What's up guys, how are you doing today?
It's Tayo Aina here, reporting for DW from the beautiful city of Arusha in Tanzania.
I'm currently in the city center in front of this beautiful monument, it's called the
clock tower. And it's one of the first things you will see if you are coming down to Arusha
for the first time. And today I'm going to be taking you around the city and showing
you some of the most exciting places and exciting things to do if you're coming down here for
the first time. So, let's jump right in. Tanzania is a country in East Africa, known
for its vast wilderness areas, Africa's highest mountain, and offshore island called Zanzibar.
It has over 56 million people who speak over 100 languages, the main one being Swahili.
When you think of Tanzania, the major thing that comes to mind is tourism which provides
over 17% of the country s GDP. Most tourists who come here usually
focus on Zanzibar, but today we are going to be exploring another city that is not talked
about as much – Arusha. Just landed in Arusha, Tanzania.
I flew into the city from Nairobi and arriving at Arusha airport, the first thing I noticed
was that it was really green. The air was so clean and devoid of smoke and
fumes that I was used to in bigger cities. The small airport which ran alongside a major
expressway also had smaller planes which were to fly people to different safaris
across the city. The first thing that stood out to us on entering
the city was the clock tower. Located exactly halfway between Cairo and
Capetown, Arusha represents the middle of the old British empire marked by a monumental
clock tower. This landmark clock tower has an interesting
background and you can't miss it on entering the city because of its unique location. The next day our task was to find Mount Kilimanjaro, which is a dormant volcano in Tanzania.
It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest single free mountain
above sea level in the world. 5,895 meters above sea level and about 4,900
meters above it's plateau base. We started out our trip at the base of the
mountain which was close to Moshi, another town in Tanzania. This took us around 2 hours.
On getting there we couldn't find the mountain as the weather was so foggy. We are 10 minutes from Moshi, which is a town at the bottom of Kilimanjaro because we had
to come really close so that we can show you guys this amazing wonder of nature. So behind
me is the awesome Kilimanjaro! We decided to wait at the coffee shop 'till
the sun went down a bit to see if the skies would clear. Talking about coffee, it would be good to note that coffee production in Tanzania is
a significant aspect of its economy as it's Tanzania's largest export crop. Tanzanian
coffee production averages between 30,000 and 40,000 metric tons annually of which approximately
70% is arabica and 30% is robusta. As the sun started to set, we still couldn't
see the mountain so I decided to take a drive all the way to the exact base, this
took us another 30 minutes. On the drive up, my hope of seeing the mountain began to sink
as it was getting really dark and the peak of Mount Kili was nowhere in sight. We finally
got to the gate and sadly it was closed. I can't even see the mountain from here, I
think the mountain is meant to be somewhere here. We met the park manager
who gave us some information about entering into the mountain park.
How much do we pay to enter? - It's 82.
- 82 US dollars? - Yes.
- Have you been to the top before? - Yes, yes, yes.
- How many times? - Like, more than 10 times.
- Wow! Yeah, and actually it's easy. You walk slowly,
slowly, slowly until to the top. - Wow.
- Yes. - But it snows at the top?
- Yeah, the mountain there to the top is covered by snow throughout the year. That's why many
people are still coming to enjoy it. - Really?
- Yes. The weather is really cold and it's just
6 o'clock and you can imagine, if you are climbing to the top, it takes 4 days. So it's going
to get maybe 25 times cooler than this. And the formula for the mountain is: slowly, slowly. After spending some time with them, all hope was practically lost as the sun has already set. So we started our drive down the mountain.
Just at the final moment, as we were about to make our last turn to exit the area, the
clouds suddenly cleared. And there it was – the beautiful Mount Kili
in all its awesomeness with the last ray of the sun shining on it. Finally, it comes out!
When we were just about leaving, at the last minute, it opens up and this is it behind
us here. These are some of what happens when you are
out there, you know looking for the perfect shot.
Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time, you can search throughout
the whole day and you might not find what you re looking for. Our patience paid out
today. It was such an amazing moment as we scrambled to get out our cameras and drones
to get shots of it after a few minutes, just as it had suddenly
appeared it took its finally leave behind the clouds. I'm glad our mission
was finally accomplished. If you would love to see mount Kili
I recommend you go early in the morning or just before sunset. If you would also like
to climb the mountain, I recommend really exercising because you need to be really fit
to make this happen. The next day we visited Kikuletwa Hot Springs
or mostly known as Chemka Hot Springs, which was about 2 hours from Arusha. The 2 hour trip can sometimes be longer
due to the bad road to the destination. Finally got to Chemka Hot Spring, this is one of the most exciting places to visit if you're
coming down to Arusha in Tanzania. The Chemka Hot Spring is an oasis, it is great
for relaxing and unwinding, the spring is very deep and in some places up to 10 meters.
