Submitted by SafariADV on Sun, 2018-02-18
This morning, after breakfast, we depart, we leave the Tarangire National Park behind and continue our journey.
Today we have a little way to go and we can choose to go North, passing by Mto Wa Mbu and reach Karatu with the asphalt road, or we can make a dirt road that ventures among the villages of the Mbugwe, a population of Bantu origin. who lives in these lands.
Obviously we choose the second option and we leave, it is nice to drive among the villages, we take some pictures, but without annoying people, and we enjoy the wonderful landscape.
Shortly after the road begins to rise and there are some hairpin bends that look like those found in the Alps; we are climbing the Rift Valley slope.
Our guide enjoys driving Sir Stanley Selous along this winding road while we, at every turn, admire the view that opens up below us; thank goodness that in some places, especially the steeper ones, the road is not unpaved but they have made a coarse-grained concrete surface, in this way the car has greater grip, otherwise during the rainy season it would be impossible to pass by here.
Once we reach the plateau we find ourselves in the lands of the Iraqi or Iraqw, also known as Mbulu; they are a population of farmers, but they also own some cattle.
It seems that this population is not of Bantu origin like the neighboring ones, but instead belongs to the Cushitic language group, that in turn belongs to the Afro-Asian linguistic group; their features are less pronounced than the Bantu people, and some of them are a little lighter in complexion.
Their villages seem well looked after, both the more modern and the more traditional ones.
Here on the plateau there is also the largest church in Tanzania, it was built by the Germans during the period of colonization.
From here we head towards Karatu, initially we would have had to take another more adventurous route, but there have been some floods due to recent rains, and the road is not passable; we descend from the plateau and transit from Karatu.
From here we take another dirt road, that as well goes through the lands of the Iraqi, it is very beautiful from the point of view of the landscape; we also cross some rivers but these, thanks god, are dry.
Shortly after we arrive at Lake Eyasi and at our lodge: the Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge.
We check-in and go to our room, but we leave soon, we go to visit a Datoga village.
