Of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe.
“sublime” definition
He who wanders around by day a lot, learns a lot.
Kiswahili proverb
The last day of work for the 2023/2024 academic year at Qatar University was Thursday, June 30. And that night, I was on a plane to Tanzania, the 49th country I would be visiting. As I edged towards my goal of visiting 50 countries by the age of 50, I wanted to do something special, like a safari. So, earlier in the year, I requested bids from different safari companies, and I ended up choosing the first bid I received. I opted for a 7-day safari with no frills and multiple days in the Serengeti. Also, I didn’t need a private experience and was happy to join other groups during the trip, which resulted in the safari experience being more memorable for me.
My first day in Tanzania was dedicated to getting situated in the country. I arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport and quickly determined that I needed a visa. Fortunately, I was able to purchase a visa on arrival, and the impromptu process was faster for me than for travelers who had pre-purchased and printed their visas before boarding. After leaving the airport, I exchanged 200 US dollars for an enormous stack of Tanzanian shillings and met my driver for the one-hour ride to my hotel in Arusha.
The drive to Arusha was a good introduction to Tanzania and set the tone for my safari experience. Much of the roadside scenery consisted of farmland growing corn and sunflowers or simple shacks with corrugated metal roofs, serving as small stores or residences for the locals. The larger buildings appeared to be government offices, schools, or churches. My driver informed me that the population in Tanzania was predominantly Christian or Muslim, with a small percentage of Indian workers from the British colonial era comprising the Hindu community. While the main road was paved, many of the side roads were dirt, and I could only imagine the mess the rains would create.
After driving up a steep road to the top of a hill, we arrived at the hotel I had booked for the first night. It was a charming place with a variety of local plants and three tortoises roaming the common area. I spent my time at the hotel catching up on sleep, reading, and, most importantly, relaxing. That night, the tour operators visited me, and I paid the balance of my safari’s cost.
On the first day of my trip, I was paired with an American fellow from Ohio. He was finishing his safari experience as I was beginning mine. We visited the Materuni Waterfall and learned how the local coffee is grown and processed. The weather was pleasant, and I would have enjoyed the hiking more had my big toe joint not started to ache before I departed for Doha. Although I packed hiking shoes, I also brought a pair of tennis shoes with flat soles and a canvas exterior. I spent the day walking in them, which didn’t provide much traction but didn’t bend my big toe, preventing further discomfort. I survived the day, but that night, my foot was throbbing.
The next morning, my toe was swollen, and I limped to the lobby to await pick-up. I wondered if I was fit enough for the remainder of my safari experience. Part of me wanted to head back to Doha, rest on my couch with my foot elevated, and not move until the pain subsided. However, as the saying goes, “in for a penny, in for a pound.” I had already started the safari, and the rest of the trip would mostly involve driving in a Land Cruiser. I would only need to stand to take photographs or occasionally leave the vehicle to use the bathroom. I had survived my first week in Istanbul with a similar injury, and there, I had to do more walking on my injured toe. Despite the foot pain, I was committed to my safari adventure.
On the second day of the safari, I was grouped with a lone female traveler from Brazil and two women from Sweden. However, they were only working in Sweden; one was German, and the other was Belgian. For the rest of the safari, my driver was a Tanzanian man named Abouh. After becoming acquainted, we set off for Tarangire National Park. There, we saw giraffes, elephants, baboons, and leopards in the partially forested landscape. I was so swept up in the excitement of seeing the animals and taking photographs that I didn’t have time to dwell on my foot pain. Though it hurt to put pressure on my big toe, I shifted my weight to my heel and the side of my foot when standing.
On the third day of the safari, I was grouped with a French family who would be my companions for the rest of the trip. They were celebrating the recent retirement of their mother and consisted of two daughters, a son, and the son’s girlfriend. Though the SUV was now filled with the six of us, I couldn’t have asked for a more agreeable group of fellow travelers. They spoke English around me so that I could be included in the conversations, invited me to play card games in the evening, and most importantly made me feel welcomed in their company. I would have been content sitting in silence and taking pictures for the remainder of the safari, but sharing the experience with such cordial companions made it even more memorable. (Interestingly, they never asked me why I rode with my right shoe off or why I hobbled more at the beginning of our travels.)
During my trip to Tanzania, I packed two books: The Country Will Bring Us No Peace by Matthieu Simard and The Art of Travel by Alain De Botton. I finished the first novel on my first day in Tanzania. Over the next several days, I immersed myself in De Botton’s essay collection, particularly considering his essay about experiencing the sublime. De Botton notes how travel frequently offers moments of awe and grandeur, and upon reflection, these experiences can profoundly shift our perspective, imparting a sense of humility in the presence of the vast and majestic.
My time on the Serengeti, witnessing the Great Migration, truly embodied the sublime for me. Being surrounded by the vast sea of wildebeest, zebras, and antelopes, encountering predators like lions, cheetahs, and hyenas up close, and observing majestic megafauna such as elephants, giraffes, and hippopotamuses—all of these experiences instilled a constant sense of wonder in me. One afternoon on the Serengeti, while eating lunch off the hood of our vehicle, I pondered how distant human ancestors might have shared a similar simple meal but under much more precarious conditions of danger.
After my memorable safari experience, I bid farewell to my travel companions and boarded a plane for a few relaxing days in Tanzania. I spent a quiet day at my Airbnb before touring a spice farm and exploring Stone Town in Zanzibar. Afterwards, I flew back to Kilimanjaro, spent the night at a hotel near the airport, and then flew back to Doha.
Usually, I edit all my photos and compose a blog post within a week of a trip’s conclusion. However, due to the sheer number of photos I took, it has taken me longer to edit images from two cameras and fully reflect on my experiences in Tanzania. Nonetheless, this delay has allowed me to savor the memories and appreciate the impact this journey had on me. As I finalize my reflections and share my adventures through words and images, I acknowledge that this narrative is just an approximation of everything I witnessed and experienced. However, to truly grasp the sublime, one must experience it firsthand.
The following are photographs from my Fuji X100F camera.
opusculum 