Greetings,

Went on a road trip of sorts through the African outback outside of Arusha, Tanzania. Like all good off-road adventures, we took 2 trucks. Part of this trip was a camping safari in Lake Manyara which deserves an update to itself.  Basically the trip was from Arusha to Lake Manyara to Karatu which is a small town on the edge of the Ngorongoro  crater.

That sums it up and this will be brief as I have dinner coming. I’ve attached some photos from the day.  Basically after hitting Lake Manyara the plan as to hit up this old school classy manor for a late lunch. Once we arrived we noticed 4×4 was crucial, no problem. Minutes later saw a mini-van hopelessly stuck and blocking the path, it was bust.

Passed through Masaai country and saw how many people outside the cities are living very similar to how they must have 1000 years ago except now they have cool shades on and access to say a bicycle.  Their primary occupation is herding goats and sheep, cash is of less value than livestock.

Supposedly a successful gent has countless cattle, if you have goats you’re still a bit of a piker. The kids start young and it’s not uncommon to see a 10 year old handling a large herd by himself, literally in the middle of nowhere. A very solitary life many of these people lead.

Will have you know, camping in a tent on the edge of Lake Manyara was one of the cooler things I’ve done on this trip, the wildlife was intense and it was even a bit sketchy considering you’re sleeping in the middle of a national park where most tourists never even leave the land cruiser with nothing but a tent separating you from the animals.

Going on a safari is one of those potentially once in a lifetime opportunities, countless people were on them with their hired guides in their trucks. Driving the safari yourself and going where you wanted added a whole new element, it’s odd turning a corner and being face to face with an elephant or a bunch of wild boar, giraffe and too many baboons to  shake a stick at.

Tomorrow, will discuss the camping safari.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to say, wow… All those who said it’s not worth going around the world are totally and completely wrong. Really cool segment of the trip, if there is one word to describe my thoughts on Africa, it’s “real”.

Good evening,

P.S: Saw a bunch of organized tours and was so glad I had nothing to do with them. If you go on a safari, get a truck to yourself, even if you have a driver. If not you’ll drive nowhere and spend hours shooting some bird or something, the further you go into the park, the more you see.