Our first game viewing day on this trip was in Arusha National Park. It\u2019s the smallest National Park in Tanzania but also has the distinction of being the only one where the animals are sufficiently accustomed to humans that tourists can go for a guided hike with a ranger. Tanzanian citizens don\u2019t need the ranger (and often walk the main road just to get to the town on the other side).<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if I fell in love with Arusha N.P. because it was our first day of animal viewing, because of the hike, because of the guides (including our ranger, Bennett), because we saw so much wildlife, or because of the actual animals we saw. The setting \u2013 both physical and emotional \u2013 really made the animals stand out in exciting ways.<\/p>\n
That first day, we saw: zebra, water buffalo, giraffe, sacred ibis, dik dik, baboons, black and white Colobus monkeys, flamingos, Egyptian duck, egret, golden-billed stork, waterbok, evidence (semi-digested and spit-up grass) of hippos traveling the night before, warthog, and many other birds whose names I don\u2019t recall. It was a bright day, but not too hot, and the scenery was like tropical rainforest \u2026 lush, green trees and bright grass. It wasn\u2019t the savannah I\u2019d imagined we\u2019d see for the entirety of the safari, but the animals seemed right at home. It was like they were coming out to play for us.<\/p>\n
Also, this was the day where we learned the most Swahili. \u201cAffia,\u201d which means \u201cbless you, or more specifically, \u201chealth.\u201d And \u201cKua koma mgombo wandeezi,\u201d which apparently means \u201cGrow fast like a banana tree.\u201d Since you\u2019re supposed to say the second phrase after the first, we think growing like a banana tree must be evidence of being healthy. There\u2019s also another part that goes on the end of that \u2026 something about coconut trees always being late \u2026 but I had trouble remembering that one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our first game viewing day on this trip was in Arusha National Park. It\u2019s the smallest National Park in Tanzania but also has the distinction of being the only one where the animals are sufficiently accustomed to humans that tourists can go for a guided hike with a ranger. Tanzanian citizens don\u2019t need the ranger … Continue reading