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Senast uppdaterad: 2011-06-01

Itinerary

Day 1

Day of arrival. All participants will gather at the hotel.

Transport from the airport: In the evenings there are shuttle busses going to Arusha that will cost you about 10 US$. Using this shuttle is the easiest way to come to the hotel. It is about 60 km from the airport to Arusha. An alternative to the shuttle bus is Taxi that is available at the airport at a cost of about 50 US$ for about 3-4 persons. During daytime taxi is the only alternative. Most of the taxi drivers will know the hotel. If you take a taxi make sure the driver knows the hotel and agree on the price before you start the trip.

Check in: Upon arrival at the hotel, you have to report to the hotel reception as a traveller with Study and Travel. The tour leader Hamisi has made the reservations even for you coming one or two days earlier if you have informed us.

Gathering: Since you will arrive at different times, we will have two gathering appointments on the first day (day of arrival): 12.00 noon and 20.00 in the evening. The tour leader will meet you in the reception of the hotel. In case your flight arrives so late that you will miss the second gathering please contact "Study and Travel" so we can report this to the tour leader.

Flight delays: In case your flight is very much delayed and you will not be able to reach the hotel in time for the second gathering time, you should contact the tour leader directly.

Day 2

Stay in Arusha. In the morning you will have a short lesson in swahili. Did you know that safari means journey? After lessons you will be exploring the city of Arusha.

Arusha is a vibrant city in the shadow of the volcano Mt Meru, the second highest peak in Tanzania (4566 m). From the centre of town you will have a beautiful view of the mountain. With about 800'000 inhabitant's, Arusha is the third largest city in Tanzania and considered being the safari capital. The mix of people gives Arusha a buzzing atmosphere. The restaurants, the markets, the souvenir shops blend with mineral businesses and the International Criminal Tribunal Court for Rwanda. Something interesting is happening all the time!

Day 3

Today you will visit Manyara National Park. This is a small park situated in the Great Rift Valley between Lake Manyara and the mountains. Within the park you will have the opportunity to see elephants, antelopes, zebras, giraffe, birds, and maybe even the rare tree-climbing lion. In the evening you continue by minibus to Tarangire National Park and you will spend the night inside the park.

OBS; On the tour in February we chose, instead of Tarangire to go to the Ngorongoro Crater. Animal life is rich here all the year as the afflux of water to the maar is good.

Day 4

Tarangire National Park covers 2600 square kilometres and has a very high concentration of wildlife. The area is a very classic African savannah with hills looming in the distance. A small creek cut through the landscape and during early mornings the animals will gather for a drink. The National Park is famous for the concentration of elephants and during dry season it is sure sighting. Apart from elephants you will most likely see many kinds of antelope, zebras, giraffe, buffalo, monkeys, lions and so forth. With luck there could be a leopard under a bush or up in a tree, or maybe a cheetah sitting on watch for prey. Enjoy the beautiful nature and wonder about the huge, impressive baobab trees covering the landscape.

In the afternoon you go by minibus to Same, a small and quiet town by the trunk road between Arusha and Dar es Salaam. It is placed just below the South Pare Mountains and this is the town where your tour leader lives.

OBS; In the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, that we visit in February, the main vegetation type is open grassland with islands of acacia woodland. You will see large herds of zebra, wildebeest and buffalo. There are lots of different antelopes, warthogs and elephants. Lions and rhinos are also often seen. You will visit the famous Ngorongoro Crater, where the animals go for water all year round.

Day 5 - 10

With four-wheel drive vehicles from Same to the village Chome. The road is terrible, steep but hardly dangerous. Chome is a widespread, beautifully green mountain village at an altitude around 1500 meters. The standard of living is relatively high and they recently got electricity. You stay with families in Chome, two persons in each family. There is no running water.

The people in Chome belongs to the pare-tribe (2-300 000 people). Missionary work has been contributory to make the pare-people one of the most educated groups in Tanzania. Today most are Christians but traditional beliefs are still strong. They speak a bantu-language. The people came to live in the Pare-mountains from the mountains in south of Kenya where they were farmers and hunters. The tradition tells that they took refuge in the mountains when the maasai people started to steal their animals. Today most of the people are farmers and grow vegetables, corn, bananas, and cassava. The village people sell some of their fruit and vegetables in Chome. You may get a chance to help in the fields. The programme in the village is made together with the villagers. It may, in addition to trek, be to participate in the everyday-tasks of the households, visits the market, the village-school, clinic and one of the churches. There will probably be music and dancing.

During two of the days you will make a walk in the forest and spend two nights in tents in Chome Forest Reserve, which is an original, thick, African rainforest. It surrounds a mountain, Shengena Peak (2 460 meters high), which you can climb. From the top of the mountain you can see Kilimanjaro if the weather is clear. The participants are divided into groups during the walk, and an interpreter will accompany each group. In the nights the temperature will fall to 5 degrees and you will need a sleeping bag. If you prefer you can opt for a shorter trek or stay in the village for the full time.

Day 11

In the afternoon, you will be taken back to Same. You stay at the same place as before.

Day 12-13

A large part of Day 12 will be spent on a bus. You are going from Same to Dar es Salaam

You will have at least a whole day to spend in Dar es Salaam, the major city in Tanzania with about 3 million inhabitants and the most important port of the country. You are divided into groups of 3-4 persons and have the possibility to visit different places in the city. Visit the different market places, for example in the Indian part of town, the fish-market or the markets for Makonde- and Tingatinga art.

Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga (1930s-1972) was an artist whose very special style (with bright bicycle paint!) inspired a whole generation of artists after his death in 1972. The paintings are naïve, colourful and often display symbolic meanings with fantasy birds or different mammals.

The Makonde people are famous for their woodcarvings. Typical for the sculptures are that they are made of ebony and show one or more persons in a very distort form. Traditional sculptures often display women with children. In its purest form, the intricate ebony carvings of the Makonde relate to their cult of womanhood; the (male) carver as a good luck charm traditionally carries them.

The custom started when the first carver, who according to folklore was a person but not yet a man, carved a piece of wood into the shape of a woman and left it outside his home overnight. In the night, the carving was transformed into a real woman. Twice the woman conceived, but both times the child died after three days. Each time, the pair moved higher onto the plateau, believing this would bring them luck. The third child lived and became the first true Makonde. The Makondes came from northern Mozambique several centuries ago and they have been practising their craft for at least 300 years.

At the National Museum in Dar es Salaam, you can find some of the worlds most important fossils of the early hominid development (människans tidigaste anfäder).

During a visit to the Embassy of Sweden we can discuss the future of Tanzania and the effects of aid in the country.

Day 14 - 15

You go furter north to Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo is a coastal town situated 70 km north of Dar es Salaam. Bagamayo is one of East Africa's most historically compelling settlements and was before one of the most important harbours on the East Coast. Arabic salesmen settled down here in the 13th century. Later on it was an important mainland port connecting Zanzibar to the caravan routes through the interior, Bagamoyo also became an important springboard for European exploration of Africa. In the middle of the 19th century (1800-talets mitt) approximately 50 000 slaves were shipped from Bagamoyo to Zanzibar annually. Various meanings have been attributed to the name Bagamoyo, "to lose hope" is one frequently mentioned, because it was the place where the slaves had to get on the boats to be sold to the Arabic salesmen. The town was also the centre for export of ivory and salt to Zanzibar.

The Germans built their headquarters in Bagamoyo in 1873 and for a short time it was the capital of German East Africa. Nowadays Bagamoyo is a fishing-village and a tourist place, however not many find their way to the town. Dividing land and the sea is a long, beautiful beach!

Besides enjoying the ambience of the town, you will visit the Bagamoyo College of Arts and Bagamayo Sculpture School. Also, if you like, you can visit the museum of the Holy Ghost Mission, with a mission church built in 1873. It is the oldest in Tanzania.

At around midnight (Day 15) you will sail with a traditional sailing boat, the dhow, to Zanzibar or Unguja Island as it is called locally. Bagamoyo is where dhows, are made. You will see masons working on the beach. There are no lifejackets but there will be other boats around. You will probably arrive around ten o'clock in the morning (Day 16). Sometimes the crossing takes longer time. However, if the weather is bad we will not go by dhow.

Day 16 - 20

On Unguja Island (Zanzibar) you will stay in Stone Town for two days. Stone Town is the old quarter of Zanzibar town with a fascinating maze of narrow streets and alleyways with old houses and mosques, ornate palaces, shops and bazaars. Many of the houses date from the slave boom. The houses reflect their builders' wealth. You see that in the sizes of the doors and the complicated designs of the decorated doorframes. Arab houses have plain outer walls and large front doors; Indian houses have a more open facade and large decorated balconies. Most of the houses are still occupied. There will be free time to wander around Zanzibar and make excursions on your own. We recommend the very cheap and delicious dinners down at the House of Wonders.

Some of the sights in Stone Town:

• Forodhani Garden, gives you a good view of the town.
• Palace Museum, the residence of the Sultan between 1911 and the revolution in Zanzibar in 1964, today it is a museum.
• The old House of Wonders (Beit el Ajaib), a ceremonial palace from 1883 with impressive balconies.
• Arab Fort, built at the end of the 17th century, probably the oldest building in the Stone Town.
• Tippu Tip's house a powerful slave trader's house. Tip helped Stanley, Livingstone and other explorers with their equipment and planning of their activities.
• House of Peace Memorial Museum (Beit el Amani), an exhibition about the slavery, archaeology, missionaries, sultans' etc. lease note; it is closed Saturdays.
• The bazaar at Creek Road is the market where you can buy almost everything.
• Hammani Baths.
  

After spending time in Stone Town you will go to the northern shores of Zanzibar and you will have some nice days on the beach.

Here you can be 'ordinary' tourists and enjoy the sea, beaches, corals, and giant turtles in Nungwi. Red Colobus monkeys can also at times be seen on the island. In the central part of the "Spice Island" you will find clove (nejlikor) and coconut plantations. You can go on a spice-tour around the island during one day if you like. The tour includes a dinner and time for swimming. (It is recommended but not included)

On Zanzibar the climate is tropical. It is warm to hot all year round and often very humid. It receives more rainfall and is windier than the mainland, but the temperature is about 24-29 degrees and the wind is refreshing. The light rains usually starts in November, like in the mainland.

Zanzibar has a very exciting history, because they have been trading with ships from Persia, Arabia and India for about 2 000 years. The Portuguese established a trading station on the site of Zanzibar Town and followed by the British and the Omani Arabs. In 1963 the Zanzibar became independent from Great Britain, in 1964, Zanzibar and Tanganyika formed together the Republic of Tanzania. Most of people on the island are Sunni Muslims.

Day 21

Very fast hydrofoil back to to Dar es Salaam where the journey is finished. Flight home not earlier than 17.00