We left Mtwara for a Christmas break on the 6th December. Upon arriving in DAR we went later that evening to celebrate the Finnish Independence day party at the consulate. It was strange to be surrounded with Finns once again, it was almost like being back in Finland. After been able to freely speak Finnish in Mtwara knowing that nobody will understand I had to watch what I was saying this time around. The party went well some people dance, others ate the finger food and others stood around chatting with old friends.
While in DAR we had nothing else special to do, we where waiting for Annukka's parents to come and join us the following week. They would stay for over 2 weeks with us so we had a small plan of some travelling with them. When they arrived we left the following day from DAR to Zanzibar and spent three nights in a new resort just north of stone town called Hakuna Matata owned by a German couple. The food was great, apparently the best on the island. We got lucky with our time there no rain, sun shining and the only ones at the resort meant great service. The reason why we where the only ones was because the resort hadn't officially opened yet for the high season but for some reason they accepted us to come during this time. While on the island we took the spice tour which was so interesting, our guide describing all the spices indigenous and imported to the island. After three hours of walking, listening and tasting we left the spice farm behind and started our stone town tour. Our guide taking us to most of the museums in the town, however the slave chamber for me was the most impressionable as being in the chamber gave a real sense of what it must have been like years ago.
After this long and tiring day the final day in Zanzibar was spent relaxing around the resort which was one of the main reasons for Annukka's parents to come in the first place, away from the cold and miserable Finland to the hot and sunny Tanzania.
The next day we left for Arusha where we would then begin our 5 days/4 nights safari. We began with Lake Manyara which was great for allowing us to get so close to the animals especially elephants. We spent several hours driving around and saw so many animals it was great. We where until to go to the Hippo pool and hot springs due to the rains but it didn't deter us we would any way seen plenty of hippos later in the safari. After we finished in Mayara the following day involved a drive to Serengeti via Ngorongoro. The drive up to the crater top gave a great panoramic view of the mountains and fields all of which was so green due to the recent rain showers. We arrived in Serengeti and was amazed at the vast plains. I know its a saying that is well worn but it was something I didn't expect. We had a few driving hours remaining for the day and we made the most of it seeing a leopard eating an antelope in a tree, a cheetah resting on a rock both of which where the highlights for that day, sandwiched in between we saw more hippos, monkeys, Impalas, Wildebeests, Buffaloes, Gazelles plus a lot more.
We spent a total of 2 nights in Serengeti sleeping at a public camp site. It was a surreal feeling that the animals could simply just come up to our tent if they feel like it, although this happening is extremely rare. During the rest of our time here we saw the same leopard in the same tree relaxing and then jumping up onto another tree which was lucky. Lots of elephants, more hippos, lots of Impalas and Topis, (which are similar to antelopes only different colour skin), giraffes, a turtle and we saw lions. It was great to see them which capped a great trip to the Serengeti. They where sitting on rocks just relaxing in the evening sun. The lioness sitting up like a statue with the sun reflecting off her was amazing.
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