Archive | October, 2008

Chem Chem Safari Lodges is set to open two luxurious lodges in Tanzania.

Chem Chem Tarangire will open on 20 December with eight suite-style tents, a holistic spa, swimming pool, fusion restaurant and viewing terrace.
The 100sqm tents feature a bedroom, reading salon, private terrace, campfire facilities and bathroom with both indoor and outdoor shower.
Activities include walking safaris, canoe trips on Lake Manyara, private lessons in photography, track-reading and ranger training, cultural trips to local Maasai villages, 4×4 game drives to Tarangire National Park and/or Lake Manyara National Park, bird watching, Swahili cooking lessons, private picnics and sleeping out in the bush.

The launch will be followed in June 2009 by Chem Chem Serengeti.
Located on the Northern Circuit, the semi-permanent camp follows the migration.
It features six tented suites, each with a bedroom, reading salon, dressing salon, full bathroom with inside shower, terrace with view and outdoor campfire facilities.
Other amenities include a gourmet ‘bush’ restaurant, lounge bar and terrace.
Activities here include game drives (both in and outside of the Serengeti National Park), walking safaris, private sessions in track-reading and flora appreciation, cultural tours to Maasai villages, bird-watching, private picnics and sleep-outs.

Contact info@onseahouse.com if you want to combine a stay at Chem Chem Safari Lodges before or after Onsea House Arusha.

KLM introduces ‘Serengeti’ 425-seater Boeing on Amsterdam-Kilimanjaro-Dar route

The Royal Dutch Airlines – KLM on Sunday introduced a 425- passenger Boeing 777-300 ER christened Serengeti that will fly between Dar es Salaam and Amsterdam via Kilimanjaro every Friday and Sunday.

Captain Van Der Ulier told the Daily News after landing at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Slaam that the nine-year-old plane was so christened as part of a joint campaign to promote Tanzania’s tourism treasures. “Serengeti is the most famous national park known to many tourists in America and the Netherlands; we had that in mind in choosing the name,” said Captain Ulier.

The plane carries 35 passengers in Business class and 390 in Economy class, the KLM Country Manager for Tanzania, Raymond Reedijk, said adding that KLM’s increased operations on Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro airports was proof of the confidence KLM has in Tanzania. KLM, the manager said, employs 44 local Tanzanians and a foreigner adding that ‘Serengeti’ joins another 360-passenger Boeing 777-200 that operates on the same route on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

He said the introduction of the new plane was in response to growing demand of services in Tanzania because of the rapid growth of the tourism sector, adding that the airline’s effort will lower unit costs and create sales opportunities for agents and operators. He commended President Jakaya Kikwete for selling Tanzania’s tourism attractions overseas.

Wildcard: Tanzania, vanaf 20 november te zien op Canvas

In juli trokken 35 studenten biologie van de Universiteit Antwerpen voor een tropische stage naar Tanzania. Samen met 28 studenten wildlife management van Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro verkenden ze er de fauna en flora van de savanne, het (berg)regenwoud, het kustbos, de mangrove en het koraalrif.

Tijdens een eerste week deden de studenten kleine veldstudies aan de universiteit van Morogoro. Nadien trok het complete gezelschap in tenten in achtereenvolgens 3 Nationale Parken die nog niet door het grote publiek zijn platgedreden: het Ruaha National Park, het Udzungwa Mountains National Park en Saadani National Park (één van onze favoriete bestemmingen in Tanzania).

In het spoor van de groep reisde ook een tv-ploeg rond woordkunstenaar Ramsey Nasr (gewezen Antwerps stadsdichter) en programmamaker Johan Terryn mee, die een vijfdelige documentaire over de stage heeft gedraaid: Wildcard: Tanzania, op 20 en 27 november en 4, 11 en 18 december, telkens om 21.10u. Parallel aan de serie verschijnt er een boek van Ramsey Nasr, Homo Safaricus bij De Bezige Bij en zal Canvas een speciale website verzorgen.

Download alvast het volledige artikel uit het tijdschrift AlfabetA (nr.77) van de UA voor meer info.
Wil je Tanzania zelf komen ontdekken en Onsea House als uitvalsbasis gebruiken, zoals verschillende biologen van de Universiteit Antwerpen reeds deden? Contacteer dan info@onseahouse.com voor verdere info, rechtstreeks van Vlamingen ter plaatse.

Will Cowboys trust their RB committee at crunch time

For linebacker Sean Lee, for running back Joseph Randle, for defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and so many others for differing reasons, Sunday’s opener with the Giants is truly all about a fresh start. But for the Cowboys as a whole, 2015 is all about turning back to the clock to the days of.

Chan Gailey?

Technically, yes, Gailey is the last Cowboys head coach to take teams to playoffs in consecutive years.wholesale nfl jerseys from china Dallas advanced to the postseason in 2006 and 2007 but that was with Bill Parcells at the front end and Wade Phillips on the follow through.

Those Gailey teams aren’t exactly enshrined in Cowboys lore. They lost to Arizona in a home playoff in ’98, a game that caused some local columnist to declare the torch had been passed from Troy Aikman to Jake Plummer. A year later the Cowboys were eliminated in Minnesota, and Jerry Jones did his own torch passing, from Gailey to Dave Campo.

