highways, allotments, but only a coherent land in its wilderness, covered by a yellowish brown blanket, and you can almost feel the heat it’s radiating even from such a distance. Unfortunately, the pictures are not the best, and cannot really reflect the sensation I had by pressing my face against the window. I couldn’t wait landing and feeling the touch of the air on my skin, and to let the summer heat pervade my body.
My desire got fulfilled so intensively after I had got out of the plane at the Kilimanjaro Airport already in Tanzania, that I suddenly forgot why I had craved for it so much before. First, the warmth, the sunshine, and the blue sky were appealing; however, I got slightly annoyed when I was queueing for visa and for crossing the border for 2 hours, and in the meantime, I was bathing in my sweat, the air was just so stiff and heavy even though some ventilators were swiveling on the ceiling above us. I have to note here, that this is a small airport, and it was only our plane that landed, and even until this very moment, I haven’t the faintest idea what took so long for them at the border. By the end, however, I managed to put on a smile for the sake of the photo for my visa. 🙂
It wasn’t probably the queue that stressed me out the most, but I was worried about my check-in luggage, if it would still be there by the time I cross the border, and I was also worried if the driver from the safari organising company would be waiting all these 2 hours for me, and if I won’t be left without a lift. Looking back, I really shouldn’t have worried at all, as my baggage was there, and exiting the airport, I could notice my name on a sign, which Immanuel was holding strenuously, as it turned out, for 2.5-3 hours under the scorching sun. But he waited for me, and on the way to Arusha, he already enthusiastically taught me some basic words in Swahili; moreover, he was talking about himself, the local traffic, the police, the rules, and basically whatever that came along the way – such as avocado plantations, schools, etc. I tried to suck everything in like a sponge, though I was tired and exhausted by the long journey, the heat, the many stimuli since I left home. But you are there only once, you have only one chance to carve the first sensations and impressions into your mind, to recall them at the end of your holiday, and compare them with the ones you have then, to see how much they have changed over the days. Furthermore, I wanted to tell about my experience at home in a way to make people feel as I did, so I really needed to be present as an active observer.
It took about an hour to get to Arusha, where my hotel was booked, and from where I set off my adventure into the wild next day. During the drive, I concluded that the quality of the road is not bad at all, there are a lot of motorcyclists, and the traffic regulations are quite strict, but better to be followed because of the regular police checks (low speed limits, overtaking prohibitions in many places, compulsory stopping at pedestrian crossings, etc.). It also caught my eye how many policewomen are in charge, and how nice their uniform is: long, dark blue skirt and brownish shirt. Along the road, I saw some shops here and there, where I couldn’t see any reason for their existence, and we also drove through some small villages. There were parts, where I just stared out of the window at the lands stretching into the distance and framed by shorter and higher peaks. Green and brown patches varied, with a house here and there, with wooded patches, or with a roaming person, whom you don’t know where he’s going or where he’s coming from, he was just wandering in the middle of nowhere, sometimes accompanying a cattle herd.
Then the traffic got quite bad as we arrived in Arusha; it is a fairly big city at the foot of Mount Meru. There were markets along the streets, wherever we turned, hence we had to drive among flowing crowds of people. I rather wound the window up here, I felt them a bit too close. By then, my only wish was a nice shower, and to change my travel clothes to something fresh and looser, lighter.
By dinner, I went down refreshed to the restaurant, and then I leaned into my bed with my belly full and with a pleasant exhaustion. I was filled with positive thoughts and feelings, with peace of mind and childish excitement. I didn’t need much time to fell asleep in my mosquito-proof net castle, where I was already dreaming about the safari starting early next morning, which I will tell you about in the next posts.
