On our last day in the early morning we woke up at 4 am and headed to visit Hadza people. Since these people are hunters-gatherers, we visited their village to share a hunting experience with them. They hunt every day or two, depending on how lucky was their last attempt. Since they don’t stay long at one place, they don’t have any facilities at all to store food, they eat what they can catch and then they hunt again. They don’t grow anything, but only gather some plants in the bush around.

1. When we arrived it was still dark and the men of the Hadza family were sitting around the fireplace and smoking marijuana. As they explained to us, it was sort of a ritual to get stronger and fearless before hunting.

2. They produce fire with an old fashioned manner. Of course, I couldnt resist to try it on my own. It was pretty hard i’d say, you should move your arms very fast!

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In the afternoon of Day 9 of our amazing journey, we headed to visit Datooga people. Well, what can I say? It’s one of the most exiting experience ever to meet people who live far away from the “civilization”, it’s like traveling back in time!

They don’t update their Facebook and Twitter every five minutes, they don’t have any modern facilities in their houses, their everyday life is simple is that. They produce handmade leather clothes and jewelry using spoons and other metal stuff they can get. And they also produce some arrowheads for Hadza people. Their kids go to village school, but not all of them stay there for long time.

Yes, they sort of entertain tourists. But being there and seen what i’ve seen makes me sure that its not just a theatre for tourists. The surrounding territory is a typical african bush with lots of wildlife around and nothing more. Few villages are thrown out here and there with one tiny local shop. And that’s basically it. The main food there is Ugali, kind of a porridge made from corn flour. I didn’t have any impression that after we left, they immediately switch from their dirt houses to some other more modern ones.

In this post i’ll show you some photos and videos from our visit.

1. This video shows the road to Datooga people

2. Upon arrival we greeted this Datooga family. From right to left: family chief, Anton, his wife, me, his daughter, Andrey and wife’s sister

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After Serengeti, we headed to the Ngorongoro crater. This is a large volcanic area, where you can spot lots of animals. We spend there just one night and one day. If I would go now, I would definitely spend more time there. It’s very beautiful there.

The name “Ngorongoro” comes from the language of the maasai tribe. They call it the sound of the bells they use for cows, goats and sheep.

1. Giraffes on the way to Ngorongoro.

2. White-naped raven.

3. Big baobab tree at the campsite. It was pretty cold there, especially during the night, so bring some warm clothes with you.

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No need to tell you about Central Serengeti. I think I’m not mistaken if I say that everyone who is traveling to Tanzania visits this national park. And it’s truly a gem! Huge territory with lots of animals and beautiful landscapes and numerous birds. I just show you how lucky we were to see so many animals busy with their things like hunting or having an afternoon nap!

1. This lonely lioness was smelling the air and thinking about where to go for hunting.

2. Then we were so lucky to spot this spotted hyena with a head of wildebeest! The head was very heavy and our hyena made a few stops while carrying her precious cargo!

3. This is a typical african landscape: it’s a party time for some vultures, jackals and hyenas to have a good meal!

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Ok, after my posts about Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara and Lake Natron (1, 2, 3), i’m going to continue with my Tanzanian journey and switch now to the Serengeti national park. This park is one of the most famous national parks in the world. It’s famous for its huge diversity and for the wildebeest migration together with other herds of cloven-hoofed animals like zebras, gazelles and impalas. It’s really an amazing and spectacular sight, but i was not lucky enough to watch it. The problem is that the animals migrate in the very northern part of the park which is quite far away from the northern entrance. So if you visit the Northern Serengeti, give yourself at least one full day and two nights to surely visit the migration at the river spot. The best time to see it in the Northern part is September.

We arrived there from the lake Natron, the road was astoundingly beautiful, but extremely bumpy. A good idea was to bring some radio or iPod dock station so you can entertain yourself a little bit. I also had a gauze bandage, since it’s really dusty! In total, it took us about 8 hours to get there and we saw a few jeeps got stuck on the way, basically in the middle of nowhere. So be sure that your driver is experienced enough and be prepared for some “unexpected” adventures 🙂

So, on our day 5 very late afternoon we arrived at the Northern Serengeti and on the way did some safari in the park till we got to the overnight stay spot. The spot is really amazing. Since not so many people visit this northern area, it’s quite empty, just a few tents. And the most exiting thing is that animals can visit you along the night. Well, i mean here buffalos, leopards, lions can walk around the tents during the night time. It was really a good idea to bring a disposable urine pack, so we could use right in the tent 🙂

Then in the early morning we continued with safari in the northern part of the park till lunch time. And afterwards we proceeded to the Central Serengeti. It takes about 2-3 hours to get there, but since it’s inside the park you still can see lots of animals on the way, so it may take a bit longer.

1. An Agama lizard right at the entrance.

2. Baby Coke’s hartebeest was just lying at the road.

3. A Black-backed jackal at the dawn.

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