Tanzania

Food in Tanzania - an incomparable taste experience
Ugali is the national dish of Tanzania. This solid porridge made from
maize flour is served as a side dish with vegetables, meat and stews.
Ugali is comparable to the polenta known in Europe.

Traditionally, ugali is eaten with the right hand, the left hand is
is considered unclean. A ball is formed from the maize porridge with the left hand,
a small depression in it, which is filled with vegetables or meat.
filled with vegetables or meat.

At the numerous street stalls in Tanzania, you can buy various small snacks that are extremely delicious and also inexpensive. For example, corn on the cob is roasted over a fire and seasoned with the spicy pili pili sauce, which gives it its incomparable taste.
 

Safari in Tanzania - In search of clues
The old bull elephant stands alone in the thorn bushes. The evening sun gives the giant's dust-encrusted skin a golden glow. It is conspicuously quiet in our otherwise lively tour group. We watch in awe as the gray giant grinds up leaves and finger-length spines. Only the soft click-click of the camera shutter can be heard. Otherwise there is silence. I still have a phrase in my ear: "You'll never forget your first elephant in the wild."
Claudia - the most Africa-savvy of our little community - said it at some point during the many hours we spent that day on dusty tracks in an open jeep, from Arusha National Park to here. And she didn't promise too much. Hardy Krüger's words, in whose footsteps we followed on this trip, also come to mind: "The front garden of Momella is the huge, silent, colorful and mysterious Africa. The realization of how small you are, how unimportant, makes you calm and gives you strength and new ideas." 

Hardy's love for Hatari
Krüger discovered the country for himself while filming the Hollywood classic "Hatari!" in 1960. The German sonny boy, who was just at the beginning of a promising Hollywood career, played the lead role alongside John Wayne. During his stay of several months, he grew so fond of the region that he decided to settle down here and buy the farm that had also served as a film set and run it as a hotel. 
Kruger and Momella, idyllically situated at the foot of Mount Meru - a stormy love affair that lasted 13 years. What followed was flight and disappointment. Frustrated by the country's political development, the actor parted with his African dream virtually overnight in the early 1970s, without clarifying the ownership situation or any outstanding debts. 
"Hardy Krüger left behind a shambles that we are still sweeping up today," says Jörg Gabriel. For the native German, who runs the current Hatari Lodge together with his wife Marlies, cleaning up the mess is a life's work. Since 2004, the couple have put their heart and soul into rebuilding the former private homes of Kruger and his farm manager Jim Mallory, turning them into a gem for Africa tourists.

The sky above Shu'Mata
But back to Maasai land, four bumpy hours' drive from Hatari. It is already dark when we climb the hill of Shu'mata Camp after our encounter with the elephant. Shu'mata means heavenly in the Maasai language. And indeed, I have never felt so close to heaven as on this evening under the canopy of stars in the African savannah. 
The camp with its six spacious safari tents is perched on a mountain in the middle of the Amboseli ecosystem just before the Kenyan border. The dust is washed off in the brick-built outdoor showers before an exquisite dinner and the obligatory whiskey by the campfire. This is how I have always imagined Africa in my dreams. 
The next day begins with the quiet rattling of a zipper and a freshly brewed coffee brought to me by a Maasai warrior for the sunrise spectacle in front of the tent. The sky is blood red as the first rays of light creep over the snow-covered peak of Kilimanjaro. My limbs are still pretty heavy with sleep, but the sight of this boundless expanse simply makes me happy.

High time of happiness - a visit to the Maasai 
After breakfast, we head down the mountain on foot, past thorn bushes, termite mounds, herds of wildebeest, giraffes and gazelles. Thanks to Enoch's trained eye, nothing exciting is overlooked. He leads our group to a nearby boma, where a young Maasai is getting married to his second wife today. It is a great honor for us to be invited. Preparations for the celebration are in full swing as we enter the dung-covered round village. A cow has already been slaughtered in the early hours of the morning and cut into its individual parts by the young men. The whole village seems to be in a frenzy. Especially the children. They laugh with me - or at me, I'm not sure - and pose skillfully in front of my camera. Not a trace of photo shyness.

Wild actors at the Ngorongoro Crater
I have a similar experience a few days later in Ngorongoro National Park, albeit with completely different actors. The 20 by 20 kilometer crater is one of the most important natural monuments in the world. It is a kind of Noah's Ark, where rangers and animal researchers can observe every movement of animals threatened with extinction in the smallest of spaces, and it is correspondingly busy. "The big cats are totally used to people here. On hot days, it can happen that they lie down under the car, and then of course there's no getting away," says Jörg Gabriel. We are not so lucky, or rather unlucky, during our visit, because who likes to sit on a lion for hours? But: a short and rather heavy downpour drives most of the jeeps off the sandy track on this day, and so the picture-book scenery of the crater, together with its wildlife accustomed to photos and cameras, is almost exclusively ours. When a soaking wet family of lions crosses the road just a few meters from the car, we can hardly contain our euphoria. We compare the pictures we've taken like trophies. 
Ten days on safari in Tanzania: it is impossible to adequately write down all the spectacular encounters I had on this trip. The experiences with the wild animals, but also the conversations with the people living there, touched me too much. What I can say with certainty: They changed me - in the way I feel, think and act. A part of me has certainly remained there. My wild heart, as I call it - it now beats for Africa.

Sights in Tanzania - Experience the wilderness
The biggest sights in Tanzania are without doubt the many national
many national parks, first and foremost the Serengeti. Another popular
destination is the island of Zanzibar. The port city of Dar es Salaam is a
good starting point for a safari or beach vacation in Tanzania. In
Dar es Salaam itself has numerous museums and a village museum with traditional
traditional arts and crafts. Some of the streets still have
very old colonial houses.

On the coast of Tanzania, not far from Dar es Salaam
from Dar es Salaam, there are numerous fishing villages. In Msasani you can
tombs from the 17th century can be visited. In Kilwa Kisiwani
there are Arab and Portuguese ruins waiting to be visited. In the vicinity of
Kunduchi you can marvel at the ruins of Persian buildings. The offshore
Mbudya is uninhabited and surrounded by a protected coral reef.
surrounded by a protected coral reef. It is particularly suitable for snorkeling and diving. An
excursion to Sinda Island is also worthwhile.

Africa souvenirs - Fascinating handicrafts in Zanzibar
Special features of Zanzibar: small carved wooden chests decorated with gold-plated nails
chests and miniature replicas of the beautiful chiseled doors.
doors. Colorful fabrics for the ladies (kangas) or plain (kikois) for the men.
the men. In the Curios stores in the city and at the stalls
stalls in the Forodhani district, you can buy numerous handicraft objects
made on the continent. Place settings, serving platters,
jewelry, ebony sculptures from Tanzania or soap stones from Kenya.
Kenya. Fishing hats, raffia rugs, batiks and watercolors by local artists.
artists.
The women of the island sew pretty kofias (the small white hats worn by the men),
hats worn by the men) and sell them in the alleyways of Zanzibar.
Zanzibar. At the market, all the spices are very tempting:
Cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom etc. Everywhere you can
bargain and get a small discount on the prices of handicrafts.
on the prices of the handicrafts.