Welcome to Tanzania

I was told that the trip from Mombasa (Kenya) to Moshi (Tanzania) would take 4.5 hours and to Arusha 6 hours. Well I arrived in Arusha on March 23rd at about 3pm. Actually I wanted to travel to Moshi but on the bus an employee of a safari company told me that Moshi is just for persons climbing Kilimanjaro.

So here we are in Tanzania. I checked in to Flamingo Hotel. A really nice place. Actually the best accommodation I had so far. It was also a little more expensive, Tsh 20'000 including breakfast.

For ones I was pretty happy that someone would stand at the bus stop and bother me. He, sorry but I don't remember the name, took me to the hotel and to a safari company. My plan was to try to join a group for Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. After walking around in Arusha for 2 hours I was pretty tired and happy that I found a group. I should just go and pay the following day to be able to leave on the 25th. As I arrived in the office on Tuesday I was informed, that the couple changed their plans and that they were going to Serengeti instead of Lake Manyara.

Well I know, Serengeti. For some reason I didn't want to spend money on Serengeti as I had been to Masai Mara and this is the same Ecosystem as Serengeti.

But now I first would get a break. To get to Arusha I took the public bus and there was also a basketball team from Mombasa on it. They went to Arusha to compete at the "11th Edition Intercity Basketball Tournament". I walked around for 1.5 hrs to figure out that the stade was just 2 minutes from my hotel. So I spent about 4 hours at the tournament, outdoor and almost got burned. But everything is under control. In the evening I went for diner and met two Spanish guys which live in Arusha. Well not exactly in Arusha, they do live in the bush. They were so kind to take me out for a drink at the Arusha Backpackers.

Wednesday I really had to find a group so I started walking around again. And I got lucky, I had two possibilites:

Leave on Thursday for a 2 night safari to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater with a couple or leave the same day, join a group (2 guys) which already visited Lake Manyara and see Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. As I wasn't decided I told both agencies that I would recontact them. I went to see another basketball game and met a tour guide I was introduced to the day before. I asked for his advice and he suggested to see Serengeti. So here we go.....

Welcome to Tanzania: Arrival in Arusha