Discovering the Ngonrongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is another must see in Tanzania’s collection of famous safari parks and also one of the most visited!  I am excited to be here.  My first few of the crater is from the crater rim where we have been camping the previous night. 

 

There aren’t too many spots to camp in the crater rim so although we were the first to arrive at this scenic spot, our camp site was very quickly looking like tent city.

The crater is just one in a series of inter related eco systems and craters in the Crater Highlands.  These once active volcanoes and calderas are now home to some of Africa’s most prolific collection of wildlife. The Ngonrongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is about 8300 sq km and the crater itself approximately 20km wide and one of the world’s largest calderas!

My first sighting of life here is of the Masaai, herding their cattle.  As the ancient custodians of this land they are allowed to share this space with the many wild animals including lion, elephant, buffalo, wildebeest and a variety of antelope that call this place home.  I love the colours of their blankets which adds a splash of vibrancy to an otherwise dull landscape!

Many of the animals on the crater floor are here on a permanent basis although there is some movement in and out of the crater.  It is a place where both food and water is quite plentiful and hence an attractive place for both the Masaai and wild life. 

We have however, come at the driest time of year and although the lakes are full of water, the surrounding plains are quite dry and brown.

It was quite cold camping on the rim of the crater and the clouds are still pouring over the rim as we wind our way down the steep slope to the floor of this ancient caldera. Our first sighting is of flamingos in the shallow banks of the soda lake, Lake Magadi.  Despite the smell of sulphur, blown our way by the gentle breeze I wish we could get closer to admire the beautiful pink flamingos so prolific here.

They are just amazing to watch and I could sit here for ever!

Due to the time of year, there is much less wildlife than we expected.  But what do you know…it is spring time in the crater too..and this time it is the hyenas that keep us entertained!

They do it – doggy style (no variations here - he he) - in the grass, in the mud…enjoying the freedom of springtime and quite oblivious to the snap happy paparazzi in the 4 wheel drives close by!

For me the most exciting sighting of my crater safari is the elephant with the giant tusk!  I had heard about these elephants but never seen one previously.  These elephants have been poached so aggressively they are close to extinction.  Unfortunately, the laws of natural selection now dictate that most of the elephants born have much smaller tusks.  We watch this elephant in fascination wondering how he gets around.  Who said size didn’t matter? :) !! 

We drive up the crater wall content in the knowledge we have seen enough for the time of year we are here.  It is time to head back to our campsite in Arusha and get re-acquainted with our truck!   We have had a great time on our little excursion and had fun with our guides who were quite attentive with their compliments!  

As we leave the village I see a flash of colour and catch a glimpse of a Masaai market.  Soon we will be leaving them far behind, as we get further away from their traditional homelands.  I love these people and wish I could spend more time getting to know them and their ancient culture. 

 Readjusting is a painful process, but most of us need it at one time or another.  ~Arthur Christopher Benson

Spring Time in the Serengeti

We say goodbye to 8 of our original tour group after the trip to the Masai Mara.  We have also welcomed 2 new Aussie ladies Emma and Julie who joined us at Lake Naivasha so our new group is consists of just a dozen travellers.  It is lovely to have more space in the truck and a smaller group means  everyone is a little more cohesive and we are always on time for our early morning getaways!

We are now in Tanzania and have transferred to 4 wheel drive vehicles from our camp site in Arusha for our trip to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.  Each vehicle has a guide and a cook and the bunch of Tanzanian boys – Costa, Feraji, Miraji and Danny are fun and ensure we will be entertained in the next 3 days.

It is a long drive but we enjoy the changing scenery and marvel at East Africa’s baobab trees that remind us of their cousins Down Under. 

The endless plains of the Serengeti – (all 15,000 sq km) are incredibly dry and at first we feel almost devoid of life.  Of course at this time of year, most of the wildebeest and many of the zebra have migrated to the Masai Mara in search of greener pastures.

The cats however being the territorial animals that they are, stay put in this park and target some of the other animals such as buffalo that remain in the Serengeti. 

Once again we are incredibly fortunate in our sightings.  We spot a lion and lioness resting in the tall grass and as we watch these two magnificent beast, the lion stirs and starts to lick his lioness.  We realise he is a little frisky and before our very eyes, the mating rituals of a lion are played out in slow motion.  It is definitely spring time in the Serengeti!

 

There are more lion sightings before we reluctantly head for camp.  We have a few more game drives to look forward to but we must set up camp before dark.  It is exciting to be camping in the wild once again but have strict instructions to not stray.  There are no fences between us and the wild animals whose home we are invading!

We are treated to a great dinner that night and enjoy not having to cook our food or our wash dishes!  As it gets dark the sounds of the Serengeti break the stillness and quiet of our campsite.   The eyes of jackal and hyena glimmer through the bush and we are glad when the bright light of the moon sheds light on our campsite, enabling us to not just hear but see the buffalo grazing a few metres from our toilet.  We give them a wide berth but they still make Julie and me jump as we brush our teeth hurriedly and prepare for bed.

I wake up to hear that many of my fellow travellers have heard lion and other animals in the night.  I am upset to have slept through the din and am determined to make amends on our second night. 

