Thursday, January 31, 2008

Where is Amy today? Thursday - Friday, January 31-February 1

Flying from Thailand to the USA



Here are my calculations of Amy's schedule the next two days:

China Airlines Flight # CI 650


-from Chiang Mai, Thailand
12:35 PM Thursday, January 31 (time in Thailand)
(-13 hrs = 11:35 PM Wednesday, January 30 - Minnesota time)

-to Taipei, Taiwan
5:05 PM Thursday, January 31 (time in Taiwan)
(-14 hrs = 3:05 AM Thursday, January 31 - Minnesota time)

-Flight time: 3.5 hours

-Layover in Taipei: 6.5 hours

China Airlines Flight # CI 008

-from Taipei, Taiwan
11:35 PM Thursday, January 31 (time in Taiwan)
(-14 hrs = 9:35 AM Thursday, January 31 - Minnesota time)

crosses the International Date Line thus losing a day


-to Los Angeles, CA
6:50 PM Thursday, January 31 (time in LA)
(+2 hrs = 8:50 PM Thursday, January 31 - Minnesota time)

-Flight time : 11.5 hours

Layover and Customs: 5.5 hours


NW Airlines Flight #314

-from Los Angeles, CA
12:30 AM Friday, February 1 (time in LA)
(+2 hrs = 2:30 AM Friday, February 1 - Minnesota time)

-to Mpls, MN
6:02 AM Friday, February 1
(it will seem like 7 PM Friday evening to Amy)

-Flight time: 3.5 hours

Total flight time: 18.5 hours

Total time from departure to arrival: 30.5 hours


Chiang Mai, Thailand
Click for Chiang Mai, Thailand Forecast

Taipei, Taiwan
Click for Taipei, Taiwan Forecast


Los Angeles, CA
Click for Los Angeles, California Forecast


Minneapolis, MN
Click for Minneapolis, Minnesota Forecast

Last Nam 25, Nam 26 and Nam 27 PCV updates.

This will probably be the last month that blog posts and updates will be made on this site. Amy will return at the end of January and she can keep those of you who are interested up to date or you can contact her directly by email.

Amy's trip
Hello America! (2/1)
There and Back Again (1/30)
Cooking, Haircut and Shakespeare (1/26)
More Chiang Mai (1/22)
Chiang Mai at last (1/20)
Sinai (1/16)
Luxor (1/12)
Cairo (1/10)
Excitement in Nairobi (1/4)
Zambian Border (12/19)

Victoria Falls and the kwacha (12/15)
Livingstone, I presume (12/13)
Itinerary for my trip (12/5)
Links to photos of our trip in August

All Nam 25 bloggers

All Nam 26 bloggers

All Nam 27 bloggers


Other Namibia Peace Corps Blog links

Link to previous list of recent blogs (December 2007)

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

There And Back Again (email from Amy)

Well,
I'm finally coming home. Tomorrow at noon I get on a plane and fly to Taipei, Taiwan, then to Los Angeles, then to Minneapolis, where I should arrive on the morning of February 1st, almost exactly 800 days after I left for the Peace Corps. To be quite completely honest, I'm a little scared out of my mind by America. Probably you are not aware of this because most of you live there, but America is WEIRD. For one thing, you're not supposed to pick up chunks of meat with your hands and gnaw at them, taking special care to suck out the bone marrow, you can't just go out onto the road and hitchhike to wherever you're going (not safely, at least), and you're not allowed to send random small boys to do errands for you. For another thing, everything moves so fast and I've missed out on a lot of the technology (my friends here were making fun of me for not being on Facebook-so I set up an account), and things are actually supposed to BE official, not just LOOK official. Plus, I don't think I can just get people on my side by dropping a few words in Khoekhoe and smiling manically like I could in Namibia.

At the same time, I am ridiculously excited about some things- television shows that make sense (don't judge me-you haven't lived without them for 2 years), being able to buy whatever I want even if it's a Saturday or after 6 o'clock or I'm not in a major city, driving myself around, and being able to talk to people without changing my speed or accent so they will understand me.

