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The Great Migration in Tanzania

TANZANIA

It has been 2 years since I last went to a Safari trip. I wanted to see the great migration, hence we have decided to experience it in Serengeti, Tanzania. The package cost us $3500 per person for 4 days 3 nights, including transport, accommodation and meals. I have arranged the tour with Amshar Serengeti, and honestly I couldn’t say I enjoyed it 100% because we did not have enough time exploring. Our time were mostly spent on travelling, which is a bummer, and the vehicle broke down each day which consumed our time. Nonetheless, I am still grateful for this experience! We didn’t manage to see the big 5 this time round, but we did see the lion, elephant and african buffalo! Our guide spotted a leopard but it was too far for us to capture it. Also, I have learnt from my previous experience that I should bring a zoom lens camera and I am so glad I did! Loved capturing every moment in the Safari with my new toy!

Day 1 – Travelling from Arusha to Central Serengeti (6 hrs)

We were quite lucky to see the king of Tanzania (lion) up close! The sunset that day were stunning too. The camp experience were wild. There were african buffalos around the compound so we were not allowed to exit the tent without an escort.

Day 2 – Pure Migration Camp

It was one of the day we were anticipating for because we wanted to witness the great wildebeest crossing over the Mara River to Kenya! Unfortunately this does not happen every day hence seeing them crossing the river is totally by pure luck! Although we did not see them crossing the river, we did witness a huge group of them running across our vehicle and that was exhilarating!

Day 3 – Tanzania Bush Camp

Another day, another chance upon seeing wildebeest crossing the river however it did not happen. Did you know? The reason why wildebeest migrate over to Kenya is because their source of food is running low in Tanzania due to the dry weather. Highlight of the day is definitely going on a hot air balloon safari and looking for animals from above!

Day 4 – Drive back to the airport

We were supposed to do safari in Ngorongoro Crater but since our flight were scheduled at 3 pm that day, we had to rush back to the airport which was kinda a bummer. I felt like it was the tour’s agency fault for its bad planning, as they could have advised us to schedule our flight at a later timing. We were told that we could have seen the rhino at Ngorongoro!

Overall, I felt that the first safari trip I did in National Kruger was more relax as compared to Serengeti. If I could re-do the trip, I would definitely plan to stay longer in Tanzania and stay in a private reserve for a few days.

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CRUISE TO NOWHERE (COVID’19)

OTHERS

Bored of staycays? Yes. Need a break? Also yes. My friend & I had booked for a cruise trip in November. I have been to cruise once when I was younger, but I was too young to remember how the experience was like. We decided to go with Dream cruise because they offers halal friendly food options. I guess one thing to take note from the cruise trip is that, apart from your booking payment, you still have to pay a gratuity fee of $24 per night/per person. All the other activities and food are pretty much paid off (some activities are not free).

Few weeks before your trip, you will receive an email from the cruise company for online check-in. Once done you will receive your ART test appointment timing. I was allocated to the 11am slot, which is for the first group. Test results were out in 30 minutes. It was a pretty smooth process. The immigration gate opens around 12:30 (I had to wait longer since I am in the first group) and the ship was ready for boarding by 2 PM. Checking out was really smooth as well, it was all done in about 30 minutes. We stayed in deck 10 and they have cleared the floor around 10:30 AM.

Food options was just average to me. You can never go hungry in the cruise as there are 24/7 snacks bar. On my first night the snack choices were not the best though. It can be better, but it is not the worst!

Our balcony stateroom was on the east side of the ship so we managed to catch the beautiful sunrise on the first morning. The bed is so comfortable, and the room is SO cold. It is quite spacious for 2 pax. There was nothing new to watch on the TV, but good thing is I brought my Nintendo Switch games just in case we have some free time to play.

Shows: there are 2 free shows which is available for booking once you are onboard. The slots run out pretty fast so it is advised to have the app handy before you board. If you did not manage to book any slots, I believe they do accept walk ins based on the availability. I’d totally recommend going for Jolly Holly, their performances are exceptional.

Free activities: Rock climbing, table tennis and mini golf are available for booking upon walk in (on the same day itself), swimming/jacuzzi slots are open for 1 hr per day upon availability, ropes courses & zip-line are available on walk in, waterslides operates for 2 sessions per day and it is available upon walk in as well; we went there around 12pm and there were no queue at all!

Guang Zhou (School trip)

CHINA

It was a 2 week immersion programme with Nanyang Polytechnic and the reason I chose this destination was because I wanted to skip general studies module for the following semester. I did not exactly enjoy my time in Guang Zhou but it was definitely a huge learning experience for me. The main thing that made the trip bearable was the company that I had. Let’s just conclude what actually happened while I was there. One thing to highlight is that you are going to have a hard time travelling around Guang Zhou if you do not have a Chinese speaking companion. Also, finding good halal restaurants here are not easy!

Lingnan Impression

📍 Waihuan West Road, University City, Panyu District, Guangzhou 510006, China
Opens daily: 9am – 6pm

Cultural Exchange Programme

📍 China, Guangdong, Guangzhou, Panyu

School of IT showcasing our Malay culture

Leather making module

📍 China, Guangdong, Guangzhou, Panyu

Huaisheng Mosque

📍 56 Guangta Rd, Zhong Shan Liu Lu, Yuexiu Qu, Guangzhou Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China

Shangxiajiu  (Shopping Streets)

Pearl River Beer Museum

📍 No.118 Muodiesha Street, Xingang East Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, China

Pearl River Piano Museum

One of the many parks in Guangzhou

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About Me

OTHERS

Hi guys! I am Atiqah, currently living in Singapore. I love to travel and when I do, I enjoy logging my journeys through video blogs and writing. The great thing about documenting my travels are that I can never forget all these little details about the trip by reading my blog post or “reliving” the moments by watching my video blogs on YouTube. Concurrently, I hope these information shared inspires you to travel or helped you plan for your upcoming trips. My goal is to travel as much as I can, keep vlogging and aspire to create better videos.