These things occurred on Sunday November 3, 2024 in Arusha, Tanzania
As we pulled up to the Arusha National Park parking lot for our first safari experience, our guide Hosea turned to us and explained how we will need to be quiet in the park so that we don’t scare the animals away. He ended his quick speech with a pithy rule of thumb: “Don’t be scared. If I’m not scared, you’re not scared. If I’m scared, you’re scared.” Hosea had already earned our trust, so it was easy to believe he knew what he was doing. Once we agreed he jumped out of the jeep and raised the top so that we could look out as we drove through the park. Then, we were off.
Arusha National Park is a beautiful area and is known for having the largest giraffe population in the Tanzania parks. It is a smaller park when compared to the other safari parks tourists typically visit, but it is beautiful with plenty of wildlife to see. As we drove through the park’s entrance we were immediately greeted by baboons and zebra. The boys had a grand time standing up in the jeep while Hosea drove through the park in search of animals. At some point, we all tried our hand at standing on our seat-bar while holding onto the top-bar, letting the wind flow through our hair. Shai dubbed this “car-surfing.” It became one of the recurring highlights of our safari experiences. Meanwhile, Hosea wowed us with his ability to spot the animals while driving without even looking like he was trying. We saw giraffe, zebra, warthogs, black and white Colobus monkeys, ibis, and flamingo. Hosea taught us that the word “pumba” – the name of the warthog in The Lion King – has absolutely no meaning and no one knows how or why the name was given. At one point, we couldn’t drive any further because there were two giraffes sauntering toward us on the road. They looked right at us, which made us feel like we had just been noticed by a celebrity.
One of the reasons we chose to visit Tanzania was because Eitan studied the country in second grade as part of their world citizenship curriculum. It was also the only way to get him to agree to getting the yellow fever vaccine we needed for several countries we plan to visit this year. It is safe to say that Eitan was living his best life on safari. He loves animals, thinks he might even be a zoologist when he grows up. Every time I looked over at him, he was grinning from ear to ear, his long hair blowing back behind him. Seeing Eitan like this was one of my highlights of our time in Tanzania.
Inside the park is Ngurdoto Crater, a sunken caldera made from a volcanic eruption. In other words, the volcano collapsed in on itself after a large eruption. We stopped at an observation spot for lunch where we could see animals grazing the grasslands inside the crater. While we watched, Chaim gave us a science lesson on the different types of craters that exist on earth and how they are formed.
After the park, we stopped at the African Art Gallery. The gallery is set up as a small village concept with different areas hosting arts of different types – furniture, sculptures, tchotchkes, paintings and photographs, spices, coffees, and teas, and more. We only had an hour there but could have spent all day. Three of the boys bought handmade stuffed animals for themselves. Amichai was more interested in a necklace, which led to an important conversation about cultural appropriation. Most of the necklaces he liked were of Africa or tribesmen. Chaim and I asked him if he felt a connection to the continent of Africa. When he said he just liked the way it looked, we suggested that perhaps he should look for a different necklace. When he wanted the head of a tribesman, we talked about what that art symbolizes to the people from Tanzania and suggested that he consider a different option. After much thought and talking through why he thought an animal might be a better choice based on our discussion, he chose a crocodile necklace. Not everyone will agree with us, but we felt this was an important educational moment in our family and one that will repeat as we move through different parts of the world.
The art gallery consists of four floors that wind upward with an inner and outer spiral. Paintings, sculptures, photographs, beaded furniture, and more cover the walls and floors from floor to ceiling. We were told to look for “The Mona Lisa of Africa”, but the art was so excellent that we had a hard time moving quickly through the museum. When we reached “The Mona Lisa of Africa” on the top floor, we discovered it is a painting of lionesses whose eyes follow the observer wherever she stands. It is a beautiful painting, much larger than Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa with zero security around it so we could stare at it for however long we wanted. A “sold” sign next to it made us feel lucky to have seen the painting before it moves to its new home.
On the way home, the boys completed some of their journal pages. The day had been exhilarating and exhausting, giving them plenty to write about and draw.