So now I'm coming to the end of this leg of the journey and I have to figure out the next leg- readjusting to America. To answer all of those nagging questions that I'm sure I'll be answering for the next few months- "Africa" was beautiful and difficult and complicated, and if you want a deeper answer than that, set aside an hour or two (I mean, try thinking about how long you would need to answer me if I asked you how America has been for the past two years.) Nope, I am not sure what I'll be doing now, probably thoroughly ordinary stuff- trying to find a job, figuring out how to retain my health insurance, attempting to find someone willing to go out with me, plus, I suspect, lots and lots of paperwork, it is America, after all. Oh well, I suppose if I survived Namibia, I should be able to handle American bureaucracy. I intend to do some visiting soon after I get back so I'll probably see some of you in real life.

This will be my second to last update, I'll send you all something when I get to the States to let you all know that I am, in fact, not dead. As for the book update, because it's the most interesting thing about my life at the moment, I've been reading in coffee shops like nobody's business. I finished The Taming of the Shrew, The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, and a book called The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond. I have a couple of thick books for the plane (a biography of Ramanujan, the Indian peasant and mathematical genius who basically reinvented Calculus on his own, and a book about Copernicus.) I look foreword to America, where I can find any book I want to read and, probably, have it delivered to my door within 24 hours, but I am also ending the time of my life when I have loads of free hours to spend reading and few distractions to pull me away from 8 hour marathon book-finishing sessions. These are the compromises of life, I suppose.

So, look out for me in America, maybe I'll see you there soon.
Amy

Where is Amy today? Sunday - Wednesday, January 20 - 30

Chiang Mai, Thailand
Amy traveled by overnight bus from Bangkok to mountainous northwestern Thailand on Saturday night. She arrived in Chiang Mai Sunday morning and met her friend. She is now staying put for a week and a half as they visit the sights in this area and rest up for her return to the USA on February 1.



Click for Chiang Mai, Thailand Forecast



Thailand


Saturday, January 26, 2008

Cooking, Haircut and Shakespeare (email from Amy)

Well,

Not much has changed. I took the Thai cooking class. It was fun, although I'm not sure I will ever be able to replicate the results (at home I don't have people chopping up the vegetables for me and telling me when to add all the ingredients and then cleaning up after me when I'm done.) I also got my hair cut. It had been needing it for a long time and it looks pretty cute now, if I do say so myself. We went to a jazz club last night, which was a lot of fun. I haven't been getting a lot of jazz in Namibia. Still reading. I'm on another Shakespeare kick. I finished That Hideous Strength and started and finished Twelfth Night and All's Well that Ends Well and now I'm in the middle of The Taming of the Shrew. I love Shakespeare. I don't know how you can not love poor Viola pining away after the Duke while he sends her to woo another woman for him, or Celia giving up her place as heir to the throne to follow her ill favoured cousin into the wilderness pursued by her father's soldiers, or, for that matter, even the clown who is consigned to speak all of his wisdom in nonsense. Shakespeare gets me. Anyway, it looks like I'm reading about a play a day. I get on these kicks every now and then, it'll probably end when I convince myself that I have to plug through a few of the histories as well as the comedies and tragedies (The second part of Henry IV ended my last kick.) Maybe I'll just put it off and read Much Ado About Nothing for the umpteenth time. Hope everyone back home is doing well. I'll be back there soon enough- only about a week left of this crazy trip. Take care.
Amy

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

More Chiang Mai (email from Amy)

Well, not much to tell right now,
Chiang Mai is pretty great. I've been eating Pad Thai for most meals (you can get a plate for about 60 American cents and, as you must know if you've ever tried Thai food, it's delicious.) Lots of shopping, sitting in coffee shops, and reading. So far on this trip I've finished a book called "Lucky," The Chosen by Chaim Potok, a book about biscuits and tea, and I've just started That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (There are a bunch of used book stores here, but right now I'm just mooching books off Miah.) Miah has a bunch of friends who are in town, so it all works out pretty well. It's a lot slower than Egypt was, not as much running around. It's nice, but I'm also excited to get back to the States.

It's nice to not have to worry about whether my arms are showing and who is looking at me and why. I talked to a girl here who spent some time in Pakistan and she hit the nail on the head. She said "The fact that I am a girl was always at the front of my mind." Anyway, although Egypt was awesome, it's nice to not have to think about these things all the time.

