In June, Nathan and I welcomed our friends Laura and Mark from Colorado for their first trip to Africa.  They work at the same high school and deserved a break after yet another tiring year.  We loved spending time with them and selfishly using their visit as an excuse to explore some beautiful new areas of Tanzania.   The post below is from Laura because we wanted to give y’all a chance to read a bit about traveling in Tanzania from someone other than us.

Adventurous. Beautiful. Wild. Restful. Colorful. Raw. Joyful. All of these words and many more come to mind when I think about our time in Tanzania this past June. After a chaotic school year (my husband and I are both educators) and 30+ hours of travel time, we made it to Dar es Salaam at 3 am and were so grateful to see Shannon and Nathan waiting for us outside of immigration. We spent a couple of days getting acquainted with Dar- going to a few craft markets, visiting the children’s home where Shannon has volunteered, and braving some crazy traffic. After a few days in Dar, we set out on the bumpiest road trip of our lives, and, thanks to Nathan’s patient and fantastic driving skills, we arrived in the Udzungwa Mountains for some camping, hiking, and delicious food and drink. It was definitely the most luxurious campsite we had ever stayed in. At the end of each day, we enjoyed a cocktail in the adirondack chairs facing the mountains, listening to Bella the Donkey bray enthusiastically.

From the Udzungwa Mountains we set out on another long day of washboard roads and potholes to Ruaha National Park, with a stop at Neema Crafts in Iringa along the way. Our home for the next 3 nights was Tandala Tented Camp, and calling it a “camp” was the understatement of the century. We felt like we were at a resort with the level of comfort we were provided with. Every morning, we ate breakfast as the sun came up, and in the evening we ate a gourmet dinner under the stars while the Masaai congregated around the campfire.

We did 2 full days of safari in Ruaha. Not only did it feel like we were the only people there, we were actually the only people there. We saw 3 other vehicles in 2 days, so we had the park to ourselves. It felt so exciting and peaceful to see so many different animals completely at home in their natural environment. One of the best moments was witnessing a bull elephant charge a pride of lions who had just feasted on a zebra. The lions ran away scared and then one by one sneaked behind the elephant’s back and made their way back to the zebra kill.

Our next and final stop was Zanzibar. We spent one busy day in Stonetown and then had 3 days in Matemwe at Sunshine Hotel. It was so rejuvenating and refreshing to be so separated from “real life” and just get to enjoy the beach. It was truly better than we ever could have hoped it would be, and we soaked it up. Mark snorkeled, I read by the pool, we walked along the beach and found little local restaurants to try for dinner.

If you are thinking about visiting Tanzania, do it. It is so worth it. Shannon and Nathan made our time there unforgettable and we are so grateful for their hospitality!