Tanzania Budget Camping Safari

Tanzania opens itself like a sanctuary to all those that wish to enter and, although you may someday leave, your heart often stays behind. Depart from Arusha after breakfast and make your way to Tarangire National Park. The sun makes the earth look a rusty red as it rises over the horizon. The grass is brittle in the dry months; you can hear the crunch as animals stumble over the straw. The river keeps its surroundings lush; however it has withered, as it does when the dry season rolls through, keeping the animals close to the riverbanks and the wildlife active throughout the year.

Scour the trees, their roots meandering through the dry soil, the sweet smell of distant acacias mixing with that of dried grass. Troops of baboons, their fur olive and rugged in the warm sun, scurry up and down the trees, ramble along the roadside, and rummage through the brush in search of berries and insects. Their teeth are sharp and glisten when the sun hits them just right. Their playful screeches echo through the trees as they push one another, tumbling through the brush, or possibly falling from the trees, before dusting themselves off and running back up the bark. The air is cool, shaded from the afternoon sun. The baboons are not fussed by the vehicle as they continue on their way, active in the sunlight, foraging for food, rambunctious among the troop, eventually settling down and heading for the river in search of water to quench their thirst. As the baboons make their way to the water, you make your way to your accommodation. As the sun sets over Tarangire National Park the sky shifts from an open blue, closing to a deep red before merging into black.

Depart for Oldoinyo Lengai and stop in Mto wa Mbu along the way. Mto wa Mbu is comprised of three villages and hosts a traditional market in the Great Rift Valley. The market is a marvelous location to learn about and experience the native culture, whether through the expected haggling of local goods or a taste of local flavor. The market comes to life with the display of vibrant paintings hanging along the many shops. The paintings celebrate the local life and culture of Tanzania, portraying silhouettes of elephants in the large African sunset or a collection of colorful Maasai Warriors, their clothing vivacious against the white background, as they energetically jump and dance in the painting’s abstract portrayal of a cultural tradition. Enjoy a rich plantain, fried and salted, filling your senses with a sweet, salty and crunchy sensation as you wander through the market exploring the variety.

Continue on to Oldoinyo Lengai, which means “The Mountain of God,” in Maasai. The closer you come to Oldoinyo Lengai the more you will notice the steam that drifts off of the mountain’s peak. Wondering where the steam comes from, you will find that Oldoinyo is actually an active volcano. The lava that flows is distinct in that it is rich in rare sodium and potassium that reacts rapidly to the atmosphere and creates an incredible landscape unlike any other. The world in the crater looks like it has melted, like trees have stripped their bark, hung low, and covered themselves in wax. The ground swirls in smooth ridges that look like the earth was paved with large clamshells.

Enjoy the unique experience of a midnight hike up to Oldoinyo Lengai, where the bright orange of lava lights up the night sky as if the sun were rising from the volcano’s peak. Watch the sun rise high over the African plain from the top of the volcano, as the sun stretches from the depths of the horizon and reaches over the edge of the world bringing color back from the other side. Return to camp in time for breakfast and indulge on a delicious, large meal to help revitalize your body after a tremendous night. By nightfall you will make your way to Lake Natron, known for its calcified surroundings, and sporadic rainfall. The salt lake is known for many reasons, including its beautiful collection of flamingos that call the salt lake home.

On the third day of your Tanzania camping safari, enjoy a day at the unique Lake Natron. The salt water is home to a mass of flamingos that enjoy the salty stature of the lake and the fish beneath the water’s surface. Lake Natron is also well known from photographer Nick Brandt’s dark interpretation of the lake and the animals that inhabit the area. The faint smell of sulfur fills the air. The sky is void of clouds. The large wingspan of flamingos creates a shadow along the unconventional grounds. The fish, electrically colorful due to the alkaline spring inlets of the lake, swim effortlessly in the water and have scientists and visitors in awe over the fish’s ability to survive in such harsh conditions. Their scales glisten in the heavy sodium of the water, as the flamingos’ feathers shine a bright pink in the warmth of the sun. As night settles over the lake, the bright pink of the flamingos swirls into a sweet silhouette of one large flock situated in the salt water as you make your way back to your accommodation.