Later in the week we're going to take a cooking class and learn to make spring rolls and Pad Thai and other delicious foods, so there's that to look forward to. Hope everyone that side is doing well. I miss you all and will see some of you in the not so distant future.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Chiang Mai at last (email from Amy)

(This email is dedicated to all of the Thai people (and there were a lot of them) who helped me to find my way despite the fact that I speak not one lick of Thai and they spoke very little English and I had only a vague idea about where I was going and how to get there. May I be so generous.)


Hello from Chiang Mai
Sorry I dropped off the radar for a while. Strange as it may seem, there are no Internet cafes at the Bangkok bus and train terminal, although you can buy just about anything else you want (and I mean anything- cantaloupe flavoured milk, whole roast chickens, brand new cell phones, and high heeled shoes.) I think I am adding that to my list of facts that do not fit with the way I was led to believe the world behaved- along with southern African's obsession with Mexican soap operas and the fact that Cairo, as a city, has an abnormally high number of lingerie shops.

I took a night bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It started off at 8:30 PM and got in at 5:30 AM. It was a rather strange experience. Several times they walked down the aisle serving us all drinks (including steaming coffee) from plastic Dixie cups that they carried down the aisle on a tray and there were the requisite bad American action movies dubbed into Thai. It was a little surreal. It's amazing how independent I become when I travel on my own. When I travel with other people I think I have an annoying tendency to abscond from my responsibilities and follow them around like a puppy. I can be amazingly responsible when I'm on my own (although it isn't
nearly as much fun.)

I hadn't had a proper night of sleep or a nice shower in several days (I've lost count- that's how bad it's gotten) so I took a long shower as soon as I got to the guesthouse and I'm looking forward to a good night of sleep tonight. I met up with Miah and I think we're going to have a fun time. I thoroughly impressed her with my ability to click (the language I learned in the Peace Corps has clicks which act like letters of the alphabet.) Chiang Mai is a moated city and we're staying near the moat. Later in the week we're going to the night market and we're thinking about taking a Thai cooking class together. That's all for now. For those who care (mostly my parents) my new phone number is the Thai country code + 0879884643.

Take care
Amy

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Where is Amy today? Saturday, January 19

Bangkok, Thailand



Click for Bangkok, Thailand Forecast


Bangkok


Friday, January 18, 2008

Where is Amy today? Friday, January 18

Flight from Cairo, Egypt to Bangkok, Thailand
Had to do some calculating using a Time Zone Converter and
World Time Server, but I think this is her
schedule:

Amy's flight is EgyptAir MS 960 (see:
flight status tab, choose flight
route, then enter departure and arrival cities

Leaves Cairo at 10:40 PM on Friday, January 18 (Egypt time = minus 8
hours) or 2:40 PM on Friday, January 18 (Central time)

Arrives in Bangkok at 12 PM on Saturday, January 19 (Bangkok time =
minus 13 hours) or 11 PM on Friday, January 18 (Central time)

Flight time = 8 hours 20 min





Cairo




Bangkok

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Where is Amy today? Wednesday - Thursday, January 16 - 17

Cairo, Egypt
After the high of being on Mt Sinai, they will travel back through the mountains and down to the western Sinai coastal highway. The trip to Egypt ends back in Cairo for a couple of days again before the final phase of her adventure begins.




Click for Cairo, Egypt Forecast


Time in Egypt



Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Sinai (email from Amy)

After a very cold excursion to Sinai (it was -5 Celsius at the Bedouin camp where we stayed and -18 on the mountain) we have made it back safely to Cairo. We did climb Mount Sinai, although we didn't do it for sunrise or sunset (neither of us had proper clothing to manage such a cold trek so we did it all during daylight hours.) Bizarrely, it turns out, Sinai is almost exactly like Namibia (although maybe a bit colder.) The wood fires, bitterly cold winter nights, desert landscape, even the attitude of the people reminded me of my home for the past two years. It was a nice place to stay, especially after the trip over there.

We stayed at a town called Hurgada on the Red Sea coast, although we nicknamed it "Babylon" and "Vanity Fair" alternately. It was a bizarre place. I don't know that I've ever been in a place as fake. It was packed full of Eastern European tourists wearing wildly inappropriate clothing and gaudy tourist traps. After an overpriced night in a shabby hotel without hot water we boarded a ferry to the Sinai peninsula. I am not sure that I have ever been as sick in my life as I was on that ferry. I was, quite honestly, sitting in the bathroom praying for it to end almost the whole time.

