Day 4

When snakes have blue eyes

Tanzania seems to be full of weird camping grounds. Yesterday we visited the one next to the cliff and today we went to the Meserani Snake Park. It is home to snakes from all over Tanzania, as well as various other reptiles. And so it happens that you can place your tent next to a basin full of hungry crocodiles – scary!

In the Snake Park, Ms. Lyn Bale, one of the founders of the Park warmly welcomed us. She is also called ‘Mama Nyoka’, which means ‘Mama Snake’. She introduced us to Jamal who is a walking encyclopaedia when it comes to reptiles. As we saw and learnt about the snakes of Tanzania we realised that a visit to the Snake Park is a wonderful opportunity to get you prepared for a safari. Here we were able to see those astonishing creatures you hardly ever see on a safari – and if you do you might be in serious trouble. We were happy that the snakes like the Boomslang (which has poison for which no antidote exists) or the Black Mamba (which is the largest and fastest moving venomous snake in Africa) in the Snake Park are living behind thickened glass.
What all snakes have in common is their beautiful skin, as it camouflages each of them perfectly. Sometimes you have to stare a while on a pile of sticks to figure out which one is the snake. We learnt from Jamal that the snake’s eyes turn blue just before they are shedding their skin. That is because a blue, fat-based liquid is separating the old and new skin.

Jamal also gave us the opportunity to hold a tiny, cute baby-crocodile in our hands. The grown up crocodiles in the next basin were … well, not cute at all. You don’t want to get too close to them. By the way Tanzania is home to only crocodiles and not alligators. You can differentiate the two when they have their mouth closed: Crocodiles show all their teeth, while alligators show only two of them! Interesting, huh?

The Maasai

We discovered that Meserani not only has a snake park, the camping ground and a medical station (for snake venom) they also cooperate very well with the local Maasai community. There is a constant exchange of goods and knowledge. We had a chance to talk to Olestony, a friendly and wise Maasai, and take a tour to a nearby Maasai village with him.

Growing up and living as a Maasai is hard and sometimes very physically gruelling.  Olestony told us about the different stages a Maasai goes though during his life. All are strictly adhered to: What tasks you have to fulfil, what clothing to wear and so on. I was so impressed by the different specialised handcrafted tools they use and the skills handed down from generation to generation. Living in such a traditional way is surely not easy in our time.

The real fun started when we went to the Maasai village. In fact we rode there on camels! These animals have a mind of their own and provide you with a funny but less than comfortable ride. Unless of course, you’re used to it!

The Maasai live in traditional square or round huts, handcrafted from wood, clay and ‘chelewa’ broom. They live in polygamy – one man has a couple of wives and each wife lives in her own hut; with the man rotating his sleeping place… An interesting concept which obviously only works because in the Maasai tribe there are a lot more women than men.

Maasai Art in the Cultural Heritage Centre

On our way back to town we visited the ‘Cultural Heritage Centre’. The main exhibition is still not open but what from what we saw is definitely worth a visit. The handcrafted woodwork is so beautiful I could have easily taken a whole of lot furniture with me. But obviously the overweight luggage would be a bit too much - even for Emirates Airlines.

The Blue Diamond - Tanzanite

Our last station for today was to visit a Tanzanite expert. Tanzanite is a beautiful blue stone and the only place in the world you will find it is in Tanzania – in a mining area next to Arusha.

If you would buy it uncut, Tanzanite looks unspectacularly grey - but if you heat it up to 400-450°C then it changes its colour to a striking blue.  You will then see if you made a good deal: the deeper the blue, the more valuable your Tanzanite is. If it is not pure then it will crack in the heat – and you would have wasted a few thousand dollars.
Buying Tanzanite is a great investment. The value increases over time and some day when the mines are depleted, you might own a very rare and priceless stone…

In the evening we returned to our hotel where we prepared ourselves to get up very early in the morning to move on, into the real African wildlife.