trip of a lifetime. part one.

10:00 on the dot. I’ve been waiting for this moment for the past year and a half. My loyal taxi driver, Peter, met me at the bar to take me to the airport. Peter has taken me to and from the airport to meet guests a few other times, he knows I like to be early and sit in the humid mosquito infested waiting area and pace back and forth like I used to do in the hall outside my bedroom on Christmas morning. I think he was a little tired of this scene so he pulled over at a bar and said simply, ‘I buy beer now.’ We had a drink and chatted, I eagerly checked my phone every 30 seconds to see how much more time we had. I was counting down the minutes, squirming in my chair trying to finish my beer as fast as I could so I could get him back in the car and back on the road.

Finally at the airport, I stood in front of the automatic doors, teased with the open close open close open close. Each time they opened I stood a little taller on my toes, willing them to be close to the exit. Just when I couldn’t stretch any further, I finally saw him zipping up his bag. My daddy. And then close behind, my mom. High pitched sounds and tears came out of me and I rushed forward to meet them at the gate. It was exactly like I had imagined it a million times, seeing my parents for the first time in a year and a half.

Our trip started out right with a birthday-treat-stay for Rebecca and Sarah in the ritzy (not joking, this place is fancy) Holiday Inn. Cameron was able to join us too and we celebrated in style on the rooftop bar with late night appetizers. Having all my best girlfriends and my parents together on such a gorgeous night was the perfect beginning to the incredible adventures we were about to have.

The first day was spent in Dar es Salaam, catching up on some sleep, wandering around, and going to a soccer match between Tanzania’s two national teams, Simba and Yanga. We were escorted to the game by Peter’s friend, who I’m pretty sure enjoyed the backward running-holding hands picture with my dad on our way out of the stadium more than he enjoyed the game itself.

We spent one night in Moshi, one of my favorite towns in Tanzania, before climbing in one of the most rundown-are-we-really-going-to-make-it-there taxi’s we could find for the ‘quicker, easier’ ride to Arusha. We finally made it to Arusha to start our safari after multiple police checkpoints that we barely squeaked past, my dad eating exhaust fumes coming up from the floorboards in front of him, and 5 phone calls to our Safari driver apologizing and convincing him that ‘we’re almost there, I promise!’ We met Gordon who was waiting oh so patiently for us, and after a quick stop at the enormous shoprite to get some snacks, we were on our way.

First stop. Crater forest tented lodge just outside the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. The drive there was beautiful, we stopped at a viewpoint for Lake Manyara, and climbed higher and higher into the wall of the Rift Valley until we descended again to reach the outside of the crater. The camp was breathtaking. We took in the view from our front porch for a while before heading out on a hike through a nearby coffee plantation with a local guide. He took us by rows and rows of organic, locally grown coffee plants and into factory where the little white beans get dried, shelled, and separated by grade with a machine that is owned and operated by villagers the local Catholic mission. Dinner was amazing, 4 courses accompanied by red wine and a bon fire afterward.

The next morning we headed into the Ngorongoro crater to start our safari. The crater is beautiful with a unique ecosystem, it was formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself 2 or 3 million years ago. Within the first few hours we saw wildebeest, zebra, elephants, hyenas, ostrich, vultures attacking a wildebeest carcass, a wildebeest get stuck in a marsh, and a ‘black rhino’ from afar (Gordon our driver said it was a black rhino, which are very rare, but I’m not totally convinced…). We took a lunch break at the lunch break spot where we could get out of the car and stretch, and eat our boxed lunches. We disregarded the warning Gordon gave us about the huge swooping crow-vultures that will attack you if you eat outside, and proceeded to eat outside…until I got attack swooped by a crow-vulture and ran screaming back into the safety of the safari car. I could hear Gordon laughing a mile away.

We pulled out of the crater after lunch and headed northwest towards the Serengeti. Less than a half hour outside the crater we saw two giraffes stretching to eat off a tree near the side of the road. Soon after that, we passed a herd of camels that looked very out of place. Gordon said they were an import animal. A few more hours of driving over volcanic ash and rock and we arrived at the Olduvai Museum, which boasts the origin of mankind and gives an introduction to the fossils, tools, and footprints that were found at the site verifying the existence of humans in East Africa 3 million years ago. Back in the car and on the incredibly bumpy, rocky, dusty road into the Serengeti. It was a long drive in, but we managed to get through the gate in time to see a mama and baby elephant, two lions perched on a boulder, and a cheetah (or a leopard I’m still not sure which is which). We made it to Kati-Kati Camp in time for one of the most spectacular sunsets I have seen thus far in Tanzania.

The next few days of safari did not disappoint. A few highlights: heading out after breakfast for a game drive and spotting three giraffes silhouetted against the morning horizon; the hyena eating a wildebeest tail while cooling off in a mud puddle; hippos playing in a pond; beautifully crooked, tall, twisted, or flat Acacia trees; a huge elephant family coming up from a marsh and slowly meandering across a field and passing between the safari cars; the dark thunderstorm we watched crawl across the plains kicking up dust in front of it as it soaked the fields and flooded the roads; white wine and laughing.

We soon moved on to Lake Natron at the foot of the Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano, about an 8 hour drive from our camp in the Serengeti. But the scenery on the way was well worth the hours, changing from dry flat plains with small bushes, to lush forest and grassy hills about every 5 kilometers.

The Lake Natron area is in the heart of Masaai land. The Masaai are a pastoral tribe who live simply and take pride in their heritage and unique culture. A serene, quiet place, I felt like we were in bubble, so far removed from the crazy, loud, dirty world I wasn’t in a hurry to return to. I learned how to light a fire without matches, and we hiked back into a canyon covered in volcanic rock to a group of waterfalls coming out of the rock above. The hike was short but pretty challenging and our Masaai friend had to give my mom and I a hand up and over a few places. We swam for a bit, and started back down towards the camp and out of our tranquil camp and back to the real world.