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#1
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Tanzania info please?
We are planning on going to Tanzania for a couple of weeks and maybe 4
or 5 days in Zanzibar, and wouldlke to stay at a on the beach resort close enough or in a town where we can visit shop, etc. Any experiences or thoughts you might offer are more than welcome at this stage of planning as we are totally ignorant regarding Tanzania or Zanzibar. Reni and Elliot |
#3
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Liz and all.
Thank you...I appreciate your advice. Living in New Jersey, we do enjoy seeing other interesting places. We wanted Zanzibar for a few days as it has always sounded interesting and we believed would be interesting to see. the beaches of the Indian Ocean and Stone Town So we felt Tanzania would be a good place to stay on our journey there. Our intent is to enjoy getting there as well as being there, to make the most out of the trip. Reni does want to see Mt Kilimanjaro (sorry for spelling). I am an older man and enjoy sitting at outside bars and cafes on warm afternoons and seeing interesting people, as we perhaps spend a bit of money we sometimes find local people will be more friendly and talk to us, and I do enjoy rubbing shoulders with people from different lifestyles, sort of something like eastern Europe was 30 years ago. We, especially I, do love Bangkok, and Rio, any place warm and different and not mainstream USA.. By shopping I mean local markets, walk throughs, local people. (On the Amazon in the small primitive town of Letiticia we enjoyed seeing the "natives" selling their unusual food etc, somethings you don't see often.) "Expensive" resorts are sometimes quite western in character...so we do like something that retains a bit of the taste of the land we are in yet provides a safe and healthy place to stay Anyone wishing to write me privately is fine with me. I will look into Kenya, maybe train travel to Tanzania, but I do want to be careful and not spend all of my time getting to different places and not be there long enough to enjoy them....we have quite a bit of homerwork to do. . |
#4
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"elliot" wrote in message
Thank you...I appreciate your advice. Living in New Jersey, we do enjoy seeing other interesting places. We wanted Zanzibar for a few days as it has always sounded interesting and we believed would be interesting to see. the beaches of the Indian Ocean and Stone Town So we felt Tanzania would be a good place to stay on our journey there. Our intent is to enjoy getting there as well as being there, to make the most out of the trip. Reni does want to see Mt Kilimanjaro (sorry for spelling). I think what is puzzling Liz (and its certainly puzzling me) is that the reason people go to East Africa is usually to see the wildlife and go on safari, and you havent mentioned this. You can get a good view (weather permitting) of Mt Kilimanjaro from Amboseli (Kenya); we also got a very good view of it when we flew from Arusha to Nairobi; if you want to see it from Tanzania you'll have to go to the appropriate place(s). Tanzania is HUGE so your comment 'tanzania would be a good place to stay on our way [to Zanzibar]' also sounds odd. -- Rita Daggett |
#5
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As we want Zanzibar, Tanzania seemed an excellent place to start, we
will probably stay for starters in Dar es Salaam...maybe we are wrong but its the present plan. If someone said we are going to the USA and to visit Niagra falls...I doubt I would respond that America is a huge country...and you can see it just as well from Canada...I might just assume they would be going to Buffalo and really not feel it was important to go beyond that. Im not sure its odd to discuss the country your going to...without providing your entire itinerary. I always appreciate the input of info, but to ask why seems a bit odd dont you think. . Assuming I have an excellent reason for going to Tanzania, despite that it seems like a really odd and stupid choice to anyone else, is it all that unreasonable to still ask for information regarding my choice? Many subjects of interest as well as lack of interest I didnt choose to mention, including animals, safaris, wildlife...ad infinitum. Again I surely didnt expect this to puzzle anyone. I was actually in my own stupid way thinking someone might respond with info about the things I did mention. Now without more info perhaps many of you cant or wont possibly assist me in any way, my loss of course...so be it, and for your info, we probably will also go to Kenya...we may even fly on to India...see I left quite a bit of information out...but I didnt expect this to puzzle anyone.. |
#6
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In message
