It’s hard to believe a year has gone by since my trip to Tanzania & Kenya. I started going through some photos recently and realized how much more I wanted to share, but never got around to. So I’ll try to post a few more stories in the weeks ahead.

One thing that came to mind as I was looking over the shots was that it’s one thing to have read how varied and rich the colors of Africa are and very different to see them for yourself.

 
You can really get a sense of that you drive from Arusha to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, more specifically seeing how contrasting the red Rhotia valley and the green Ngorongoro crater area are.

 
The red soils of Rhotia are unmistakable.

 
I had to ask our driver to stop often so we could enjoy the views.

 
Admittedly from what I remember it had rained the night before, but still it’s hard to forget the colors.

 
I wonder what they grow in this land, seems very farmable.

 
Shortcuts 😉

 
People didn’t really mind me taking photos.

 
Like this little girl who basically posed for me 🙂 So cute, love the energy in the photo.

 
My favorite clothesline.

 
We stopped by in the small town of Karatu.

 
Coca Cola is everywhere.

 
So is petroleum.

 
Not an hour later, the scenery changes drastically and from the reds of Rhotia all you see is the lush green of Ngorongoro.

 
I’ll have a separate post on the crater itself later as it’s a story of its own, but just look at this view.

 
A posh hotel on the rim of the crater. We didn’t stay there, ours was more of the tent type of trip (which to be honest I prefer at present) 😉

 
Even some of the trees seemed to have gotten quite different 20-30km away from Rhotia. Yep, those are indeed elephants in the shot (took me a while to notice them after taking it, to be entirely honest) which should give you a sense for the scale…

 
What a tree that must have been.

 
The vastness of the landscape is hard to comprehend in photos, but hopefully this gives you a clue.

 
A scattered little Maasai village.

 
The Maasai still live in huts and we were told they have largely preserved their lifestyle. We opted not to go into a village as it seemed we would be disturbing them (or that we’d be taken to the “tourist friendly” one).

 
The herd you see in the middle of this giant valley is most likely wildebeest. The green pastures must be like heaven to them.

 
Last couple of shots before we make our way to Serengeti. Despite many 4x4s passing through this area, these giraffes (and many more animals, come to think of it) seemed unphased most of the time.

 
We got close enough to really see the crazy tongue in action 😉

 
More of Africa coming soon 🙂