“In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by
…Lingering in the golden gleam—
Life, what is it but a dream?”
— Lewis Carroll
It would be hard to know where to begin to describe Tanzania except for the amazing people. If I were an artist I would paint or write a song.
A poet I may not be, yet I invoke, a scene, the Tanzanian folk.
The people of Tanzania are friendly and kind. A man, shaking your hand, continues to hold it, sometimes to lead the way. At a Maasai boma (a family compound) women singing a song of welcome, dance cheerful, dazzling with high vertical leaps. Meeting the chief’s son he shakes my hand, then holds it and leads me around the boma. Tanzania is about 43% Christian, 41% Muslim and most of the rest are animal worshipers. This is a Christian boma consisting of a half dozen or so huts next to a cattle corral, one hut for each of the chief’s wives, her children and goats. Inside one of the huts, observe, a pallet on the floor where the wife sleeps with her children, across the room another pallet for her goats. Squatting over a crockery pot and a tiny fire pit a woman prepares for the day. As we leave the boma, women ululate a farewell.
Each of the 124 tribes in Tanzania speaks a distinct dialect. Tenth century Arab traders mixed Arabic with local dialects. Thus, Swahili was created. Since Tanzania gained independence the government has promoted the values of kindness and unity, encouraging intertribal cooperation.
Welcoming souls whose open hands extend, vistas that take breaths, and dreamlike blend.
The scenery and the wildlife of Tanzania exceed expectations. The Ngorongoro Caldera at 19 kilometers across, surrounded by sheer 300-meter walls, is the world’s largest crater. Animals born here never leave. It contains the densest concentration of lions in the world. Standing on the rim at sunrise, it is hard not to imagine that this is the Garden of Eden. Am I mortal or God’s spy?
I am in Tanzania to witness the Great Migration of the Serengeti and Olduvai Gorge’s fossils. At our first breakfast, attended by a vervet monkey interloper, our guide introduces another goal: we will view the “Big Five” — lions, elephants, leopards, rhinoceroses and Cape buffalo, the most dangerous of the big five, so called because they are the prized by game hunters.
Soon we encounter two adolescent male lions snoozing in the sun on their backs, legs akimbo. We stop inches from them, my heart in my throat. But their bellies are full, so they are oblivious. Several days later in the caldera, while viewing a black rhino, two young male lions approach to nap in the shade of our safari jeep. My window is open. I could touch them. Spoiler alert! I don’t. Now, close encounters with lions are passé. I cannot respect big game hunters.
Between the two lion sightings, traveling into Serengeti National Park, we are among great migrating herds, mainly wildebeests, gazelles and zebras. Each year the Great Migration moves clockwise around the edge of the Serengeti, leaving the predators to stalk local animals. Wildebeests and zebras ally. Wildebeests smell water from far away, determining its general direction. Zebras have good memories, so remembering each trail they lead the way. Serengeti National Park is also home to Olduvai Gorge, where Mary and Louis Leakey discovered the oldest fossilized hominid remains and hominid footprints preserved in volcanic ash for millions of years.
Early one morning we are transfixed by the sight of hippos returning from the short grass of the Serengeti to plunge into Lake Ndutu, where they nap all day.
Serengeti’s heart, forever sings in nature, where wonder springs.
Three random memories: Impalas locking horns. A Maasai herdsman pausing his herd to answer his cell phone. An elephant scratching its ear with its trunk .
Now I stand with eagle eyes, staring, with a wild surmise, silent, upon a peak in Ngorongoro, knowing that dreams are mysteries meant to be felt. Explained? No.
Readers can view video from this safari at a Center for Continuing Adult Learning class May 23, membership and reservations required.
Visit www.ccaloneonta.org for more information.