"Where Dreams and Reality are One"
by Charlotte Tomic
As a world traveler, having been to most places you can think of and having reasonably good taste, I could think of nothing more engrossing and fulfilling than traveling to Tanzania.
I’m assuming you’d be curious, excited to see the world as it has been from the very beginning of time. There is no exaggeration in what I say. Tanzania is perfectly located to encompass the most extraordinary ecological habitat – the amazing Serengeti.
Serengeti means never-ending plains derived from the word seringit in the Maasai language. Running from Arusha towards the eastern shores of the Indian Ocean, the safari trip through Northern Tanzania is explored by almost all visitors to the country.
About our Guest Blogger:
Charlotte Tomic
Charlotte Tomic is an expert in public relations with a long career working for healthcare, tech, corporate, academic, nonprofit and author accounts. Her passion for real estate, architecture and design have led her to a second career in real estate sales focused on Miami Dade and Broward counties.
As a civic activist in her neighborhood she also serves on the board of Mid Beach Neighborhood Association to improve the quality of life for the community.
This June, she was appointed to work with Miami Beach Mayor Gelber and commissioners on the Committee for the Homeless.
If you are a European, you’d have a short trip. We Americans travel a bit longer but it’s certainly worth it. We strategically decided to travel in February which is about a month after the animals have given birth, so you get to see the offspring in low grasses. In February you do see the wildebeests and zebras begin their migration north toward Kenya, and it’s amazing how their instincts take them due north toward more water and grasses. Most trips are in the northeast an they usually begin in Arusha. Right there your safari can begin in a subdued national park (all of the lodges are in national parks and 25% of the country is a national park.) It’s a soft beginning where you’ll see an incredible array of birds, your first zebras and gazelles. From there your experience will continue to create memories you will never forget. The first leg of the trip is just an appetizer because from there you’ll be going to the south Serengeti near Lake Ndutu where the real fun begins!
We took a picnic lunch and headed to Lake Manyara where a treetop walkway to see the beautiful forest in the park with baboons of all sizes traversing the shaky bridges from place to place. When monkeys were on the bridge ahead of us, I’d get nervous as they jumped up and down on the wooden planks making my walk shakier.
Once you get to Ndutu, your first game ride, you’ll start seeing elephants, giraffes, gazelles, zebras and without much effort cheetahs hunting their prey and families of lions killing and eating zebras. If it is during the day, the lions and lionesses, like good cats, will seek the shade and go under your jeep. You will have an immense amount of time to photograph them with no worry about their proximity. They will ignore you.
And there is also the natural beauty of the terrain since during the dry season, the rivers disappear and become lakes. By now you’re really excited and you know why you came here.
The four wheel land cruiser traverses the jungle in a bumpy dusty ride nicknamed the African Massage. We had a terrific guide supplied by Takims Holidays, Rajabu, who found a bounty of offspring of all animals: lions, elephants, cheetahs, monkeys, warthogs, zebras, giraffes, gazelles, and their mothers clinging closely by their sides.
Hearing the sounds of the jungle landscape and smelling the grasses and crisp air add to the enjoyment of being in nature at the birthplace of humanity, the cradle of civilization, Africa itself.
We stayed in the Siringit Serengeti camp which has only 8 tents and the elegance of a 5* hotel with intimate dining and beautiful landscapes. Here the game rides take a little bit longer because it’s an immense place, but you can see the big animals eating their prey on top of trees. They don’t even look at you, but you certainly see them.
In addition to seeing the magnificent mammals, we traveled to Olduvai Gorge, the site of archeological findings where traces of prehistoric man dating back 3.5 million years ago have been unearthed.
From the Gorge, we ascended to our lodge in Karatu which overlooks the Ngongoro Crater, the 2000’ deep crater, one of the 8 Wonders of the World, with one of the most spectacular views you ever saw. It is home to every single animal we mentioned and the only place where you can see the almost extinct Black Rhinoceros.
We ate a sumptuous breakfast and departed for Tarangire National Park where we saw the most elephants ever, families including newborns, splashing in mudholes and rolling in the mud, spraying themselves to cool off, pulling on leaves from trees and enjoying the freedom of being in a national park where thankfully poaching is illegal. We stayed in Maramboi Tented camp with beautiful water views, great food and sunset happy hours.
We ended our safari with a two day stay in beautiful Zanzibar, at a resort called Breezes at the very south of the island which owns one of the largest properties in the island. It’s a beach club that has local entertainment at night and the crystal clear waters of the spectacular Indian Ocean. You can go snorkeling or diving there, but we decided to just enjoy the soft breezes that caress their beaches and relax before our 21 hour flight home to the U.S.
The afternoon before departing, we explored the crowded, winding streets of Stone Town and visited the Slave Market museum founded in 1811 by the Sultan Said and thankfully closed in 1873. Thousands of people were sold from the 1830s-50s to work on date plantations in Oman. We learned of Tippu Tip the most notorious of all the slavers to traffic out of Zanzibar.
On our last night we had dinner at the rooftop restaurant at the iconic Emerson Hotel. There was a wonderful Muslim singer with jazz backup band and we were served dishes on the cushioned floor around the center of the wooden floor.
I still hear her voice which was part of the magic of Zanzibar.
And special thanks to my travel guide company: Takims Holidays www.takimsholidays.com
