Tanzania, Africa

We are off to Tanzania early tomorrow morning. Barbara has been on safari to East Africa many years ago. Some of her 1991 photographs are shown below. The word “safari” means journey and for the next 21 days we will only be visiting a small section of this amazing and wild place (see map). No guns on our safari only cameras. Our visit starts in Arusha, a town at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. We will then begin our exploration of Northern Tanzania.

Tanzania has set aside 85,000 square miles of wildlife refuges as protected land. This is about a quarter of the land area of the entire country. In fact only twelve U.S. states are bigger than Tanzania’s protected wildlife areas. The highlight of our visit will be the Serengeti National Park. It is one of the largest and oldest protected areas in Africa. It is world-famous for hosting the Great Migration, where millions of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles move across its grasslands each year in search of water and grazing. Calving season in February brings 8,000+ wildebeest births daily, creating predator frenzy—cheetahs, lions, hyenas, and jackals target vulnerable newborns on open plains.

The last week of our journey will be spent on Zanzibar, an Island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania. Plenty of bird watching, kayaking and snorkeling around the coral reefs and the clear blue-green waters. We will try to keep you posted but we expect only limited internet availability on most of our journey.

Love to all,

Barbara and Joe

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

—African Proverb

Monday, February 2, 2026

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

We left the house in Tucson at 4:30 am and headed for the airport for our 7 am Delta flight to Atlanta. Arrived in Atlanta around noon (EST). Waited at the business class lounge for our KLM flight to Amsterdam (8 hour flight). Wonderful dinner meal on the flight with plenty of wine. Barbara slept for 5 hours and I slept for 4 hours before landing in Amsterdam at 5:30 am local time, February 4, 2026 (11:30 pm in Atlanta and 10:30 pm in Tucson). We are now having breakfast in the KLM Business lounge. Our next flight is at 10:05 am to the Kilimanjaro Airport. Another 8 hour flight with a late evening arrival of 8:30 pm local time. We then have a 1 hour drive with our tour guide/driver to our hotel near the town of Arusha, Tanzania. Tucson, Arizona is 10 hours behind Arusha. We are staying 3 nights at the Legendary Lodge, Arusha.

Love,

Barbara and Joe

Legendary Lodge

Set in lush tropical gardens on a working coffee farm just outside Arusha, Legendary Lodge features ten beautiful garden cottages and two family cottages, each with its own private veranda. Designed with a unique blend of African arts and crafts, combined with old, colonial-style luxury, the cottages offer king sized beds, a separate lounge with fireplace and ensuite bathrooms with deep tubs and refreshing showers.

Thursday, February 5, 2026

We made it! Arrived late Wednesday night. Over 27 hours of traveling since leaving Tucson. Beautiful hotel located on a coffee plantation just outside of Arusha, Tanzania. Today we have an all day tour of the town and market places.

Love to all,

Barbara and Joe

Friday, February 6, 2026

Jambo to all. This is the simplest and most common way to say “hello” in Tanzania. 3:15 am here in Arusha and with the 10 hour time difference I am jet lagged and now wide awake. On Thursday, after a wonderful breakfast on the terrace of the main house, we spent almost all day visiting Arusha. Cars, motorcycles, push carts, wagons and people jamming the streets and markets. Pure traffic chaos. Good reason to always have a car and driver. Until we fly to Zanzibar, Emanuel will be our guide and driver for the next 14 days. He is also an enthusiastic bird watcher.

Our visit to Arusha centered on the Museum of Natural History, the huge Public Market and Arusha Cultural Center. It was also my first opportunity to buy art. Tinga Tinga paintings are a distinctive East African art style that originated in Tanzania. Arusha is one of the country’s artistic hubs. The paintings are easily recognized for their brilliant colors, naive forms, and playful depictions of animals and local life. I bought 6 incredibly beautiful paintings from 3 artists. The canvases are now safely rolled up in cardboard tubes ready to go back home.

We finished the day with a swim in the hotel’s heated swimming pool and a delicious dinner while watching a fox and two jackals in the garden.

Love to all,

Barbara and Joe

Common Greetings
• Jambo (Hello, casual and tourist-friendly). Reply: “Sijambo” (I’m fine).
• Mambo or Mambo vipi (Hi/What’s up? Informal for peers or youth). Reply: “Poa” (Cool).