by Sandy Kiyomura, NSC Member
On September 26, I began my trip to Africa along with NSC members Carol Henry, Roland Lee, and Rosa Luy. Our first flight was to Doha, 15 hours away. Doha is like a “designer’s paradise”. It’s not just the stores, but even the airport was like a Neiman Marcus with its own hotel. We then flew to Kilimanjaro (another 5 hours). By September 28, we arrived in Arusha and met our drivers for the week. Our drivers and their trusty Toyota Land Cruisers provided us with hours of animal sightings. I felt like I was on the “Indiana Jones” ride at Disneyland. Our room was a “hut”, but a 5-star hut. Debbie Stewart, the tour leader organized a wonderful dinner for us, along with a band and singer. Some of us even danced a bit.
The next day was our first Safari to Lake Manyara. We saw mostly monkeys and elephants. But the best was yet to come as we drove toward the Ngorongoro Crater. This is an extinct volcano with one of the world’s largest densities of wildlife. It’s a Unesco World Heritage site. Over the course of two days, we saw wildebeests, zebras, buffalos, lions, elephants, gazelles, flamingos and hippos. Our “5-star” lodging at the crater provided every room with a view of the crater since it was built along a hillside.
We drove towards Serengeti National Park for our next stop. The lodges we stayed at were again “5-star” huts. Since we were inside Serengeti National Park, there were no fences (the animals can roam freely). So at night, one had to call for an escort to the restaurant since animals could be around.
We spent another two days on Safari while in the park. Some of us also took a hot air balloon ride. We didn’t see as many animals from the air as from the road, but the scenery was still breathtaking. We even had an “English breakfast” afterwards. The balloon ride and breakfast was $700 and not included in the trip ($8,000 for land, food and air).
After our days of safaris, we flew to the island of Zanzibar in a 13-passenger plane. Roland Lee offered to “co pilot” and helped us to arrive safely. Our first stop was Stone Town, another Unesco Heritage site. It was a trading post for spices, silk and the slave trade. It is a mixture of African, Indian, Arab and European cultures. We visited a spice farm on the way to our final destination: the Neptune Pwani Beach resort. This was a 5-star all inclusive resort, so food and beverages were included. Carol and I took some Yoga classes at their Yoga center. The beach and pools were beautiful and a nice way to end our trip.
I’ve taken several Far West trips and have found that the non-ski trips are definitely as enjoyable and worthwhile as the ski trips. I think our 8 day Safari was very reasonable in cost, especially since it provided luxury accommodations, food, and transportation. Everything was first class.