(elliot) wrote: Assuming I have an excellent reason for going to Tanzania, despite that it seems like a really odd and stupid choice to anyone else, is it all that unreasonable to still ask for information regarding my choice? I gave you as much info as I could (based on your parameters) re Zanzibar. I've been twice, I really enjoyed it. Some pix on my website starting at http://www.v-liz.com/safari/tanzania...bar/zanhom.htm The first time, we went after a safari in Tanzania and flew from Selous via Dar. The second time we went before a safari in Kenya, and flew up to Mombasa drectly from Zanzibar. But it doesn't have bars where you can sit out on the pavement/sidewalk. (Unless there's one attached to the Serena Hotel?) Stone Town's USP is its winding, very narrow streets. The few local bar-type establishments which we saw were tiny (small living-room sized), dark and virtually empty. As far as I could make out, all of the 'resort-type' hotels are geared towards tourists and expats, not locals. There is a market, probably fairly interesting, but the day we went, it was hammering down with rain (July) Dar isn't on most tourist's itineraries, and doesn't cater much for tourists. If anyone has info which can show otherwise, I'm sure they'll be along. I have a friend who was born and brought up in Dar, and goes back to Tz fairly often: he doesn't visit Dar, which I suppose gives a clue... You'll have no problem finding locals to talk to in Zanzibar: lots of young men surround you trying to sell you something or tout some service. They're not unpleasant, but very persistent. It didn't seem to me that many locals who weren't involved in tourism spoke much English. However, if you want to learn Kiswahili, you're going to the right place. It's not what you wanted to hear, but that's how it is. There's (or was) a nice cafe-bar on the beach called Blues or something similar, but again it's geared towards tourists/expats. Lots of expats working in East Africa have R&R on Zanzibar. Maybe Lamu would suit you better? Someone else will have to advise, since I haven't been to Lamu (yet). I know Hans Georg has been and likes it, but you'd maybe have to start a Lamu thread: he doesn't usually post to Tanzania subject lines. Slainte Liz PS: Rita's right, The *best* and classic view of Kilimanjaro is from Amboseli in Kenya. Allow youself a few days: it's often covered by clouds. -- Virtual Liz now at http://www.v-liz.com Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos "I speak of Africa and golden joys" |
#7
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On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 20:55:39 GMT, Liz wrote:
Hey Liz, just adding to your comments I gave you as much info as I could (based on your parameters) re Zanzibar. I've been twice, I really enjoyed it. Some pix on my website starting at http://www.v-liz.com/safari/tanzania...bar/zanhom.htm The first time, we went after a safari in Tanzania and flew from Selous via Dar. Le Selous is a must in our book, if anyone has the opportunity to go there, It's so much more exclusive than almost anywhere else in East Africa, for now.... The second time we went before a safari in Kenya, and flew up to Mombasa drectly from Zanzibar. But it doesn't have bars where you can sit out on the pavement/sidewalk. (Unless there's one attached to the Serena Hotel?) Stone Town's USP is its winding, very narrow streets. The few local bar-type establishments which we saw were tiny (small living-room sized), dark and virtually empty. As far as I could make out, all of the 'resort-type' hotels are geared towards tourists and expats, not locals. You have it there. If you want to "meet and greet" locals then just walking about will do that,learn a few words of Swahili and people will respond kindly to you. There is a market, probably fairly interesting, but the day we went, it was hammering down with rain (July) More than one market but really well worth the walk wherever you go. You'll have no problem finding locals to talk to in Zanzibar: lots of young men surround you trying to sell you something or tout some service. They're not unpleasant, but very persistent. Wherever you go in Africa there'll be people who try to sell you something or offer a service...then again, some of them will be genuinely interested people who just want to say hello or practice a bit of English. Stone Town is full of the latter, smile, enjoy, and walk and talk. Zanzibar will give you more than you can ever return. It didn't seem to me that many locals who weren't involved in tourism spoke much English. However, if you want to learn Kiswahili, you're going to the right place. It's not what you wanted to hear, but that's how it is. There's (or was) a nice cafe-bar on the beach called Blues or something similar, but again it's geared towards tourists/expats. Lots of expats working in East Africa have R&R on Zanzibar. Blues is closed at the moment (will report back if things change there- have direct contact with site owners) Forodhani gardens food market is THE place to eat at night though and please don't leave Zanzibar without trying Mishkaki (grilled , marinated meat kebabs) or an octopus curry. If you do get to go to Zanzibar, be prepared to be surprised and the magic will find you too, it really is a special, unique place. safari njema -- .--~~,__ :-....,-------`~~'._.' Th*s s*g *s s*ff*r*ng fr*m *rr*t*bl* v*w*l syndr*m* `-,,, ,_ ;'~U' _,-' ,'`-__; '--. (_/'~~ ''''(; |
