This was the first time I was in Africa. When I landed in the Kilimanjaro Airport in Arusha, I didn't know what to expect. of course, there were supposed to be animals, African savannah, and dark people with long, thin legs and big heads leaning against wooden sticks... After all, Africa is the populated continent strangest to me due to little direct contact.
Eight months have passed since my return. When I recall the East Africa that I saw, a mood would shroud me mildly but surely like a fog rising from the fields and shrouding everything one's eyes can reach.
Then I try to peer through that fog, I vaguely see grasslands dotted with flat-top acacia trees, elephants roaming in groups across shallow waters, countless wildebeests bolting through rays of rising sun, and pink flamingos flying over the backdrop of snow-capped Mt. Kilimanjaro. A couple of Maasai warriors might be walking toward me, up from the rim of a huge crater, wrapped in red-black check blankets with swords in hand. But it is the mood, not details of anything one sees, that lingers in my mind and grabs my heart, which yearns for a return every time it encounters a moment in memory from Africa.
I almost cannot explain this heart's yearning for a place strangest to me only days ago, like a baby long separated from mother's bosoms and suddenly finding itself back into the safety, warmth and peace of where it comes from. I was struck by a feeling of home return and a longing for reuniting with an original form of beauty, freedom and purity that had long lost in my life. Driving through the African plain from sunrise to sunset and observing the nature and its dwellers as they have been for thousands of years, I seemed to have found that lost connection to the birth place of life, which soothes and obsesses like nothing else.
Before I next set my feet on the soil of Africa, I will see it again and again in my dreams.
(Photos from Tanzania are posted in the Album Tanzania in my photo galleries.)
Practical Notes
Our ten-day safari was organized by Access2Tanzania, which I highly recommend even they were not the cheapest. It is a non-for-profit company set up by Brian and Karen, an American couple, with the mission of contributing to the education of Tanzanian kids. The earnings from the operation go to school building and educational supplies in villages. During the trip planning, Karen talked to us a few times in order to tailor to our specific interest and need.
Matching our budget, Karen offered a "one-star" camping trip that takes us to five national parks in northern Tanzania, starting from Arusha (2 nights), and then in turn Tarangire (2 nights), Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater (2 nights), and Serengeti (3 nights). Each park presents different landscapes and animal mix and I wouldn't take any out from the list. If I really have to give up one, I would choose Lake Manyara. Allocation of time spent in each park was right.
"One-Star" camping means more spacious tent with large and sturdy camping beds, which allowed comfortable camping inside the parks. Believe it or not, for two nights in Serengeti, we had a group of lions about 50 meters from our tent. That was a bit scary, but we heard that there had been no precedent of animals attacking humans on the camp site.
Our guide/driver Will and cook Nasibu did their best to make it a memorable experience for us. We were able to see all the African Big 5 (elephants, lions, leopards, buffalos and rhinos) and many more thanks to Will's experience, active communication with other guides, and tireless driving and searching. Without his eyes, we would have seen a lot less. We were also given three-course delicious meals every day that put quite some weight on us.
We went in early October, which is a good time because of the concentration of animals around water sources during the drier season. It was also possible to get a glimpse of migration with a day trip northward in Serengeti with wildebeests and zebras starting to move down from Kenya's Maasai Mara in search for water. We didn't go for the big migration scene due to the very long distance which requires a different route planning.
To end the safari, we flew out from Serenget directly to Zanzibar instead of driving back to Arusha and then taking a flight from there. This saved a lot of driving and time and was worth it. Zanzibar, with its extremely beautiful beaches and the world-heritage listed, exotic Stone Town, should be on everyone's Tanzania itinerary.