We have 2 game drives on Day 2.  The most exciting moment on our morning drive is when Nathan spots a dead impala on one of the lone trees that break up the open savannah.  We are excited but our efforts to find the leopard who dragged this kill up the tree are not successful.

Determined to come back here in the afternoon we leave this site in hopeful anticipation of what we might find.

We find a hot lunch waiting for us and we thoroughly enjoy the treat.  Lunch on the truck has been salad sandwiches so it is quite a treat to not only have a hot lunch but to have it prepared for us.  I have made friends with our guides and they invite me to try their local food which they have prepared separately for their own lunch.  They eat ugali (mashed potato texture but prepared with maize flour) with a spicy meat mixture.  I join them, making little balls with the ugali and pick up the meat with my hands and thank them for a taste of local cuisine! 

That afternoon we return to the tree with the dead impala, only to spot the leopard on the tree fast asleep only a few metres away from his kill!  We are incredibly excited and even as we wait our turn in the 4 wheel drive queue to see this unique sighting, the leopard wakes up and starts to feast!  Once again, the Universe delivers!

I have always wanted to get a good sighting of a wild leopard on a tree but to see him enjoying an impala is just icing on the cake.  We snap away, knowing that we are incredibly lucky to be witnessing this.  Here is just one of the many photos I took that day! 

Soon after this sighting there is a light shower for which we are grateful.  It settles the dust and cools the air.  Our game drive is not quite over.  When the rain stops, we are again excited as we spot 6 female lionesses with their cubs, resting under a tree.  I have never seen this many lions together.  There must be at least 20 lions here.  The pride caress each other, licking the moisture of the rain off their cubs.  It is an amazing sight to see. 

As we watch the mums start to stalk a herd of zebra grazing about a hundred metres away.  The cubs follow after awhile.  It appears the mums are teaching their cubs to hunt.  Just as they draw close to the herd, a fatal move by one of the babies alerts the zebras and they scamper away.  This lesson will be re-plaid many times over before these cubs are able to be self sustaining in the wild. 

We return to camp on a high.  I am really excited by what we have seen so far.  That night we have another feast and then a few of us stay up late in to the night, quietly chatting around the fire and listening and watching for signs of life.  We are not disappointed.  Elephant, lion, hyena, jackal and buffalo keep us entertained for what seems like hours.  Only a reminder that we need to be up early the next day finally forces Julie, Emma and myself to finally turn in.  Julie and I zip up our tents on another fabulous day in the Serengeti.  

We have a final game drive early morning on Day 3 in the Serengeti before we make the long drive to Ngorongoro Crater.  While we see many birds and enjoy the antics of the hippo pool we can’t beat the excitement of the previous couple of days.  Somebody remarks that if we see a black rhino, we would have seen the Big 5 within a 24 hour period in the Serengeti.  Alas, it is not to be and soon it is time to say goodbye to the wide open plains of the Serengeti.  I take back so many wonderful memories of this very special park in Africa!

If you aren't sure who you are, you might as well work on who you want to be.  ~Robert Brault

Dancing with the Wildebeest!

To watch the wildebeest migration from a hot air balloon has been on my bucket list for a long time.  So when I find myself in the Masai Mara and realise the wildebeest migration is happening…well I just had to sign up for this optional extra!

It has been pelting down rain the night before but when we wake up early morning and get ready for our 5.30 am pick up it is another beautiful day in Africa and we know that our balloon ride will not be cancelled after all!I am excited as I watch the balloon being fired up.  It is my second time in a hot air balloon as I went up for the first time in Alice Springs, Australia just last year.  But this will be a completely different experience as we will be watching the wildebeest migration!

It is a beautiful sunrise as the balloons set off.  We are flying just above the tree tops and our first sighting is of some elephants in the bushes.

As we take off a bit higher we spot the wildebeest.  They are crossing one of the creeks in the Masai Mara and we watch this stream of animals cross the creek, then spread out in the massive park to graze.  The park is about 1500 sq km of completely open grass land and I am just amazed at the vastness of these open plains. 

The wildebeest migration happens each year between the Serengeti (Tanzania) and the Masai Mara (Kenya) parks which are separated by the Mara River.  These animals leave the Serengeti in July is search of greener pastures across the river in the Masai Mara.  In October they return south to the Serengeti again and this is what we are witnessing.  There are 1.5 million wildebeest in these parks but the parks are massive and the animals spread out to graze on the open grasslands! 

More than 8,000 wildebeest are born each day during the breeding season but an equally large number of these beast become prey during the migration and other times to the cats and other predators here.   They form an important part of the food chain in the parks!

We fly for an hour and completely enjoy the experience of flying over the Masai Mara.  Each time the balloon is fired up, the wildebeest scatter and our pilot reckons we are dancing with the wildebeest.  When the balloon goes quiet, you can hear the pounding of the wildebeest as they continue running.  Once they stop running the silence is only broken by their grunting.

