December 24-31, 2018
When we got to the Warsaw airport, Zosia still didn’t know where we were going for our honeymoon. So when we got in line for check-in at Qatar airlines, she read the sign and shouted the destination city out
loud “Dohhh-HAAA!” partly because it’s a funny word but also because she had no idea where it was. She was so sweet when she showed her excitement and said “I’ve never been to a place I never heard of!” It took me a while to realize that it actually made sense. She didn’t realize it was just for a one day layover and that the ultimate destination was still to come.
loud “Dohhh-HAAA!” partly because it’s a funny word but also because she had no idea where it was. She was so sweet when she showed her excitement and said “I’ve never been to a place I never heard of!” It took me a while to realize that it actually made sense. She didn’t realize it was just for a one day layover and that the ultimate destination was still to come.
Planning a trip without her knowing the destination was somewhat difficult. I asked my new wife to get a bunch of vaccinations but didn’t tell her for what. I also had three different problems with our flight bookings (thinking I had booked something but it never got confirmed, booking for higher prices then the airline changed the dates to two days earlier (can they do that?), then another late change by the airline 3 days prior to the departure, which led to having to change the tours I had organized in Arusha, but it allowed us a layover in Doha). I lost a few hairs with all of the changes. Luckily we got some money back thanks to the EU laws protecting customers from unforced changes, which cause you to arrive later, or even EARLIER than you planned. I actually had to find the rules online and send it to the customer service agent before they were convinced I was right, so it was worth doing some research. And because of all that we got to spend some time in Doha on the way to Tanzania and Zanzibar.
I found the notes I kept from the trip, so instead of writing a full story about it (it’s been so long I don’t remember everything!), here are some semi-coherent random notes from the week. Plus this is much
easier.
+++++++++++
Doha
- Nice Christmas Eve meal in the airport again...like a couple years ago when we went to visit Tomek in Luton.
- Nice Christmas Eve meal in the airport again...like a couple years ago when we went to visit Tomek in Luton.
- Had to make sure vaccinations were ok. Add a couple hundred dollars to the trip budget. In Tanzania you can buy visas at the border but bring USD.
- No visa for Doha, they have “waivers” and you still pass through like any passport check.
- Taxi driver in Doha tried to convince me to tip him a lot, wanted to keep the change from 100 for a 48 fare.
- No visa for Doha, they have “waivers” and you still pass through like any passport check.
- Taxi driver in Doha tried to convince me to tip him a lot, wanted to keep the change from 100 for a 48 fare.
- Hotel reception guys super casual. No maps of the city, just said that way is museum 10 minutes, that way is water 10 minutes. No problem. Ok, no problem!
- Not easy to cross busy streets. Never thought I’d be near the Persian Gulf, which was only ever in the American news due to war.
- Boardwalk along the water very nice, they spend a lot of money on making public areas.
- Museum of Islamic art was beautiful, good views across the water. Definitely a rich city
- Had to dress a bit conservative but about 70 degrees so perfect weather on Christmas day.
- Parades going back and forth in Souq Waqif. Wandered until we found some restaurants on Main Street. Camels and falcon hospital and outdoor pet shop. Zosia wanted to let all the animals free. Her
biggest stress was the cat and bird cages were next to each other.
- Parades going back and forth in Souq Waqif. Wandered until we found some restaurants on Main Street. Camels and falcon hospital and outdoor pet shop. Zosia wanted to let all the animals free. Her
biggest stress was the cat and bird cages were next to each other.
- Ate mulukhiya, some gooey soup, but nice. Z couldn’t wait to eat baklava, her mouth was watering
- Some kids ran up to us when we were eating dinner and I expected them to ask for money, but they just wanted to use one of our extra chairs
- Dark super early.
- 5am call to prayer seemed like it was coming from right outside our window, but there’s something actually calming about it.
- Doha was a quick trip but don’t think we needed much more time
- 5am call to prayer seemed like it was coming from right outside our window, but there’s something actually calming about it.
- Doha was a quick trip but don’t think we needed much more time
- Off to the “real” honeymoon soon. Let’s see how long it will take before Z knows where we are.
Off to the honeymoon with little Andy
First stop, Do-haaaaa
Nice Old Town
Set them free!!!
Tanzania
At airport on way to Tanzania Zosia randomly and correctly guessed our destination Kilimanjaro from the flight board, just because the flight time was 9:00 something, which she knew was the case for our flight. She thinks we are “so pro” for going there for our honeymoon instead of traditional “romantic beaches”. Wonder what she thinks about Zanzibar?