On the way back we took a minibus and passed through a bunch of security checkpoints. At one point all of the men had to get out and empty out their luggage (I was the only one who didn't have to, although they just did a cursory check of Pat's little bag with passports and everything. Now we're back to civilization. We took showers, which was really nice after three days without and we've got one more full day in Cairo, then I say goodbye to Pat and go on to Thailand, the last destination on this whirlwind tour of the world.

Hope everyone there is doing well. Stay warm.
Amy

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Where is Amy today? Tuesday, January 15

Climbing Mt Sinai
Trails run from St Catherine's Monastery to the peak of Mt Sinai. They are not long but can be challenging. If they were going to try and get to the top by sunrise, they would have to get up early and hike in the dark up the steps

Information from Wikitravel:

Climbing Mount Sinai is the main objective for most visitors. There are two routes to choose from, entrances to which are rather poorly signposted, so choose carefully especially if climbing at night. Both paths lead to natural amphitheater known as Elijah's Hollow or the Seven Elders of Israel, where you'll find a teahouse for a break. From there, it's a final 750 steps (30 minutes) to reach the summit.

  • Steps of Penitence. This aptly named steep path has been quite literally carved out of the rock by monks, and with 3750 steps to climb is the shorter but more challenging of the two. No mountain-climbing equipment required though, just strong thighs, and the views back down into the valley are superb even in the middle of the night. If the sky is clear the stars above can also be a spellbinding sight, as there are no major cities for miles and miles around. The route can be climbed in as little as 45 minutes, or as long as three hours, depending on your pace.
  • Camel Path (Siket El Bashait). A gentler, winding, wide path that snakes its way up to the summit that can be completed by the average traveler in 2.5 hours. As you can guess from the name, you can also climb up this way on the back of camel, and the "sawdust" that appears to coat much of the length of the path is in fact dried camel byproducts from the many trips before you. Be warned that the camel will bite you if it doesn't like you, so be nice, and a 4-hour ride up a mountain may not be the easiest introduction to the notoriously swaying gait of these camels.

At the top you will find a small chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity, constructed in 1934 on the ruins of an older 16th-century church. Better yet, if you timed your ascent right, you can see the sunrise over the parched, rocky expanse of the Sinai.





Click for Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Forecast


Time in Egypt

Monday, January 14, 2008

Where is Amy today? Monday, January 14

Mt Sinai, Egypt
A morning boat ride from Hurghada to Sharm el-Sheikh and then up mountain roads to St Catherine's Monastery brings her to the side of Mt Sinai. It is one of the oldest continuously operating monastery in the world and traditional site of the place where Moses saw the burning bush. Here they will stay overnight and perhaps walk up to the peak of Mt Sinai, the traditional site where Moses received the Ten Commandments.





Click for Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Forecast


Time in Egypt

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Where is Amy today? Sunday, January 13

Hurghada, Egypt
On their way to Sinai, they travel to the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada in order to catch a ferry across the mouth of the Gulf of Suez to Sharm el Sheikh.



Click for Hurghada, Egypt Forecast


Time in Egypt

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Luxor (email from Amy)

Well, We're safe in Luxor. Intending to head off to Hurghada and then on to Sinai tomorrow and the next day. In Luxor we saw the valley of the kings. I happen to think it's sort of their fault that their tombs were all raided. What do you expect if you build a giant room that everyone knows is located in a certain place and then fill it with gold? We've also seen a whole bunch of temples. Some of them still have original paint on them. I can't help but be amazed as I stare up at 4000 or 5000 year old paint. Still, tomb and temple fatigue is a real problem. After a while it's just another goddess shoving an ankh down another Pharaoh's throat, another Pharaoh bashing in the heads of his enemies, and another giant stone structure. I think one of the most exciting things I have seen is the ancient Greek graffiti on the walls. It's amazing to think that these places have not only been here for thousands of years, but they've been tourist traps for thousands of years. We're eaing pretty well. Yesterday we had McDonalds. It seems pretty exotic after 2 years in Namibia (although no bacon cheeseburgers, for obvious reasons.) Today I tried pigeon. It wasn't too bad, not a lot of meat though. There are these amazing honey soaked pastries that are pretty good as well, and, of course, there's always felafel and shwarma. We're staying upstairs from the souk (market) which the hilarious guidebook that we purchased describes as, "fitting all of the stereotypes that Westerners have about the Middle East." It is a little annoying at night when everyone is shouting until late, and when attempting to walk through the market (at one point a persistant seller threw one of the pashminas he was selling over my shoulder and Pat and I decided that the next time that happens I should just set off running.) Other than that I'm doing well. I have a bit of a cold, but I'mn steering clear of schistosomiasis and other parasites. It is surprisingly chilly in this part of the world. Hope everyone is having a good new year.
Take care of yourselves