#8
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In message , Rita Daggett
writes "elliot" wrote in message Thank you...I appreciate your advice. Living in New Jersey, we do enjoy seeing other interesting places. We wanted Zanzibar for a few days as it has always sounded interesting and we believed would be interesting to see. the beaches of the Indian Ocean and Stone Town So we felt Tanzania would be a good place to stay on our journey there. Our intent is to enjoy getting there as well as being there, to make the most out of the trip. Reni does want to see Mt Kilimanjaro (sorry for spelling). I think what is puzzling Liz (and its certainly puzzling me) is that the reason people go to East Africa is usually to see the wildlife and go on safari, and you havent mentioned this. You can get a good view (weather permitting) of Mt Kilimanjaro from Amboseli (Kenya); we also got a very good view of it when we flew from Arusha to Nairobi; if you want to see it from Tanzania you'll have to go to the appropriate place(s). Tanzania is HUGE so your comment 'tanzania would be a good place to stay on our way [to Zanzibar]' also sounds odd. I`ve read what Liz and Rita have said Elliot, both of whom are well travelled in Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. Their advice is good. Perhaps I can give you another idea. I was lucky enough to live in Kenya for a number of years and we used to go to Malindi, on the Kenya coast, every few weeks for a few days. We got to know a lot of people. My husband used to go onto a sort of "village green" in the afternoon and meet up with local people, have a Coca Cola and a chat. There are a few places in Malindi where you could do that and just watch the world go by. We have only been to Zanzibar once, we stayed in the Serena hotel in Stonetown, which was lovely but no sidewalk bars. It`s true that most places are geared up to tourists. It`s really down to how you want to spend your time there. I hope you can come up with a solution that is going to suit you. I`m sure we can all help when you come up with an itinerary, meanwhile if we can help we will of course. Pat -- Pat Anderson |
#9
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On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 20:55:39 GMT, Liz
wrote: Maybe Lamu would suit you better? Someone else will have to advise, since I haven't been to Lamu (yet). I know Hans Georg has been and likes it, but you'd maybe have to start a Lamu thread: he doesn't usually post to Tanzania subject lines. Liz, Elliott, yes, reading this thread I already thought of Lamu where you can actually sit in small street restaurants. Elliot, I think you could like Lamu. It is a town on an island off the shore of Kenya. Usually people visiting Kenya go on safari, i.e. move through a few quite luxurious lodges in nature reserves and drive out in the mornings and afternoons to see lions and some other animals. In between some drop into Lamu to spend a few days there. I've done that too, repeatedly. It's nice. This makes for a somewhat expensive, but certainly thrilling and also relaxing vacation. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#10
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Hi
I am just returned from a trip in Tanzania (lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Natron) This is my second trip in those places ...and all was very ok. I was very luky because I found an excellent agency with a very good driver (I saw many animals in different place and make very good photos!) and an excellent cook (I made a mixed safary - lodge and camp) : he isn't a normal cook but a very chef!!!. I eat very good plates and also too much!!!. In accordance with my experience (I went by myself in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi) to make a very good trip in Tanzania and Kenia is very important to book with a good agency. It not must be a big agency; could better a little local agency. It is very important that they love their job , nature, game and people !!!. So I advice you (to avoid problem) to ask (before booking) notice about the trip also to other people that used the agency !!. I staied very well and if someone would like notice about no problem to write me an email (also private) : I will try give you my advice about. I have no profit ...but I am a traveller and I would like that also other people will be happy about their trip!!! By Giovanni |
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