Also, she thinks we’ll be climbing Kilimanjaro in our running shoes.
Long flight and small airport in Kilimanjaro. I forgot my hat on the plane so a lady walked me back to the plane across the runway after everyone got off.
Needed $100 cash for visa for a US passport, only $50 for Polish. Bring cash!
Nobody asked for any vaccinations, since we came from “safe” countries...felt safer that we had them, but it wasn’t “required”.
Tanzania in a fairly young country. It was under German rule in the 19th century then under British after WWI. It became independent in the 60s.
Day 1 - Arusha
Day walking safari with a guide from Shemeji. Sobering to see the small villages we passed by. Different than the luxurious city of Doha. Zosia noticed that there weren’t any white people around...joked
(?) that people might dislike her cuz she’s white.
Day walking safari with a guide from Shemeji. Sobering to see the small villages we passed by. Different than the luxurious city of Doha. Zosia noticed that there weren’t any white people around...joked
(?) that people might dislike her cuz she’s white.
Stayed at the Green Mountain hotel, which was definitely a $40 hotel, nothing fancy. But they have a nice pool and nice staff. One worker asked if I wanted a beer, said it costs $2, then I saw him run to the shop down the street to get it. Nice kid.
Staff comes to the room to open and close the windows and spray for mosquitoes. Water pressure low and cold so a bit disappointed we couldn’t have nice hot showers. Good thing it’s hot so cold shower
doesn’t feel so bad.
Arusha national park for a walking safari and drive. Didn’t see “big” animals but a good “warm up” to see some of the more common ones which are still fun to watch. Guide Benny, has been doing safaris for 18
years. Z figured out we weren’t climbing a mountain after I gave her some photo clues of animals. Still looking forward to bigger animals after not seeing lions, elephants, rhinos or hippos. Will be with Benny the next few days. Would have been cool to see giraffes or elephants while walking in the bush, but didn’t. Super green in Arusha, slow driving up the mountain. Lakes and waterfalls. Beautiful place and worth visiting even without the expectation of seeing animals....a lot of monkeys, buffalo, wart hogs and antelope.
Moving on to Serengeti tomorrow!
Our first animal sighting
Sunset
Hanging out with Ben
Day 2 - Masai village and Serengeti
Visit to Masai village, it’s interesting and the kids are so cute. But then you wonder how “authentic” the villages along the main road are, since every tourist is dropping $20-30 on donations and souvenirs. They were clearly business minded. They did a dance with Z, showed us their school and inside a hut. In 1959 they got moved to Ngorongoro out of the Serengeti.
Visit to Masai village, it’s interesting and the kids are so cute. But then you wonder how “authentic” the villages along the main road are, since every tourist is dropping $20-30 on donations and souvenirs. They were clearly business minded. They did a dance with Z, showed us their school and inside a hut. In 1959 they got moved to Ngorongoro out of the Serengeti.
Saw lots of stuff on way to Serengeti. Landscape changing. Could have spent hours watching lions sitting on a rock. The tented camp (Osupuko) in the middle of central Serengeti is awesome. No fence so
animals all around and you keep hearing their noises as night. Can’t walk around without asking for an armed escort. We were super dirty but happy. Nice food nice people, have to ask for someone to pour water into shower and keep telling them when you want more. Comfy beds and good temperature. No mosquitoes yet...haven’t put the 4 bottles of spray I bought online to good use.
animals all around and you keep hearing their noises as night. Can’t walk around without asking for an armed escort. We were super dirty but happy. Nice food nice people, have to ask for someone to pour water into shower and keep telling them when you want more. Comfy beds and good temperature. No mosquitoes yet...haven’t put the 4 bottles of spray I bought online to good use.
Beautiful night sky, lightning then clear stars. Amazing to be glamping in the middle of the Serengeti. Use bottled water to brush teeth. Bring flashlight for inside tent. Towels and soap were provided everywhere so far. Food good and you can tell them if have allergies. Dusty in car so cover your phone and camera etc. Long pants and long sleeves for night. Flip flops for inside and showers. Most places and rest stops had proper toilets. The safari pants are definitely worth it.
Better to have a power adapter with multiple plugs, as you may find only one outlet. UK outlets. Chargers inside the car. Wet wipes a good idea. Phone signal In Serengeti!
Guides tell each other over CB radio or stopping on the side of the road if there is something interesting to see and somehow they can describe to each other where it is...how do they find their way around places and camps without maps or signs?
