Arusha shoppers
Arusha is located in north-central Tanzania. Situated at 4,600 feet with a population of about 35,000, it seemed much more relaxing than Dar-e-Salaam. The agricultural town is the stepping off point for expeditions to the Serengeti Plain where hundreds of thousands of wildlife converge after the annual rains; to Olduvai Gorge where the archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey uncovered two million year old human fossils; to Lake Manyara, famous for its tree-climbing lions; to Ngorongoro Crater, a unique year round habitat for 25-30,000 animals; and to Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest at 19,340 feet above sea level. Arusha is also the halfway point between Capetown and Cairo.
Scott and I visited numerous tour operators to find a safari to Ngorongoro Crater.
Farmlands near Arusha
Prices for the excursions varied with the size of the group - from two to six people, and the length of the trip - two to five days. We wanted a two day safari with six people. We found two others right away: Juliana and Werner, a Swiss couple. The only other foreigners that we saw were traveling with an Encounter Overland expedition from Johannesburg to Dar-e-Salaam. Those all-inclusive globe-trotting adventures were rugged, extreme, and provided their own safaris en route. When a busload of white faces appeared from the airport, we met Mauria and Jon, a Dutch couple who were looking for a five day safari. They had a problem with their camera and were looking to buy a new one. When I offered the use of my trusty spare, an old Minolta SRT-202 if they joined us to make six for the two day safari, they agreed.
