We're going on Safari, and it's just us three.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome back to the channel.
Right now I am in Arusha in Tanzania,
and I'm extremely excited because in this series,
we will be taking you from here in Arusha
to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa,
the tallest freestanding mountain in the world.
But before we dive into the climb,
I wanted to take a little bit of time to kind of just familiarize
both ourselves and yourself with Tanzania.
Right now we are about to pile into this 4x4 vehicle,
and we're going to go on a safari in Tarangire.
What's the name of that National Park?
Tarangire
Tarangire.
Okay, so we're going to hop into this car,
and we're going to do a safari today in Tarangire National Park.
It's one of the main national parks here in Tanzania,
and it's going to be a super fun day.
Kind of questionable whether there might be rain on the way,
but it doesn't matter 'cause this thing will drive through anything.
Let's go
We've stopped in downtown Arusha to grab some packed lunches for the safari,
but behind me is a clock tower that's relatively important.
It's actually the middle point between Cape Town and Cairo.
Not only is it a clock tower where you can find out what time it is,
you also can find exactly where you are on the continent of Africa
right in the middle between Cape Town and Cairo.
We're taking about a two hour drive
From Arusha to Tarangire National Park,
and we've just pulled over on the side of the road.
Behind me is a Maasai village.
You've probably heard of the Maasai before.
They're one of over a hundred and twenty three different ethnic groups here in Tanzania.
I think that the Maasai are probably some of
the most famous African tribes.
I think when people think of tribes from Africa
the image of the Maasai comes to mind.
This man is wearing a traditional headdress,
which has ostrich feathers.
They're pastoralists,
primarily with cattle and goats,
and that means that they're nomadic traditionally,
semi-nomadic now,
where they're essentially taking their cattle and their herds
from water from place to place to place.
So it's really cool
It's day one here in Tanzania.
We've met the Maasai.
We're about to go on safari,
and I'm just extremely excited to be back in Africa.
This is a baobab tree.
It's one of my all-time favorite trees
after the redwood, of course.
But this is Africa's coolest tree.
It's often called the upside down tree
because it looks like the roots are the branches
But this is one of Africa's most iconic trees.
It has a fruit that is edible.
This is a baobab fruit,
and you can make juice out of it
or you can just eat
the way it is.
When it's dried, it actually kind of tastes like dehydrated ice cream.
It has the same texture but like a sherbert flavor
It's very kind of tart.
It's good. It's like a superfood.
It's packed with all sorts of nutrition
It's a favorite food of the elephants, as well.
When you go on safari,
one of the first things you'll notice when you spot zebras
is a lot of time they're with wildebeest.
Essentially they've evolved together to provide better security against predators.
Zebra have some of the best eyesight in
this part of the animal kingdom,
and the wildebeests have a better sense of smell.
Zebra graze on higher grass.
Wildebeest graze on lower grass.
But by coming together and
essentially providing a better security network for each other,
they're able to survive with a higher chance.
It's really interesting how the animal kingdom evolves in this way
where different species can provide
something for another species....
co- evolution in a way.
It's really interesting stuff.
This has to be one of the most quintessential bucket-list activities in the world, in my opinion.
Going on safari in East Africa here in Tanzania and
being surrounded by the incredible diversity of wildlife,
it's it's mind-boggling.
We're surrounded by a group of banded mongoose
and probably about 20 or 30 giraffes,
which are the national animal of Tanzania.
The giraffe actually shares the same amount of vertebrae as a human being.
It's just that their spinal column is way longer than ours.
A really interesting way that their heart works with valves
Essentially when they are standing up,
they have a big heart pumps the blood all the way up to their brain.
But when they go down to drink water, they have to lower their head
and their heart has a special valve which cuts off blood flow so that they don't
essentially blackout from bending over.
It's been so long since I've been to Africa and I just feel
so much gratitude
Huge thanks to Kiliwarriors for getting us on a safari.
Definitely making the most of our time here.
All right, well it's lunch time.
So we've come to one of a few places where you're actually allowed to get out of the vehicle,
a little picnic spot.
Great view over there. We we have a picnic table.
It has an umbrella, although it's missing a pretty crucial part.
Anyways, it's time and we're going to find out what's for lunch.
I have no idea what's for lunch. What's in the box?
What is it Carlos? What do we have?
We have I think... We've identified biscuits for sure.
Yeah this biscuit
I think this is a doughnut.
That looks like a doughnut, theoretically,
and then there's this..
That's a dough stick.
So whatever that is, and then this looks like a wing.
a chicken wing.
There're some questions and mysteries.
I'm going to start with this thing.
I don't know what that is.
Maybe starting with the meat is probably a good idea.
Hmm, that's chicken. Oh it's good.
We've just leveled up.
We have stumbled upon a herd of elephants,
and there's a big bull just down there.
Incredible animals.. some of the most majestic creatures on this planet.
Extremely intelligent.
They have really, really great memory.
If they've passed through a place
20-30 years before, they can remember.
They know where to find water.
They can smell water from miles away.
Well back in the day
elephant herds would migrate all the way from South Africa
up to Sudan, southern Sudan,
just to put into perspective
the amount of territory that they can cover.
We've seen some little babies
We see a whole family out there in this dry riverbed,
and they can actually use their tusks and their trunk to find water
buried below the surface.
They actually have six sets of molars
and that's to chew through some of the really tough
foliage that they eat.
They can also live up to around 70 years old.
When they're on their last set of molars,
they will move to an area that's swampier
where they can chew softer food.
And that really just puts into perspective
how resilient these creatures are and how
able they are to survive as long as humans don't kill them.
So it makes me really happy to see elephants here.
It's just a very poignant reminder the importance of conservation and preserving the
ecosystem for these animals to survive in.
All you have to do is come and spend an afternoon in a place like this
to really get a whole new perspective on why that's important.
Riding on a tree on a branch and like rolling upside down.
Down the tree.
Onto the ground.
Scratching his ass.
This is what we came here to do.
No, not drink beer but climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
But honestly starting things off today with safari
was the best possible way we could do it.
So many animals: elephant, giraffe, zebra,
warthog, mongoose, even a little jackal.
We didn't see any big cats,
but hey, you know cats are pretty much nocturnal.
You know, we can only get so lucky.
But I thoroughly enjoyed today,
and I hope you guys did too.
Carlos. Did you enjoy yourself?
It was wonderful. It was perfect, loved it.
I'm sold. I want to come back.
Do more safari?
Yep
Don't tell me you had a good time.
Well, here's to that.
We're going to finish these beers, head back to Arusha,
and then it's time to get a little more serious, gear check time.
And then tomorrow in Episode 2, the climb begins.
So in the meantime, let's enjoy these ice-cold beers.
Refreshment brought to you by
Kilimanjaro.
Well, hopefully you enjoyed that video.
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Please make sure you stay tuned for part two and three of the Tanzania series
where I climb Mount Kilimanjaro
Africa's tallest mountain,
the tallest freestanding mountain in the world,
and one of the biggest volcanoes in the world.
It's going to be quite the adventure.
So stay tuned and remember:
stay curious, keep exploring,
and we'll see you on the road.
Peace.