Zosia's got moves
We took about a million pics of these guys
Our tent in the middle of the Serengeti
Big Andy getting ready for some photos
Day 3 - All day Serengeti
Saw lions, leopard and cheetah in the first 3 hours. Saw so many lions! Wonder what Jay and Lady the degus would do with all the animals. Z’s mom taking care of them.
Saw lions, leopard and cheetah in the first 3 hours. Saw so many lions! Wonder what Jay and Lady the degus would do with all the animals. Z’s mom taking care of them.
Visitors center about how the ecosystem works and how the animals are all related.
Sitting in camp at sunset, drinking wedding wine we brought, with Benny. Watching as giraffes and buffalo walk around us.
Simba and Nala
How many hippos?
Cheers!
Day 4 - Balloon ride
Woke up super early for dad’s honeymoon present for us: a hot air balloon ride at 5am. Saw a few animals from the air but was just awesome to fly above beautiful landscape. At our landing spot we had champagne, ate breakfast, and were close enough to hear(!!) lions eating something (or someone) just next to us - why weren’t people nervous they were so close! I peed in the grass while watching wild lions eat breakfast.
Woke up super early for dad’s honeymoon present for us: a hot air balloon ride at 5am. Saw a few animals from the air but was just awesome to fly above beautiful landscape. At our landing spot we had champagne, ate breakfast, and were close enough to hear(!!) lions eating something (or someone) just next to us - why weren’t people nervous they were so close! I peed in the grass while watching wild lions eat breakfast.
Zosia loves the little hyraxes at the visitors center. 50 plus elephants appeared, just after we realized we hadn't seen many. Counted leopards (3x), lions (30+), cheetahs (2x), so we were missing elephants, and still no rhinos up close.
3 days (48 hours) is probably enough for a Safari, but we could keep going for several days because it was so fun (and fun for me to watch Zosia's reaction to seeing everything).
Rhino Lodge on top of Ngorongoro Crater was a nice place with good rooms and food. Every place has had good food, and it's nice that Ben likes to sit with us, but also keeps distance so we can have some private time.
Animals walking around the camp ground like it’s normal. Opened the door to the patio and there were 10 buffalo staring at us just a few feet away.
Zosia got told not to feed birds in the Serengeti but it’s hard to be mad at her for wanting to “bring a few minutes of happiness to them”.
Great morning ride
We were a bit nervous at take-off, then it was super calm and peaceful
This was my view while peeing. One thing may have led to the other
Zosia, Andy and an unamused hyrax
These are cool
Buffalo outside our door into Z's stomach
Day 5 - Ngorongoro Crater
Amazing place.
Ngorongoro is a conservation, not a national park, so Masai people and domesticated animals can live there. Funny to see zebras and wildebeest grazing with cows and goats.
Early start. Foggy cuz 2200 meters high. Hills and trees remind me of driving around the mountains in Hawaii.
Elephants slow moving across the plains was like the mystics in the Dark Crystal (by the way the new series on Netflix is great!). Animals literally everywhere in the crater, like a zoo, but somehow you don’t notice them when looking down from the top of the crater. Hippos over here, zebras and wildebeest over here, gazelle here. Flamingos. Don’t even stop for lions anymore. Psh. But one lion got offended by that and shook his head and water from his beard got on us, which was exciting.
Benny has been great, said that during low season he doesn’t have work so he needs to make as much as he can during tourist season. Locals wear jeans and sweaters or jackets, some with beanies. Nobody
wears shorts. But it’s so hot!
On way back, lots of action in Arusha streets, vendors selling food, or shops. Car repairs. People just sitting on curbs or buckets of old concrete block storefronts. Some people in burkas some in simple head wear some without. Half Muslim and half Christian. Women wearing beautiful colors. Balancing things on head. Motorcycle taxis everywhere. Mini buses have decorations with unique names like Queen Elizabeth or Supra or Las Vegas, or other words I don’t understand but Benny said they’re just random words, with
stickers and advertisements all over like the Pope or some dude with dreadlocks. Worth a ride through town just for people watching, but I don’t think I’d walk. They drive and sit on the British side. Traffic cops wave people down every few km in towns.
stickers and advertisements all over like the Pope or some dude with dreadlocks. Worth a ride through town just for people watching, but I don’t think I’d walk. They drive and sit on the British side. Traffic cops wave people down every few km in towns.
Every hotel has a central tip box that gets shared between everyone. Nice system so you don’t have to carry cash for every time someone helps, and it seems to make everyone friendly and contribute to a nice
environment even people you wouldn’t tip normally. All employees everywhere we went were super nice.
There's something weird about seeing elephants in an open field
Playful pumba pups
More lions
That takes some skill
Next up, Zanzibar!
