Last week I traveled to Arusha region, located in the northeastern part of Tanzania to visit some large-scale fortification industries involved in the processing of maize and wheat. While I intend to give detailed illustration on the visit and some key things learnt (in later posts), I did enjoy a good scenery of Arusha and would like to share some of these beautiful natural features with you all.
Arusha region is among the largest tourist attraction locations in Tanzania. This is due to its diverse wildlife safari’s, big mountains like Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru as well as the indigenous culture that still exists in the area like the Maasai tribe. The season of June to October, is the usual time-phrase for many tourists to visit the region due to drier conditions and suitability to especially climb mountains.
The beautiful Mt. Kilimanjaro that rises on Tanzania -Kenya border and is the highest mountain in Africa. It is 19,340 feet (5,895 meters) above sea level .Mt. Kilimanjaro has snow caps on its peak and comprises of three volcanic cones. The mountain snow capes are sadly diminishing, having lost more than 80 percent of their mass since 1912 (Nelson, 2010). Annually many people attempt to climb and reach the summit of this mountain however, not everyone is successful due to altitude related problems. The average days to climb to the mountain summit ranges from 6 to 9 days. I personally have not climbed this mountain yer, however this is definitely a year 2020 goal!!!!Lovely sunset view of ‘Mt.Kili ‘ as some people call it.This is Mt. Meru located 70 km west of Mt Kilimanjaro. It is a dormant stratovolcano and its height is 4,562.13 meters. Climbing to the summit of this mountain takes an average of 2 to 3 days.Above view of Mt Meru, in Arusha National Park. The mountain offers a good preparation climb for Mt Kilimanjaro (Mt Meru is the second largest mountain in Tanzania). Although even hiking and camping on the slopes or visiting the ash cone in the much lower crater provides great walking safaris . One thing so wonderful about this scenery is that in the lower slopes there preside diverse wildlife and stunning vegetation. Can you imagine that this is actually a fig tree trunk ?! A definite ‘signature fig tree indeed’ The ‘ African Buffalo’Elephants…………….Believe me these animals are scary in real life!Giraffes in their glory………………..! you don’t see this in Ireland for sure.Zebra’s……………Even animals have social gatherings………… Flamingo’s ………….Breathtaking.The Maasai people, pastoralists known for their strong culture, colourful attire and admirable works of craft. These groups of people are majorly found in Arusha region and in Kenya. There are so many souvenirs from Arusha region, ranging from the Maasai jewelry, to….
Maasai blankets,..
Maasai scandels…
To woven baskets, pots and mats. You can never leave Arusha empty handed!!
And of cause, I cannot forget to mention the tasty Tanzanian snacks that can be found all over the country even in Arusha. The picture shows an example of such, known as ‘Kashata’ a snack made from peanuts and sugar.
I believe I should stop here for now, as I could go on and on! I recommend visiting this area. For anyone who would love to see the best of East Africa, Arusha is the place. Arusha and Zanzibar ( one of the islands on the Indian Ocean), which is just adjacent to Tanzania mainland. I was not able to visit Zanzibar this time around. Here’s one aerial shot while passing across the Island.
