Hello World!
Greetings from Tanzania! It took about 46 hours of travel, but we are finally here. The group of 14 took 2 bus rides, 2 plane rides, and a long dirt road to get to the Ecoscience Lodge just outside of Tarangire National Park. The journey to get to where we are was long and I am still recovering from jet lag, but boy has it been worth the trouble to get here!
After flying from Houston → Istanbul → Nairobi it was time to take a 6.5 hour bus ride across the border of Kenya and Tanzania. The group gathered some much needed coffee and breakfast at the airport before tossing our luggage on top of a bus and heading out of the city. Due to there being a national park within Nairobi city limits, it took us all of 5 minutes to see our first giraffe munching on the leaves of an acacia tree and zebra grazing. Driving through the city was an eye opening experience as I have never been on African soil. The area we drove through was rather poor with lots of industry, pollution, roadside stands for food/supplies, and transportation in the form of walking, tuk-tuks, and motorcycles. Once out of the city, the rural villages were sparsely populated with many Maasai herders which are mostly nomadic people that herd cattle and goats.
Towards noon, it was time to cross the border. It just so happens that we got there at the same time as everyone else needing to get into Tanzania, so it was not a fast process by any means. In order to cross the border we had to officially check out of Kenya (30 minutes in a line) and then check into Tanzania (30 minutes in another line). It felt like I was transported back into a 1970s adventure movie being stuffed inside a crowded building without air conditioning or personal space. The experience felt authentic and wild, so for that I will forever remember and find humor in the memory. Following the border, it was another 6 hours before we reached our destination which brings us to day 2 (06/18/24) in Tanzania.
Thank you for tuning in!