After an indulgent breakfast, where the smell of fried meat and sweet fruits filled the site, your day will begin with your departure for the famous Serengeti National Park. Arriving in the park later in the day, you will embark on an afternoon game drive for an adventurous tour through the vast plains of the area. Keep your eyes sharp for the flourish of zebras that stand out in the golden plains. The smell of tall grass fills the vehicle; the warm sun cools slightly as the afternoon begins to fade, but the bright white stripes of the zebra shine against their deep black streaks.

Watch the zebras as they stand head to tail, grooming each other, their large teeth nipping at the hairs on their mane. They clean each other while simultaneously watching for predators, ensuring their cleanliness and safety. They frolic in the drifting sun, kicking up their hind legs, dirt rising into the air, their harsh bark filling the quiet and mixing with the thud of their hooves upon the earth. Playful, inquisitive, and cautious, they run around one another hiding themselves in the hypnotic swirl of white and black stripes in an act of adrenaline and self-preservation. As the colors whirl, the sunset shines off of their white fur making their white and black blend with the red of the sky until it looks like a whirlpool sucking the color from the sky and bringing in the night.

Begin your day with a lovely breakfast amongst the open plains. Perhaps you heard the light footprints of a hyena in the night wandering through you site, the huff of their nostrils loud in the quiet night as they sniff the air in search of an easy feed. On this Tanzania camping safari, set out on another adventurous day in the Serengeti in search of the lions, leopards, Cape buffalo, rhino, elephants, and more.

The smell of the morning’s dark roasted coffee is replaced by the sweet scent of acacia trees. The golden grass swirls around the car in the breeze and bends. The lively chirping of Yellow weavers circles around a tree. The males are a vivacious yellow that brightens the morning, while black encircles their face and their beak. They weave intricate nests that dangle from the tree branches, whistling while they work and calling for the females to come and inspect their nest. The female weaver, in an act of fortitude, assesses the male’s nest. If she finds it acceptable she moves in. If she finds the nest to be insufficient she will tear the nest apart and make the male start again, or worse, she may move into another male’s nest. The weavers flutter around the tree and thread their strands together coming close, at times, to the vehicle in their enthusiasm to get their nests built and ready for female inspection. The lively weavers continue their eager construction as you depart the Serengeti and make your way to the Ngorongoro Crater.

Along the way to Ngorongoro you will stop for lunch at the Olduvai picnic site. Located near the Olduvai Gorge, the picnic site gives you a luxurious view of the gorge’s multi-colored lining. With various layers of color, the gorge’s rim is a rusty red that lightens as it descends the gorge. Kite hawks circle high in the cloudless sky. Their high-pitched caw is awesome and sends chills up your spine as you lunch near the gorge. Their wingspan looks small and they look like insignificant spots in the sky until they swoop down to lunge at prey. It is then that you realize their actual size, their wingspan stretched out and impressive, their beak pointed, their talons sharp and bright. The Kite hawk continues to circle in the sky as you return to the vehicle and resume your journey to the crater’s rim.

Wake up along the Ngorongoro Crater’s rim where the clouds linger in the early morning before being burned away by the sun. The sun shines through portions of the cloud cover creating an artist’s dream of shadow and light along the crater floor. After breakfast descend into the crater for a day’s game drive along the constant lush green grounds, where the most majestic animals of the African wild can be found.

With black rhino grazing the grassland, and lions lazing about the cushioned grass, there is no end to the beauty and splendor of the crater. As you wander through the crater floor, search the area for remnants of the endangered wild dog. With bodies that resemble wolves, and ears that look like saucers, their fur is dark brown and splashed with black. They are roaming animals that wander in a pack, rarely seen in the same place twice in a row unless denning. Watch them play with one another, active in the early morning before the sun begins to warm the grassland. They jump over one another, bend their front legs and yip in the morning light. Their cries sound less like dogs barking and more like birds chirping.

The wild dogs circle the vehicle and jump with the car’s movement. They have even been seen playing with the baby elephants, the baby’s mother initially reluctant and protective until the baby flops toward the dogs. The dogs chirp and jump while the baby elephant trumpets and nudges the dogs. The smell of fresh grass fills the air as you ascend the crater’s rim and make the drive back to Arusha. The tour may have ended but the adventures never do; as you make your way eventually home you have found a sanctuary, for wildlife, for culture, for yourself, and for an endless preservation of memories.