KARIBU TANZANIA!
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| Mbudya Island (2018) |
Considering this is my first time here, I believed there so many things I can do, travel, eat, dine and party.
Where to go in Tanzania?
Travelling is my passion and I always find the beach very comforting and relaxing that is why it is my first list of the destination I have visited here.
(1) First stop: Mbudya Island
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| Mbudya Island White Sand |
The Mbudya is one of the four islands of Dar es Salaam Marine Reserve. It is an inhabited island in Tanzania and is located north of the country’s capital city, Dar Es Salaam. It lies close to the beach resort and is very accessible from the mainland for just 20-25 minutes of the boat ride. The island is also popular for day tour trips both tourists and residents of the country. The water is clean and is perfect for sunbathing as well. They have managed to maintained and make the island a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the powdery white sands. There are trees planted on the island that serves as protection from the sun where visitors can relax, read books, chill, eat, have some drinks. Good food is also available here and bringing food is extremely not allowed.
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| Cottages in Mbudya Island |
We took a boat from Kibo Beach in Mbezi
directly to Mbudya island with some of my new local friends. Arriving at this
island is really relieving, where else can you go where you want to forget the
pressure, the stress from the city? It is the nearest and one of the most
accessible islands you can go to. Perfect time to visit here is morning to see the sunrise and of course witness the
amazing sunset on the beach. You are not allowed to camp here so you will need
to leave at 6:30 in the evening.
This is such a beautiful experience and my
very first beach visit here in Dar Es Salaam Tanzania
(2) Let's go wild and safari @ Mikumi National Park
Up for a wildlife and nature adventure in
Tanzania? Here we go.
Before we move our feet and see these lovely creatures. Let us first get a glimpse of this park.
Mikumi National Park is the fourth largest national park in the country of Tanzania with a massive area of more than three thousand square kilometre such vast area animals can freely live and produce more creatures. Coming to this place is a bit tough especially to foreigners, immigration people and police are on the road to check. The speed is also very strict here, in some area even at the greenery side without many people, the speed limit is only 50 kph, it will make you waste more time on the road than the usual driving you do. It took us nearly 6 hours to travel there by private car, there's one immigration officer who stopped us and has some Kiswahili questions and luckily these friends of mine can understand and communicate Swahili now so he let us go and never bother to check our papers.
Arriving at 10 a.m. so many people are registering and you know some people are just really slow at work and you just need to be patient. If you ever come here, be sure to bring a photocopy of your identification card and permit or business visa, it is a requirement before entering the park.
The car who took us inside was good because it allows us to stand in the middle of the car and see the animals. We saw different types of animals which I never encountered yet and it is so cool to see them walking, eating freely without being tied up. Inside the park, we saw elephants, zebras, antelope, wildebeest, hippos, giraffe, monkey, birds and buffalos. Unfortunately, out of the big five animals (Cheetah, Lions, Elephants, Rhino, Giraffe) only two of them that we have seen vividly. It is because of the timing, as far as the locals advise, better come early in the morning to these creatures walking around and hunting for food, Afternoon time like we did is impossible to see them as they are going to rest and hide underneath the big trees.
After an almost 3 hours tour inside the park, we are all exhausted and headed to the restaurants for a meal before going back in Dar es Salaam. If you don't want to be so exhausted, you can book a hotel near the park so you don't have to rush coming there and going back on the same day.
The car who took us inside was good because it allows us to stand in the middle of the car and see the animals. We saw different types of animals which I never encountered yet and it is so cool to see them walking, eating freely without being tied up. Inside the park, we saw elephants, zebras, antelope, wildebeest, hippos, giraffe, monkey, birds and buffalos. Unfortunately, out of the big five animals (Cheetah, Lions, Elephants, Rhino, Giraffe) only two of them that we have seen vividly. It is because of the timing, as far as the locals advise, better come early in the morning to these creatures walking around and hunting for food, Afternoon time like we did is impossible to see them as they are going to rest and hide underneath the big trees.
After an almost 3 hours tour inside the park, we are all exhausted and headed to the restaurants for a meal before going back in Dar es Salaam. If you don't want to be so exhausted, you can book a hotel near the park so you don't have to rush coming there and going back on the same day.
And this is where we spent our Christmas in Tanzania.
This New year, we visited this beautiful beach resort located in Kunduchi. It is called Kunduchi beach resort. The entrance fee at the hotel is only 10,000 shillings but if you wish to enjoy the buffet inside then you pay 50,000 shillings. The hotel has many amenities so paying that much is just what it's worth. They have a live band, local dance shows. You can also enjoy either use the swimming pool which is up to 8 feet deep or gets tan and kissed by the sun on the beach. They have fine sand that is everyone's love when coming to a beach like this. I and my friends are quite a sporty so we opted to play volleyball for almost an hour before going to swim. It was a fun-filled experience and a blast for a new year to celebrate. This hotel also offers go-cart racing so you will never get bored checking into this place.
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| With Pinoy ex-pats |
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