SINYA AREA
We
arrived at Sinya Camp from Namanga our first afternoon (9/15/03) in
Tanzania, and spent
two nights there. The map at the right shows approximately where the
camp is. (Click on it for an
enlarged view.) The area is quite dry compared to other parts of
Tanzania we visited. This occurs
because the area is at a lower elevation than most of
the Tanzanian uplands, and because it is in the rain
shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro for the major monsoons
(March - May) which come from the southeast. It
also lies partly in the rain shadow of Mount Kenya for
the minor monsoons (November and December)
which come from the northeast . The country
reminded us of southeastern New Mexico in many
ways. That was true once we left the area of Mount Meru near our home base
of Arusha. The trip north
to Namanga was dry, and got dryer as we came
southward from Namanga to the camp. As we drove
on southward back to Arusha the country gradually
showed evidence of more precipitation after the first hour or so.
(Images from that journey introduce
the drive through Arusha National Park.) Our
drive from Namanga initially followed established tracks, but
eventually we drove across
open savanna away from any established paths! Our guide clearly knew
where they were going! The
trip was very bumpy at times!
The
first evening we visited a Maasai “boma” or village and saw a little
bit of game on the
way there and back. The next morning we went for a game drive before a
late breakfast, then to
Sinya Primary School. That trip to the school took about 45 minutes
each way across the savanna. (The link below to the Sinya Primary
School starts with a page about the school and its setting.) After a
late lunch we took a short break, then went for a game walk with our
guides and Maasai
guardians.
Our trip back to Arusha went south
across savanna which gradually became more vegetated as we left
Kilimanjaro's rain shadow. We went through Arusha National Park
which straddles Mount Meru, an extinct volcano which captures a lot of
precipitation. As we worked southwest and gained altitude,
irrigation and irrigated agriculture became very obvious. We had
a picnic lunch in the park at a primitive camp, then drove through the
park back to Arusha. We saw large black-tailed monkeys in the
distance, but never well enough to get a good image of them. A
slide
show accessible below documents this trip.
♦ About the Maasai people - from books and the web
♦ Visit to the Maasai Boma (9/15/03)
♦ Game Drive (9/15 - 16/03)
♦ Sinya Primary School (9/16/03)
♦ Game Walk (9/16/03)
♦ Sinya Camp through Arusha National Park back to Arusha (9/17/03)
