“The Wildest, Untouched, Africa”. Dreams in Tanzania

I made it to the Motherland. This time, for the second time.

Africa was not on my list of destinations to visit. It never really crossed my mind to be completely honest. …Until the day I met my husband.

My husband is from Arusha, Tanzania. He loved boasting about his home country and the hardworking lifestyle of his family. He often compared many of his American experiences to life back at home. Missing home often, he would browse through old Facebook photos and show me all about what his home was like. Then he promised that one day, we would honeymoon in Zanzibar, a paradise I had never heard of.

He kept his word.

In addition to Zanzibar, I wanted so badly to go on a Safari in the Serengeti. With all that Africa had to offer, I started thinking –why had I not considered the continent as a destination on my wish list? How did that happen? Did I automatically and unconsciously rule it out as a list of places given what I learned over the years and all the bad media I’ve seen as a child? What went wrong? And, if this is my experience, I can guarantee that so many others also have no idea on what a beautiful place the Motherland is. I felt like I had cheated myself. A pure lack of knowledge. That’s what it was.

Tanzania. I’m going to Tanzania. I wrote it down.

Then I started saving money. Almost more than half of my income! I wanted an experience that I could never forget. This would be my first time traveling to the continent and I wanted to come back telling the whole world about Tanzania.

I started researching Serengeti Safari’s and to my surprise they were extremely expensive. Even a budget safari still could run you over $1,000 per person. But I wanted a tented camp/hotel that overlooked the safari and had an infinity pool. I wanted a free standing bath tub and outside shower. Thankfully, my husband is from Tanzania so he was able to make some connections and lower our cost. But I got everything I wanted and more and still the most money I’ve ever spent on a vacation! We spent 4 nights in the Serengeti and I saw more than I expected.

It started with a game drive through Tarangire National Park where I was a witness to the biggest animal I’ve ever seen. This Elephant, who lost one of his tusks.

The magic of Africa is one not to be dismissed. Every day was a surprise. I woke up and I knew I was blessed. I was walking and breathing the air of Africa.

I was seeing things I never thought I’d ever be able to see. A wild Cheetah chase. A young Masai child. A family of sleeping lions and a failed hunt. A hippo fight. Millions of Wildebeest running along the Mara River. Eating Giraffe’s and Zebras. It was incredible!

I was blown away watching all of these incredible animals. I took a selfie with the enormous Elephant I saw in the beginning of my journey. These were memories I’d never forget. Ever.

I stayed at three different hotels over the course of my Safari journey. The first was the Ngorongoro Farm House. This place was amazing! The staff who run this place is honestly made my stay so incredible. From the moment my husband and I finished our game drive and ended the evening here, we were greeted with so much kindness. I almost felt like a celebrity. And just because they felt like it, we were upgraded to a Suite. It was a total surprise! I fell in love with everything about Ngorongoro Farm House. It was charming!

The second hotel I stayed at was Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge, my favorite of the three hotels. It had it ALL! From an infinity pool, to an outdoor shower and a free standing bath tub. After a long day of game drives, coming to a room that has all of these accommodations makes it all worth it even more.

The last hotel was the Mara Mara Tented Lodge and it was just as impressive. Elephants roamed our backyard and the sunrises were to die for. What a dream come true!

On the last day of my game drive, I saw a live Cheetah chase. It was wild, ambitious, ferocious, once in a lifetime.

On our way back to Arusha, we finally got to see the King of the jungle roaming his territory, keeping a watchful eye out on his Queen. Besides the failed Zebra hunt at the beginning of our game drive, very time we saw Lions they were sleeping or mating. This was the first time we saw them actually roaming around. I was tickled by the Giraffes who were in the near distance because they stopped doing everything they were doing, sleeping, eating, interacting with each other, and stared intensely at the nearby lions. They were so afraid, but very alert!

We were 12 hours away from Arusha and our last morning we were up at 6 am to get back to town. The drive was intense. Extremely bumpy and dirty as the dirt blew through our windows on the way back to the city. Be prepared for a very exhausting but exhilarating journey as you hopefully partake in your own Safari!