Maramboi Tented Camp

Sunset over the flooded surroundings

Maramboi Tented Camp has one of my favorite surroundings of any lodge in the north, especially for a lodge outside of a national park. Mamramboi Tented camp sits on the eastern side of Lake Manyara (Lake Manyara National Park is on the western side of the lake). The lodge is situated in a Wildlife Management Area (WMA), one of several community run conservation protected areas in Tanzania.

Maramboi is a massive tented camp far less intimate than many other tented camps. It has over 40 rooms (most tented camps have less than 15) and serves more or less as an appetizer for other camps on safari. Most safari goers will stay here their first day of safari on their way from Arusha en route to Serengeti National Park. As a result most of the guests are only staying one night and they come in the evening with a quick turn around to be out in the morning. Thus some of the intimacy and attention to detail isn't quite as apparent in this lodge as others but it avoids feeling like an empty big box lodge/hotel.

The best thing Maramboi has is its setting. Normally it is set in a grassland with views of Lake Manyara but the massive rains this year have flooded the area right up to the lodges. Waterbirds are numerous and wildebeest and zebra graze right outside the tents. We've visited when the waters are lower and the shoreline is kilometers away and it's still quite beautiful. For us residents we still must pay a WMA fee but they're far less expensive than the national park fees. The lodging is far superior and better value than anything you'd find in the park with the only downside being it can feel quite crowded. However, for those in Arusha it makes a perfect weekend getaway.

The pool looking out into the lake.

Totally flooded

Wildlife from our balcony

Serengeti lodging: Kubu Kubu Tented Camp

The pool was VERY cold!

We were lucky enough to score an incredible deal at Kubu Kubu Tented camp. I hadn't realized it at the time, but we've actually stayed at two other properties owned by the same operator (Maramboi and Kati Kati) and had been impressed by both. We were excited to stay at this tented camp which was a kind of hybrid between a built up hotel and a fly camp. I suppose the name "tented camp" is appropriate.

The location of the camp is excellent in northwest central Serengeti. Seronera and even the western corridor are all easily accessible. The views over the plains are beautiful and there is no other camp in sight. We heard lions and hyenas in the plains below us every night and we even saw a hyena poking around the main lodge early one morning.

There are 25 tents available and I imagine if the place was full it might feel a little cramped but with few guests during our stay it was perfect. The tents are tastefully furnished with all the amenities one could ask for. I appreciated that they had a large drinking water dispenser and the outdoor shower was crafted quiet nicely. They were a little too close together and you could hear your neighbors early morning conversations and wake up calls. The staff was excellent and food delicious.

I always try to view the lodges through the lens of a first time visitor and in that regard the place did not disappoint. They even had a gym that was open air and facing towards a beautiful vista. Working out can be quite nice after sitting in a car all day, especially for a multi-night safari. However, since all the accommodation in Serengeti National Park are quite expensive, even the cheapest place is likely to have impressive amenities and services.

Overall I'd absolutely recommend Kubu Kubu Tented Camp!

Comfortable bed.

View from our balcony.

Inside leading to a very nice outdoor shower.

Serengeti: Trip III

Best sighting of the trip

With tourism down to unprecedented levels, the opportunity to experience Serengeti without the usual crowds was something we could not pass up. Our previous trips (Trip I, Trip II) were both phenomenal and I hold the Serengeti National Park on a pedestal far above any other national park I've visited in Africa. The density of wildlife is unparalleled. The only drawback, which is becoming a more frequent complaint, is that the park is overcrowded. Many people are surprised when they come on safari and see 10 other safari vehicles around a pride of lions. It can be a little annoying to have to overhear the conversations of the occupants in the other vehicles or jockey for position to get a good viewing. This can reduce the intimacy of the experience but it also helps to have so many eyes out browsing the landscape; information about sightings are communicated quickly through guides so locating rare animals become easier.

Ana and I had discussed the possibility of trying to visit the Serengeti without tourists and when my friend mentioned an amazing offer that one of the lodges was having, we literally booked our trip within 24 hours of receiving the information. It seemed like a truly once in a lifetime experience.

And sure enough, the trip lived up to every expectation and was a special experience. We arrived at the gate and it was stunning to see it empty. Typically you see up to 50 safari vehicles waiting in line. As we finished checking in we saw a touristy-yet-resident looking guy was checking out and I thought to myself, "hm, maybe there will be more people here than I expected...". We saw a caravan of five vehicles exiting the park shortly after we entered and I tried to taper my expectations regarding the relative emptiness of the park. Little did i know, those vehicles I saw within the first 10 minutes of arriving would be more than I'd see throughout our three nights in the park!

We only saw two other vehicles with tourists and none were at sightings of wildlife. Every single pride of lions that we saw (4 or 5 groups) we had to ourselves, including ones with kills. We were lucky enough to see the wildebeest migration in full force with no one else in sight. Three cheetahs on the road going to a wetlands to drink? Only us to watch them. It was kind of like low season in Ruaha only with 5x the density of wildlife.

Having the park to yourself doesn't just add intimacy to sightings but it also creates a kind of feeling of adventure. We had a map and relied on the ecology of the area (grasslands, rivers, etc) to identify our daily plans. We had some great drives and some long uneventful grass filled drives. Because tourism numbers have been way down since the rainy season many of the roads in the grasslands were very difficult to follow and all the smaller roads felt like no one had passed in weeks.

