With JBL in Tanzania

A night flight with a connection in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, a brief stopover in Mombasa, Kenya, and then arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania the following lunchtime – my African adventure had begun! The JBL expedition was spread over nine days. Our journey took us first to Arusha in the north-east of the country and then to the island of Zanzibar, where I embarked on the return trip to Germany along with five other participants in the workshop. The majority of the group travelled from Zanzibar to spend a few days on Lake Tanganyika. Since the expedition took the form of a workshop, members of the expedition party also had to work during the trip. All the members were assigned beforehand to groups with such expressive names as Clownfishes, Flying Fishes, Seals or Manta Rays. Each group was supposed to perform a certain number of preset tasks on the trip: UV measurements, water analyses, photon measurements, light measurements, measurements of air temperature and humidity and many more besides. The readings obtained were entered in lists, which are being collated by expedition leader Heiko Blessin and are to be published on the JBL website. Arusha Park – an animal paradise Our first excursion took us to Lake Duluti, where we proudly discovered our first chameleon. We were also enchanted by the countless birds that could be spotted on the lake. From there we travelled through Arusha National Park, encountering large numbers of giraffes, zebras, water buffalo and various species of monkey. Our first overnight stay was at Small Momella Lake. Here we dined overlooking the lake, and from our elevated viewpoint we could even sight hippos in the far distance. We spent two days traversing Tanzania’s wilderness in our bus, passing through constantly changing landscapes that all had something fascinating to offer. We stopped at frequent intervals to give free rein to the urge to explore and investigate. We looked for fish and frogs in clear streams. At Snake Frog Lake our snake catcher, a constant companion, “charmed” a green tree snake from the bush to the delight of the many photographers in our group. In the steppe, at the foot of Mount Meru rising 4 600 m above us, we fanned out to seek lizards, spiders and scorpions. One highlight was a night hike in the tropical rainforest, where we found a number of chameleons and some fascinating insects. It’s no wonder that the participants remained hugely enthusiastic throughout the trip; what could be better…