But the water is so clear that you can see the bottom well at all times. How deep is it? How many meters or how many feet? It's like 7 to 10, depending on some areas. For someone who doesn't know how to swim,
you can rent a tube or you can get a swimming guide to support you. Today is the first time in 15 years
since I came to Tanzania. Guys, I'm about to go into the Kikuletwa Hot Springs. - Are you going to dive for us?
- I'm not diving. You don't test deep water with both feet.
About to jump in! Let's go! The first thing I noticed when I was
inside the water was that it was really clear and
it's also kind of deep because I'm like 6 feet and I was standing in the water
and my head was submerged. This is a God-given tourism location in Arusha. And its cool that they are able to utilize
it. And a lot of people who are here, as you can see behind me, coming to experience the
sweetness, and the beauty of Chemka Hot Springs. - Chicken, and this is lamb.
- Ok, nice. This is for you. The hot spring has lots of tourists visit because of its popularity so I would advise
you to visit early in the day when the water is at its clearest. I want to show you guys the tanzanite experience. So tanzanite is a very precious rock, Tanzania
is the only place it's found all over the world. And there's a place called the tanzanite
museum and that's where we are walking to right now. So come along with me, let's explore, and let me show you guys
what tanzanite looks like. Upon entry, they provided me with a nice little
exhibition about tanzanite mining that takes no longer than 15 minutes.
They brought us to this room where we are watching a video about the tanzanite experience,
so we learn more about how tanzanite is found here. The shop offers an excellent choice of tanzanite stones of all sizes and shapes and can serve
as a unique gift to a loved one because of how rare it is. In a separate section, there is a replica of a tanzanite mine that gives you a taste
of what being a miner feels like. Tanzanite is a blue and violet variety
of the mineral zoisite. A calcium aluminum hydroxyl sorosilicate caused
by small amounts of vanadium. According to a Tanzanian geologist the circumstances
that led to its formation 585 million years ago were so exceptional that the likelihood
of finding tanzanite anywhere else on earth is one in a million. Making it
a thousand times rarer than diamonds. And since tanzanite can only be found in Tanzania,
I would definitely recommend you add this to your list of experiences to explore upon
visiting the beautiful town of Arusha. Our last location to visit was the Arusha
Cultural Heritage Center which is a privately owned collection of shops and galleries that
showcases arts from renowned artists around the African continent.
The center was founded in 1994 and is currently one of the largest in east Africa and is also
located along the Arusha highway on the outskirts of the city of Arusha.
The main building is designed to resemble the Uhuru peak of Kilimanjaro. The exterior
of the gallery is built in the shape of a drum, shield, and spear, all major African
symbols. The symbols resonate with the role of the gallery which is to communicate and
celebrate Africa's cultural heritage, the proceeds from the gallery go to the conservations
of elephants in Africa and the main concept of this is anti-poaching clearly defined by
the sculpture of the large unique beaded elephant. It takes about an hour or two to browse through
the amazing art collection. - It's heavy, this is a rhino.
- It's what? - Malachite.
- Malachite. - Yes.
The center is not limited to art only, there are other items to see such as jewelry, clothes,
spices, and leather products all of which you could sample or buy. There are lots of wood carvings
like this one here. And then there's lots of artifacts,
anything you want to buy, there's beads, there's earrings and a whole lot
of wooden artifacts, too. It's a great place to stop by if you would
love to learn about the art scene down here. If you're coming down to Arusha, definitely
check it out, its one of the awesome places to see and also experience art and culture.
It has over 1,500 artists from all over Africa. And if you are somebody who loves art, come
check it out and pick one up. Exploring Arusha showed me that there is a
lot to discover and learn from traveling across the beautiful country of Tanzania.
It's sweeping mountains, safaris and amazing landscape is a sight to behold.
The culture and very calm feel of the city makes for one of the best vacation destinations
ever, if you are looking for an amazing way to experience nature in its truest form, or
if you've ever dreamed of an African adventure. I recommend you visit the beautiful city of
Arusha, thank you guys for watching, please like and subscribe
to DW Travel for more videos! Cheers!