这是我第一次到非洲。当飞机降落在坦桑尼亚乞立马扎罗机场的时候，我不知自己该期待些什么。当然一定有动物，非洲典型的稀树草原，和皮肤黝黑、大头长腿斜倚在木棍上的非洲人。但是由于没有直接接触，非洲大陆对我是一块最陌生的土地。
从那里回来已经8个月了，每当我回想起我所见到的东非，一股情绪便温和却坚定地弥漫开来，好像破晓的雾气从田野中升起，包裹起视线所及的一切。我努力凝聚目光试图穿透那雾气，依稀可见大草原上点点的平顶合欢树，可见象群缓缓游荡涉过浅浅溪流，可见无数角马列队狂奔在日出的光线中，可见粉色的火烈鸟从乞立马扎罗白雪皑皑的顶峰前掠过。也有一两个马赛人从火山口隐现而向我走来，裹着红黑格图案的毯子，手执长矛......然而不是任何这些细节，而是那种浓浓的情绪，徘徊不去，在每一次非洲的记忆闪现心中时，让它充满回去的渴望。
对一个数天前还完全陌生的地方的这种渴望，我几乎无法解释。好像一个与母亲的怀抱失散太久的婴儿，终于回到孕育它的安全、温暖和宁静中。我被一种重返故乡的感觉攫住，那是一种只有最原始的生命才有的、而在我的生活里早已失去的美丽、自由和纯粹。从日出到日落，我驰骋穿过广袤的非洲原野，面对千万年未曾改变过的大自然，千万年未曾改变地居住在这大自然里的一切，那种与所有生命开始的地方的联系似乎失而复得。我的心于是对这种联系充满迷恋和缱绻，因为从那里它得到前所未有的抚慰。
在我再次回到非洲以前，我会一遍一遍地梦到它。
(坦桑尼亚的照片在相簿“坦桑尼亚”中。)
实用笔记
10天的Safari是Accee2Tanzania为我们安排的。他们的服务虽不是最便宜的，却很值得推荐。这是个非盈利公司，由一对美国夫妇，Brian和Karen建立的，目的是支持坦桑尼亚的儿童教育，所以所得都用于学校建设和教育用品添置。计划行程的过程中，为了了解我们的特殊兴趣与需要，Karen与我们通过几次电话，以更好地设计路线。
根据我们的预算，Karen建议我们用“一星级露营”的住宿方式，整个行程包括坦桑尼亚北部的五个国家公园，从Arusha开始 (两夜), 接续是 Tarangire (两夜), Manyara湖, Ngorongoro 火山口 (两夜), 和Serengeti (三夜)。每个公园的风貌和动物各有千秋，去掉任何一个都有损失。如果真的时间不允许，必须割舍，那我会选择Manyara湖。每个公园安排停留的时间很合适。
“一星级露营”是指帐篷更高更大，露营床也宽一些，这样可以更舒服地露营于国家公园之内。信不信由你，在Serengeti的两个夜晚都有狮群活动于距我们的帐篷50米左右的地方，还是挺恐怖的，但据说营地内倒从未发生过动物袭击人的先例。
我们的向导兼司机Will，厨师Nasibu，不遗余力的让我们这次旅行终生难忘。由于Will的经验、与其它导游不断的沟通，和不知疲倦的驾驶、找寻，我们看到了所有非洲五大动物 （象、狮、犀牛、豹和野牛）以及更多。如果没有他的眼睛，我们一定会错过很多动物。饮食方面，每个正餐必有三道，为我们加了不少体重。
我们的旅行安排在10月初，时间不错，因为还是旱季，动物聚集在靠近水源的地方，比较容易看到。我们在Serengei也向北开了半天，看到部分从肯尼亚Maasai Mara国家公园向南迁徙的角马和斑马。这次因为距离太长的缘故，没有去更北边看大规模的迁徙，如果一定要看，需重新安排行程。
结束Safari的时候，我们直接从Serengeti飞Zanzibar，而没有回到Arusha，再从那里飞往Zanzibar。Zanzibar海滩极其美丽，而世界文化遗产之一的石头城历史悠久，异国风情浓郁，应该是任何坦桑尼亚行程的一部分。