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Desserts were often fruit tarts that weren't sweet enough for my taste. But being an experienced traveler as well as a serious chocolaholic, I always carry an ample supply of Emergency Road Chocolate. Sometimes we returned to the lodge for lunch and at other times we would take a picnic to eat along the way. In that case, we were able to choose our own foods from a selection of sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, fruits, juices, desserts and other foods.
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©1999-2004 Coral Southwell
Weather: We were in Tanzania in November, 1998.
The weather was mostly warm (shirt-sleeve) weather during midday and a
little cooler early in the morning and at night. You'll probably want
to have a light jacket or sweatshirt at those times. This is the time
of the "short rains" (a lesser rainy season than the "long
rains" in the spring), but it didn't rain while we were there.
Lodging: The lodges and hotels where we stayed
were all comfortable and clean and all had en suite baths. They
ranged from basic (the Lake Manyara Hotel) to very nice (the Nairobi Safari
Club, left, where we started and ended our stay in Africa). All had very
good to excellent locations and settings.
Food
& Beverages: The
food at the hotels and lodges was mostly good to excellent; most meals
were buffets with plenty of selections. In addition to the buffet, at
breakfast there would usually be a chef preparing made-to-order omelettes,
and at dinner a chef grilling meats outside. Lunches and dinners began
with a choice of excellent soups.
Tap
water is not safe to drink in Africa. Some hotels offer purified water
and ice, but most of the ones we stayed at did not. Our driver made sure
that each passenger had a bottle of purified water in his or her seat-back
pocket for every game drive or journey, but this practice is not universal.
You can also buy water at the restaurant or bar of the lodges, but it's
rather expensive ($2-3 per liter bottle). Of course, beer, wine, liquor
and soft drinks are also available.
Shopping:
There are many unique
and wonderful things to buy in Tanzania: masks, soapstone and wood carvings,
fabrics, jewelry and much more. Bargaining is accepted and even expected
in many places, but not in the shops at the lodges. At one souvenir shop
the asking price for an antique mask was $160.00 U.S. I bargained and
ended up getting it for $40.00 and a ballpoint pen. You can trade pens,
lipstick, perfume samples, t-shirts and other items. But don't give things
to the children; it encourages them to skip school. Instead, you can give
school supplies to your tour guide or manager to donate to a school. (Note:
The navigation buttons on these pages are African trading beads I purchased
in Arusha. )