Tanzania: Wild Animals at Hand II – Safari, Hurey!
Antelopes are other mamals you can spot around. There is quite a large number of species of antilopes. Some can run as fast as 95 km/h. These are among the fastest animals on the face of this planet. Impala is quite numerous species of antelopes. The males have long black horns (up to 90 centimeters). The horns are coiled. In case you are lucky you can spot alcelaphina, grazing antelopes, and other species.
We ride through beautiful landscape observing many animals. Not only this - there are huge baobabs. These are really old and live up to 2000 years. Baobab can grow as old as 2000 years. The trunk of a Baobab can be up to 50 meters wide. Sometimes it is even more than the actual height of a tree. Its crown is really interesting and it reminds of roots. There is even an African legend saying that someone pulled out the tree from earth and planted it upside down. Trunks hold amazing amount of water. The trees are massive, the wood is, however, actually soft. Elephants make use of it during periods of drought. They plow Baobab trunks with their tusks. This enables them to reach water inside.
The time goes fast. We reach the resting area only at noon. We are sitting quietly and suddenly we spot birds sitting in the surrounding trees. We quickly learn they are quite tamed. We can also take pictures of them. Various classes of superb starling or weavers. We even manage to spot colorful kingfishers.
We get back to the park and take many interesting pictures there. Then we slowly move towards our accommodation for the night – Maramboi Tented Camp. The advantage of this type of acommodation is that you can hear all sounds around (walls are made of cloth, there are classic bed inside). The compound itself is quite vast and there is even a beautiful outdoor restaurant from which you can observe omnipresent animals while eating food.
The schedule for the following day is bit different. We travel to Mto Wa Mbu village. Local guide waits for us there to explain how locals live, what do they eat and where do they live.
White rice is important crop. It is planted and harvested twice a year. It feeds the people and also cattle as cattle gets residues. There are many joiner's workshp in the village. The imigrants from Mosambique are the most skilled. They got there during the civil war. You can even try carving if you want. Souvenir stores are next to workshops. You can buy many beautiful items for affordable prices.
Mto Wa Mbu village has its curiosity – Prague restaurant which was founded here long time ago by a Czech tourist who stayed here for a hile... Even today, the manu offers a beef goulash with rice or pasta as a side dish.
In the afternoon, we set off to Lake Manyara national park situated along Lake Manyara at rift valley. There you can find many animal species – elephants, buffalos, antelopes, giraffes, hippos and many bird species. Some of them I see for the first time in my life – like southern ground hornbill. It will take you a short time to spot them, you will recognize them by their beak. What you won’t miss are monkeys – especially small ones are numerous.
On the following days, we visit finally the greatest lure of our journey – Ngorongoro. This is matter of the following week.
Text and photos: Magdaléna Radostová
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