Where is Amy today? Friday-Saturday, January 11-12

Luxor, Egypt
You would need to spend more than a couple of days to see all there is to see in and around Luxor and Thebes.

from Wikipedia:

As the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterised as the "world's greatest open air museum", the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor standing within the modern city. Immediately opposite, across the Nile River, lie the monuments, temples and tombs on the West Bank Necropolis, which include the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. Thousands of international tourists arrive each year to visit these monuments, their presence forming a large part of the economic basis for the modern city.




Click for Luxor, Egypt Forecast

Time in Egypt

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Where is Amy today? Thursday, January 10

Aswan to Luxor
Amy and her friend will finish their tour of the city and environs of Aswan. Then some time today, we think they will catch a bus (or train) and go north to Al Uqsur, aka Luxor. I will post more on Luxor in the coming days since they hope to stay there 2-3 days.




Click for Aswan, Egypt Forecast

Time in Egypt



Cairo (email from Amy)

Hello everyone
So, I'm in Egypt, probably one of the most touristy places in the world. When we got off the airplane we wandered about for a bit. Finally we found a bus to take us to central Cairo and were a little shocked when it cost 25p (about 4 US cents) per person to go the almost 12 kilometers. However, we had no clue when we were supposed to get off. Ah, what can you do? I saw the pyramids. What do you say about the pyramids? They're big. And old. Actually everything here is old. We saw some 6500 year old clay pots. If it's only 2000 or 3000 years old it's barely old enough to be important. We saw the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. I have never seen a less effectively organized museum. Near the end we would enter a room and say, "Ah, good. Another case of unlabeled objects." Parts of it just looked like an antiquities warehouse from Indiana Jones or something. They have so many things that they just have them piled about everywhere. I have heard that Egypt is hard for women travelers but I haven't had that many problems. I've been sporadically wearing my headscarf (mostly in Islamic Cairo) and basically keeping my arms covered and head down and letting Pat deal with all of the hassels which has worked pretty well so far (for me), although he did offer to sell me to a tour guide for 4000 camels. There are always the annoying people trying to extort a little baksheesh (something between a bribe and a tip) but probably the most dangerous thing we've faced, at least in Cairo, is the traffic. The guidebook gets it right when it says it's like playing chicken. We also like to compare it to Frogger. We have a pretty good system now, though. It involves using other people and each other as human shields in the hopes that at least if we get hit we won't get hit alone. We've discovered just how helpful it would be to know Arabic. Pat took a few terms in college and can read some of the signs but I'm just limping my way through the numbers (and I still get those confused sometimes.) Right now we're in Aswan, but we're moving up to Luxor today. We have a few days in Luxor then on to Sinai, then back to Cairo. I'll try to keep you all updated. Take care

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Where is Amy today? Wednesday, January 9

Aswan
After an overnight 12 hour sleeper train trip from Cairo, Amy and her friend will tour the ancient Nubian city of Aswan, location of the First Cataract of the Nile River and the Aswan Dam.



Zoom in or out, change view to satellite, scroll around or
View Larger Map

About Aswan


Guide and maps of Aswan

Photo guide to Aswan


Click for Aswan, Egypt Forecast

Time in Egypt



Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Where is Amy today? Tuesday, January 8

Cairo to Aswan
The plan for today after spending three days sightseeing in Cairo is to take an overnight express train from Cairo to Aswan. They will sleep on the train and be in Aswan by morning tomorrow. There is an 8 hour time difference between there and MN so their overnight travel will be going on during our daytime hours.