The Cowboys under Jason Garrett got their first taste of the playoffs in January. They are looking for more. The Cowboys did not become the Cowboys, the team that produces the highest rated games on an annual basis, by occasionally dipping a toe into the postseason.

They went 18 times in 20 years in an era when it was much tougher to qualify. Tom Landry’s teams won two Super Bowls, but they played in 12 NFC championship games in 17 years. That will always be, for me, the most impressive statistic associated with this franchise.

Along came Jimmy and Jerry, and by the time we had wrapped up the 30th Super Bowl, the Cowboys were the only team to have collected five Lombardi Trophies. They had played in eight of the first 30 Super Bowls and half of those 30 NFC title games.

Now comes Super Bowl L or Super Bowl 50. Forget the ultimate game. The Cowboys won’t have made a single conference championship game appearance in that 20 year stretch unless they finish the job this year, unless they complete the task they thought they were about to pull off at Lambeau Field eight months ago.

You won’t hear any talk of stringing together playoff seasons or even of last year’s modest success from Garrett or his players. They have bought into his mantra. It’s all about those first few plays against the New York Giants Sunday night and then the next series of plays after that.

Success comes through the completion of small steps, not a wide angle lens view of the big picture.

The Cowboys showed they were going for it in 2015 the day they signed Greg Hardy. He won’t play until Week Five against New England due to a four game suspension, but you don’t bring on the baggage of domestic violence and sign Hardy to a one year deal unless you believe that year can be special.

Surprisingly, all indications from the preseason suggest the Cowboys did more to fix their pass rush weakness with the drafting of second round pick Randy Gregory than the signing of Hardy. We won’t know that until Hardy takes his turn in the rotation later this season, but the Cowboys expect Gregory to be in Eli Manning’s face with frequency Sunday night.

The great question of this Cowboys season is whether they have abandoned the running game that fueled the team’s most triumphant season this century or they merely changed names on jerseys.

DeMarco Murray did more than simply break Emmitt Smith’s team rushing record while winning an NFL Offensive Player of the Year award. He handled the ball on 53 percent of this team’s runs and completions. That’s an unheard of number in today’s game. Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch, the player Murray was most often connected to in “Beast Mode” comparisons, checked in at below 40 percent last year.

The Cowboys have tried to maintain an air of secrecy about how Randle, Darren McFadden, Lance Dunbar and perhaps even newcomer Christine Michael will factor into this mix, even suggesting that practice in this final week of preparation would determine who starts.

More important is who finishes and not just the fourth quarter. Who do they go to on the goal line, on third and 1? Or do they revert to previous form, allow 35 year old Tony Romo to throw 600 passes and roll the dice that this superior offensive line can protect him?

It all starts Sunday night against the Giants, who won their first four trips to AT Stadium before Dallas finally held serve in 2013. Tonight’s about the Giants. But this season has to be about so much more.

After the Will Smith booking, BBC cast discovers Onsea House in Arusha

The Arusha Times reported this week on the frontpage on the visit of highly rated actors, performing under the auspices of the BBC to spearhead the success of a Sitcom recorderd in Arusha, to be broadcast worldwide under the name of “Taking the Flak“.

The crew and what they intend to do in Arusha became talk of town only after Will Smith, the American actor who was recently described by Newsweek as the most powerfull actor on the planet. He was in Tanzania as UNICEF goodwill ambassador, visited some health projects and made a booking at the Onsea House restaurant!

After Will Smith, the cast of BBC now has discovered Onsea House. This weekend, we had several seperate room bookings from the BBC, including “Smack the Pony” star Doon Mackichan. Rumours have spread that Onsea House in Arusha is a nice and intimate place to relax, eat and overnight.

The Swahili House opens her doors in Zanzibar

After months of renovation, The Swahili House will open her doors in the first half of 2009.
Located in the bustling heart of Stonetown the building was originally set up and used as an Indian Merchant House in the 19th century. In the 125 years that were to come the building was home to one of the many Sultan families and then became a hotel some years ago. The hotel has been purchased by the Moivaro group of Hotels Lodges and camps and renovations started in May 2008. Most of the hotel has been restored into its original state. The result is The Swahili House, a hotel with traditional influences and modern day facilities in combination with authentic Swahili hospitality.

The Swahili House has 5 floors that are all built around a court yard – an ideal spot to enjoy a quiet moment away from busy Stonetown life. The floors are all accessible via traditional Zanzibari Staircases and an elevator.  22 rooms are spread out over 4 floors and can be divided in 3 different room categories:
Sultan Suites – large, spacious rooms with balcony. Approx. 45m2;
Suites: medium sized spacious rooms with balcony. Approx. 33m2;
Deluxe Rooms: standard sized double or twin room. Approx. 21m2;
The rooms all are restored and decorated in traditional Swahili style, but adjusted to Western standards, which for example includes European sized mattresses, air conditioning and a fan. Most rooms feature a spectacular open bathroom including a shower and bath, which are ideally to relax after a busy day of exploring Stonetown and its many treasures.
The Swahili House would definitely not be the same without the rooftop terrace which houses a bar, restaurant and a very relaxing Jacuzzi overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Contact info@onseahouse.com if you would like to include a stay at Swahili House and the sister hotel Fumba Beach or other Moivaro properties in your Zanzibar or safari holidays in Tanzania while using Onsea House as homebase in Arusha.