Adventures with Julia

November 25, 2018  Istanbul

We are finally away.  Attended a lovely memorial service for our friend Rich Toothman and left immediately from there for SFO.  Was a busy Saturday with roads full, I suspect,  of discount shoppers scurrying about.  Took us 3.5 hours to get to the airport.  Good thing we did not linger at the memorial, though I wanted to stay longer.

We have now traveled with Turkish Airlines several times and are very pleased with the configuration of our seats and space as well as the food served.  Our flight here was 12 hours and 12 minutes.  We both arrived rested after a leisurely 4 course dinner, a sound sleep of 7 hours for me and 5 for Mark.  Then we had a fruit and yogurt breakfast before landing.  Now we sit in the Turkish Airways lounge waiting for our 7 hour leg to Zanzibar, followed by another short leg to Kilimanjaro.  By then we will be waisted.

Meanwhile, this airport is a huge place full of people from everywhere.  Must be one of, if not the, busiest airport we have ever been through.  Can hardly walk along the wide corridors without being jostled.  We passed through one area where everyone was sitting in groups on the floor.  They looked to be Muslims from their attire.  And they all seemed happy to be on the floor.  It looked like the absence of seating was intentional.   We walked a good mile before arriving at the lounge near our next gate.  It is also very crowded, but we were able to find seats in a dark, quiet corner.

Below is a map of Southern Africa, which happens to also include part of Tanzania, as well as Mozambique and South Africa.

Map of Southern Africa                                                                                                                          Next is a map of the National Parks in Tanzania.  We will be focusing in on parks in the northern part of the country.  Mark just shared some facts he learned with me.  Tanzania is twice the size of California; Mt Kilimanjaro, at 19,340 feet tall, is the highest mountain in Africa; the median elevation of the country is 3,340 feet and we will be about 300 miles south of the equator.  

Map of Tanzania showing the national parks

November 26, 2018

We are now in a tent in the Polo camp at the Nduruma Polo & Country Club nestled in natural bush country and within eye shot of Mt. Kilimanjaro and near the town of Arusha.  We arrived here after 25 hours of flying from SFO to Istanbul, then Zanzibar and, at last to Kilimanjaro, where a delightful young lady, Nicole, picked us up at 4:45 am and took us on a 40 minute ride in the dark to the Polo Club.  We arrived just in time to see the sky getting light.  The cloud cover kept the air cool, but also obscured our view of the mountain.  Rather than go directly to the tent, Nicole suggested we have breakfast on the patio of the club, so we did.  She joined us and we began to learn the history of the club and all about her family ties to it.  Turns out her father bought the land and converted the sisal farm into a Polo Club with 10 acre parcels around the polo fields, which are now all sold, and a golf course that is surrounded by smaller parcels that are just starting to sell.  Quite a property.

We are here because our guide, Brad Hansen, chose this place so we could see what it might be like if we decided to have a part time place in Tanzania and spend more time in Africa.   He was our guide when we were in Chad several months ago.  We liked him so much we asked him to be our private guide on this trip.   We have had a good laugh about him, as he forgot our trip dates and did not arrive when we did.  Now he is on the way and will arrive tomorrow.   Lucky for us, Nicole is here to step in for him.

About 8am, we got to our tent and relaxed.  But not for long.  At 10am we met Nicole at the stables and went for a horse back ride in the wooded part of the grounds, which include 5,000 fenced acres that contain many African animals that her family has rescued, in addition to the polo fields and the country club.  We got up close to a few zebra, Thompson’s gazelles and wildebeest.   We also spotted a rare animal we have never seen before, called a Gerenuk. It is a long necked gazelle.   It was hard to get the horse to stand still while I tried to get photos.  (Click on any image to make it larger.)

In the afternoon we rested for a couple of hours then joined Nicole and her fiancé for a visit to the golf course and a walk about a few of the holes.  It is a lovely, long and difficult, course.  Afterward, we had a short drink on the club house veranda, then drove over to Nicole’s parents home for cocktails and appetizers.  What a surprise that was.  Their home is spectacular with  teak wood and glass everywhere.  The construction was the best I have seen anywhere in Africa.  Her parents, Bas and Anna are in their mid 50’s and full of energy, numerous activities and laughter.  We had quite a visit.  He made his money in the rose and chrysanthemum businesses and now concentrates on his passions–conservancy, polo and old 4×4 land rovers.

Anna gave me a tour of their spectacular 2-story home.  There is so much floor to ceiling glass that I walked into a glass wall without realizing it was not open.  The best part of their house is the setting.  From every window you look into woods filled with wild animals.  From the veranda where we had drinks, we were sitting 50 feet from a herd of zebra with 2 babies, several gazelles and a wildebeest relaxing on the ground.  I was so entranced with the whole scene that I forgot to take photos.  Shame on me.

Back at the Polo Club house, Nicole and her fiancé joined us for dinner.  The interesting conversation continued with us learning more about Nicole’s family.  They were all born in Tanzania and speak fluent Swahili.  Even so, she has a Dutch passport and does not intend to ever become a Tanzanian citizen, which would require her to give up her Dutch citizenship.     Her grandfather moved to Tanzania to get into the rose farming business.  He did reasonably well, but could not compete with the Kenyan rose farmers, so he and his son, Nicole’s father, switched to chrysanthemums.  They now have 30% of the world market.  No wonder they are able to indulge their passions.

At 9pm, Mark and I finally went to bed after having been up over 48 hours.