We were on the fence about this trip for a while and in the end I can't believe we even hesitated. The Serengeti will likely never have as few people and even when we came out on Saturday morning we began to see many more cars coming in, likely weekend trips from Arusha. Working in the field of conservation has certainly spoiled me rotten and this trip might have just put it over the top.

Mikumi National Park: Trip III

Sunrise

After a few months of self-isolation and limited movement, we're finally getting a chance to get out. Luckily, visits to national parks are quite good in the times of a pandemic due to limited interactions with people. We had to attend a meeting in Mikumi so naturally parlayed a trip to the national park (Trip I, Trip II).

One of the best things about Mikumi is that one can stay in reasonably priced accommodation in Mikumi town and still make it inside the park early enough to take advantage of prime wildlife viewing hours. On the road in we actually saw three hyenas cross the road, an exciting sighting in any national park. We made it to the gate when they opened at 6:30am and spent the morning leisurely driving around. At some point we decided that we'd like to check out the miombo woodlands in the NE side of the park and headed up the western side of the park. I'm a sucker for exploring areas of national parks that are seldom visited or areas that have not previously visited. It appeared they had recently repaired the roads and we passed through some uneventful recently burned miombo woodland until we reached Choga wale Ranger Post. The ranger post was surrounded by more grassland and we happily greeted the rangers at the seldom visited post. We attempted to drive east to loop around to the gate but the road was impassable.

We thought we would have a meeting after lunch time but the meeting was delayed so we poked around the hippo pools and main area just north of the gate. Unfortunately we got notice that a huge pride of lions was spotted in an area of the park that was too far for us to reach. We did enjoy views of a solitary buffalo, solitary eland, a pair of Bohor Reedbuck, and all the other usual suspects. We were also pleasantly surprised to see quite a few domestic tourists, mostly whom I assumed were from Dar es Salaam. It's good to see Tanzanians plugging the gap missing from international arrivals!

Hippo pool with low water level.

A pretty accurate map.

Amani Forest Reserve: Trip III

After a brief rain the moisture was hanging in the air.

We had visited Amani Forest Reserve in 2014 and 2016 and really love the place. We wanted to spend some more time in the forest but we unfortunately had our trip cut short (Trip I, Trip II) due to COVID-19. We planned to stay a few nights but due to uncertainty on how the nation would handle the first few cases we decided to head back home. We still got a chance to get out one day and do some hiking and birdwatching.

The drive up from Muheza was quite muddy this time of year and took around 1:40 to reach the village of Amani. The resthouse that we had previously stayed at was under construction (about a half hour down the hill from Amani proper) which means it will probably have some decent facilities in the near future. When we reached Muheza we found the Amani HQ had a previous booking and was full! We couldn't believe it but they directed us to another guesthouse, apparently the old malaria research station. There we found a comfy room in an old farmhouse type building set up on the top of a hill next to a river; extremely picturesque!

We immediately went to Kwamkoro Trail, one of the trails set in the interior of Amani. It's kind of weird because you must pass through a tea plantation to reach the trail head but there is an old logging road that is relatively flat. It's a beautiful walk through nicely preserved forest, the only drawback being that it's not a loop. We enjoyed an afternoon walk with some light showers, which I always feel like highlight the montane forest in a mystical way.

Unfortunately we got word of the first confirmed COVID-19 case that evening so we decided it was safer to head back home. It was still great to have even the briefest visit in the amazing forests.

Taking a picture of a forest is always a crapshoot.

Peponi: Tanga trip V

I love the common area right next to the beach

We unfortunately had our trip to Spain cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns so we decided to make the best of a bad situation and at least get out of Iringa town. We decided to visit one of our favorite spots in Tanzania on the Tanga Coast (Trip I, Trip II, Trip III, Trip IV). We had not been able to visit for nearly three years (!!!) due to the long driving distance. However, we decided to wake up early and drive the 10 hours to Peponi, one of our favorite places.

One of the reasons we decided to go to the coast was the fact that we're in the middle of the rainy season. We had plenty of places that we wanted to do wildlife viewing or hiking, but if there is a rainy day then we would find ourselves stuck. With the beach, we at least know there are covered public space that we can chill at and read, after all we don't spend our days at the beach laying in the sun anyway.

We love that Peponi has campsites that are quite cheap and right next to the ocean. Our tent can get a nice sea breeze and the sound of the ocean at night is therapeutic. It can get a little warm in our tent but we found that if we put a mosquito net (always travel with one!) draped over our tent with the sides open, the breeze can come through.

The beach is nearly always deserted and we were able to do some fantastic bird watching as well. It's such a chill location and the services and staff are still amazing. I was pleased to recognize, and be recognized, by many of the staff even years later. We hope that another three years doesn't pass before we go again!

Walking along the beach.

The seafood platter for two. At 50,000tsh (roughly $21.00) it is one of my favorite meals in the entire world.

Jozani Forest: Trip III

In the forest

Visiting Jozani is a must when I go to Zanzibar (Trip I, Trip II). It offers a different type of environment than the beach and it’s a short and easy hike with the bonus of habituated monkeys for viewing while walking. I recommend it to anyone that visits Zanzibar, whether they love nature or just looking for something else to do. It can take under an hour if you have an easy pace or you can make it last longer but taking your time or requesting to hike deeper in the forest. They’ve steadily built up the facilities and amenities since the first time I came and it is a well advertised activity throughout the island.