Click for Cairo, Egypt Forecast


Time in Egypt



Monday, January 07, 2008

Where is Amy today? Monday, January 7

Cairo, Egypt
After arriving in Cairo yesterday morning, she and a friend found the Hostel and Hotel Luna in one of the guide books. They checked in, rested up and walked some of the Cairo streets nearby. They are right in the middle of a major downtown shopping area; a few blocks from the Egyptian Museum and the Nile River. Their plan today is to see the Great Pyramid.

Zoom in or out, scroll around or change view or
click to view larger map


Zoom in or out, scroll around or change view or
click to view larger map

The downtown area on Wikimapia

The Great Pyramid area on Wikimapia

Full 360° panorama of the Pyramids

More panoramic views



Click for Cairo, Egypt Forecast


Time in Egypt



Sunday, January 06, 2008

Where is Amy today? Sunday, January 6

Cairo, Egypt

The organized tour is over and now part two is beginning. See her last email for tentative plans.





Time in Egypt



Saturday, January 05, 2008

Where is Amy today? Friday - Saturday, January 4-5

Nairobi, Kenya
The tour was to have spent a night in the border town of Namanga, Kenya yesterday, but due to the recent unrest in the country, decided to go on to a camp outside of Nairobi. They are probably just being extra safe by going to a familiar location. It looks like they will spend two overnights here. It is unlikely that any visits will be made to Nairobi proper because of travel warnings and uncertainty. Things have settled down a bit in the last couple of days with both sides looking for ways to bring down the level of violence.

Amy's flight leaves Nairobi at 4:45 AM (Kenya time) tomorrow morning or at 7:45 PM this evening Central time(-9 hours).

It arrives in Cairo at 8:35 AM (Egypt time) tomorrow morning or at 12:35 AM Sunday morning Central time(-8 hours).






Time in Nairobi


Friday, January 04, 2008

Excitement in Nairobi (email from Amy)

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that I am safe in Nairobi. Perhaps
you've been hearing some things about the rioting in Kenya, but I am
far away from the places that are violent and they think that the
violence is dying down now. I knew there would be rioting around
Christmas because of the election here, but I didn't expect it to be
so bad. Anyway, we're going to the airport and flying out to Cairo
tomorrow morning (Sunday) so we'll be fine. In the past three weeks
I've swam in Lake Malawi, wandered the meandering alleyways of Stone
Town in Zanzibar, seen lions in the Serengeti, and been in four
different countries. Zanzibar was my favorite. It reminded me of a
medieval city with all of the streets, wide or narrow, the shops with
persistent vendors and the people dressed in various outfits. We'll
be two weeks in Egypt. Right now it looks like our plans take us to
Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, possibly Mount Sinai, and then back to Cairo
again. After that it's two weeks in Chiang Mai, Thailand and then
home again. I don't know how the internet situation will be, but just
wanted everyone to know I'm safe and to send my love. Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year.

Amy

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Where is Amy today? Thursday, January 3

Arusha, Tanzania
After two days in the Serengeti, the tour goes on a game drive this morning and then backtracks to Arusha for the evening.





Time in Tanzania


Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Where is Amy today? Wednesday, January 2

Serengeti National Park
After the game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater, they head up the crater rim and past Olduvai Gorge on their way to the Serengeti National Park. They will cross a vast plains on a game drive through the southern and central areas in the park. Tonight they will camp in the bushveld surrounded by the sounds of the African wilderness.






Time in Tanzania


Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Where is Amy today? Tuesday, January 1

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Arusha is a pleasant town situated at the base of Mount Meru and is the starting point for the excursions to Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti. These excursions are done in locally operated 4WD vehicles, which are adapted for safari use.

The Ngorongoro/Serengeti excursion takes them via the Masai town of Mtu Wa Mbu (Mosquito River) that lies adjacent to the Lake Manyara National Park and up the Rift Valley Escarpment to the higher lying village of Karatu. Karatu offers magnificent views over the surrounding hills and has many well established wheat farms that add to the picturesque panoramas. They spend this evening at a pleasant campsite in Karatu.

This morning they depart early for the Ngorongoro Conservation area and head into the wildlife rich Ngorongoro Crater. This World Heritage Site boasts some of the best game viewing in Africa – including the elusive Black Rhino.



View Larger Map


Click photo above to enlarge

About Ngorongoro Crater




Time in Tanzania