Meyer, Hans . . . . . the first man to climb Kibo

Nearby at Laetoli, Mary Leakey discovered in 1979 the earliest known footprints of hominids, animals and birds. They were passing that way about 3.6 million years ago through falling ash from the nearby Sadiman volcano. The raised arch and rounded heel of the footprints suggests the hominids were striding forth much like we would.

The most striking feature [of the Serengeti] is the great Kopjes ('small heads' in Afrikaans) which emerge out of the sea of grass. The technical term for these rock outcrops is inselberg. Made from old granite, deposits of volcanic ash and dust have accumulated around them to form the Serengeti plain. They have their own range of vegetation and wildlife.

The park in fact has the highest density of elephants in Africa, about eight to the square mile. Despite being harried by neighbouring farmers, their numbers are increasing - 613 of them were counted in 1981. In Iain Douglas-Hamilton's study of them, Among the Elephants, he observes that these intelligent and co-operative animals show grief at the death of a relative and even bury their dead. Although he claims to have been accepted by them, many of the Manyara elephants are bad-tempered and charge without hesitation.

It [Mto wa Mbu] has long been a trading centre where many different people have settled, notably the Mbugwe, Iraqw, Gorowa, Irangi, Totoga, Chagga and Maasai. The area ... is in fact the most linguistically diverse and complex in Africa. It is the only place in the continent where the four major African language families - Bantu, Khoisan, Cushitic, and Nilotic - occur together.

Tarangire is dominated throughout by the valley of the Tarangire River which attracts animals from the Maasai Steppe during the dry season. Although mainly acacia savannah, there are pockets of scrub and thicket, as well as rocky outcrops. Elephant, buffalo and lion can easily be observed. Lesser and greater kudu are common, and the rare gerenuk or giraffe-gazelle lives on the western border. It is also the only habitat in Tanzania of the oryx. When seen in profile the oryx sometimes appears to have only one long straight horn, which may have given rise to the myth of the unicorn.

A flourishing town of trees and flowers, Arusha is 4,560 feet above sea level. Once a small trading post it is now the agricultural, industrial and administrative centre of the region. Its importance is primarily due to its geographical position, situated as it is in the centre of East Africa and half-way between Cairo and the Cape.

Legacy status of Slavery lasted on the mainland until 1919, although after 1906 the children of slaves were born free.

... undoubtedly Mount Meru is the central attraction [of Arusha National Park]. Once probably higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, in the giant explosion which formed the Momella lakes, it lost its top and entire eastern side. As it is, it is still an arduous two-to-three day climb to reach its 14,979 foot-high peak.

It is usual to climb the mountain from the north-east side. The thorn bush and thicket give way after 7000 feet to montane forest criss-crossed with streams and spectacular waterfalls. The ancient juniper and cedar trees provide cover for bushbuck and buffalo. Turaco birds flash crimson in the dappled sunlight. Heather then spreads towards the slopes of Little Meru, a secondary peak of 12,538 feet, where a herd of eland live. Beyond stretches the intact western rim of Mount Meru proper. In its crater rises a perfect ash cone, from which a small lava flow occurred in 1979, thereby showing that is not extinct.

The summit offers magnificent views. From here the climber can see the badlands of Lake Natron to the north-west, the Maasai Steppe to the south, Arusha crouching below and, like an unbelievable vision, the snow capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro to the east. In the morning stillness a rare lammergeyer bird soars effortlessly over the crater, perfectly epitomizing the wild haunting beauty of northern Tanzania.

'Cold Place'

Ol Doinyo Lengai erupted in 1966 and 1983

An outstanding creative photographer who has been working with Camerapix in Kenya since 1977. Born in England, he worked for two years in the Sudan before moving to Kenya...

Peter [Marshall] is a widely-travelled writer. After leaving the Merchant Navy, he took a Doctorate and taught philosophy at the University of London. ... He has lived in Senegal and visited Tanzania many time. ... He has two children and lives in the mountains of North Wales

First reference to 'Azania' in a Greek guidebook - 'Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'

Active colonisation did not begin until the 8th century when Arab settlers began building towns on Zanzibar, Mafia and Kilwa. Around 1200, a group of 'Shirazi' - people who traced their ancestors to Shiraz in Persia - settled and founded new dynasties.

Sultan Sayyid Said moves from Muscat to Zanzibar.

'When you play the flute in Zanzibar, all Africa to the lakes dances'

In a century, an estimated 1.2 million slaves reached the coast, and Zanzibar. ... But for every slave delivered in Zanzibar, 10 died on the way.

Sultan Sayyid Said dies

It was not until the arrival of the Germans and the central railway line in 1910 that a permanent settlement came into existence. At the time the area was known as 'Idodomya', which in the local [Kigogo] language means 'the place where it sank', referring to an incident when an elephant drinking in a nearby pond got stuck in the mud. Idodomya went on the map as Dodoma.

Vines were first intoduced into Tanzania in 1938 by the Holy Ghost Fathers near Kondoa. In 1957 Passionist Father Irioneo Maggioni, of the Bihawana Mission, planted near Dodoma, three vine seedlings out of curiosity. They proved such a success that today [1984] some 2,980 acres of vineyards are under cultivation around the new capital.

The Serengeti’s first European hunters arrived in 1913. S. E. White and R.J. Cunningham organised a safari and found the wildlife plentiful, especially the lions, although they saw no elephants.

Seven years later [than 1913] the American L. Simpson came in a strange new contraption known as a Model ‘A’ Ford car.

the Maasai name for red lily grass

Ol Doinyo Lengai erupted in 1966 and 1983...

Named 'Winter Highlands' by the Germans

Mountain of God

known after the Maasai name (emanyara) for the Euphorbia tirucalli bush

Just outside Arusha the delightful crater lake of Duluti offers good fishing and bird watching. More beautiful still, 20 miles away, is the Arusha National Park, a tranquil retreat established in 1960. Within its 46 sq. miles it has three distinct areas: the Mount Meru crater, the Ngurdoto Crater, and the five Momella lakes.

Ptolemy made the first written reference to it [Kilimanjaro] in his Geography in the 2nd century - to a ‘great snow mountain’ lying inland from Rhapta on the coast of Tanzania.

It was 13 years before Rebman’s sighting [of Kilimanjaro in 1848] was confirmed by the German Officer Baron Karl Klaus von der Decken and the young British geologist Richard Thornton. Von de Decken climbed to about 14,000 feet and experienced a fall of snow. Thornton made many observations of the mountain and estimated accurately that it stood about 20,000 feet above sea level. Six years later the missionary Charles New managed to reach the snowline. Then in 1884 the naturalist Henry Hamilton Johnston made an intensive study of the flora and fauna.

Kilimanjaro - Kilemieiroya (Wa-Chagga) meaning 'the mountain cannot be conquered'