Reluctantly we get into landing position as the balloon lowers back down to earth.  This perfect experience ends with a Champaign breakfast.  We are driven to a beautiful spot in the park and under a lone tree we see they have set up tables with white linen cloths and an amazing spread of fruit, cereals and bacon & eggs.  After camping for the past few weeks and living rough, this is n feast we will definitely savour and enjoy for awhile!  It will be a long brekkie and what a perfect setting!

As we head back to meet our truck for the long drive back to Nairobi, I reflect on the fact I have ticked off another dream from my bucket list!

 I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.  ~Douglas Adams

Masai Mara National Reserve

The Masai Mara is the northern part of the Serengeti Plains and one of the most visited parks in Kenya.  It is inevitable that our journey includes a game drive in this park made famous in many documentaries for the wildebeest migration.  But more on that later.

The Masai Mara is just as I imagined it.  Wide open plains that stretch for miles on end with loads of animals!  This park is also famous for its cats, especially lions and we are not disappointed!  

The rain is pelting down as we leave the Maasai village behind and we hastily bring the plastic covers down.  The rains in Africa have been following us around our travels.  They seem to come down in the afternoon and last for most of the evening but today the rain clears for long enough for us to enjoy another amazing game drive here.

The wildlife here seems to be quite used to people and just go about their business while we drive up close and snap pictures to our hearts content! 

We see the famous wildebeest migrating but also lots of zebra, giraffe, hippos and hyena.  The rain threatens to start up again as we make our way to camp.  It has been a fabulous day but it is getting dark now and it is time to head back.  I don’t enjoy  setting up camp in the dark or for that camping in the rain.   But travelling on a budget safari enables me to see a lot more of Africa than it would if I was staying in luxury safari camps.  Perhaps the next time I come back to Africa…??

 No one remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.  ~Thomas Mann

Maasai Village

We say goodbye to Triona and Amanda before making the transfer to our four wheel drive vehicle for a day in the Masai Mara National Reserve.  Triona and Amanda are off to join a different Kumuka tour for the rest of their time in Kenya and Tanzania while we carry on further south together. 

We have packed a day pack for our stay in the Masai Mara and pile into a smaller truck to make  the long drive to this famous park.  On the way we have a few dramas such as getting bogged on the muddy road but finally make it to the Maasai village!

Ever since I read the White Maasai, I have been fascinated by these people and often thought how wonderful it would be to actually spend some time with them.  Now….here I am!

The Maasai traditional lifestyle has always centred around cattle.  They believe these animals are sacred and provide for many of their needs. This include milk, blood and meat which forms a major part of their diet while the hides and skins are used as part of their wardrobe and for other purposes around their huts.

I love the colour of the Maasai people.  The men  drape brightly coloured blankets around themselves to ward off predators and carry a clubbed stick in case of close encounters. The women are equally colourful and can be seem decked out in the beautiful beaded jewellery which they make and the sarongs or kangas which they wear.

The village headman greets us and invites us in to their compound.    He is keen to share his culture with us and encourages us to ask as many questions as we like.  We are also invited to take photos which is great.  We would not be able to do so as easily outside the village.

They live together in small family units, each family in their own basic hut, built around a central compound where their cattle are housed during the night to protect them from marauding predators.  A stick fence around the compound is all the protection they have.

The houses are tiny and built from mud and cow dung and includes a space inside for their milk cow!  We crowd around inside and wonder how these tall warriors manage to get comfortable in such small quarters! 

Although the Maasai are less than 5% of the population in Kenya and Tanzania, it is this one tribe that all visitors to East Africa associate with this part of the world and wish to visit.  They migrated here from Sudan more than a 1000 years ago.  While they did lose land during the colonial period and their numbers decreased due to decease and famine they have bravely fought to hold on to their traditional way of life.

Both the men and women perform their dancers for us and invite us to join in.  We oblige with a bit of trepidation having just watched the boys trying to keep up with the jumping Maasia.  Fortunately, the women’s dancing is far more sedate and involves a lot of head shaking and basically walking around. 

While this may not be a totally genuine cultural experience I am still absolutely enjoying being here.  It is wonderful to get a glimpse into this ancient traditional culture that still seems to survive despite the pressures of the outside world that calls for modernisation.I wonder what it must be like to live in total isolation without running water, electricity or access to some of the most basic necessities we take for granted.  Many of these people will never leave their little village in the middle of the Masai Mara except perhaps the women who may migrate to a neighbouring tribe after they marry. 

We are invited to buy some of their traditional jewellery and I get a few trinkets and a Maasai blanket before the rain pelts down and we make a dash for our truck!

 Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.  ~Buddha

Elsamere

I remembered that the movie Born Free had made a significant impact on me as a child so it was imperative that I visited Joy Adamson’s house during my visit to Lake Naivasha. The house is named Elsamere in honour of the lion cub Elsa  Joy raised and was made famous in the movie Born Free.

The house is located on the edge of Lake Naivasha and is in a beautiful setting with extensive gardens where we enjoy a substantial high tea.  Our visit also includes a movie about her her life and her work in conservation here in Kenya.

I had no idea she was such an accomplished painter as well as a prolific writer.  Her paintings which began by her documenting the details of the flora and fauna around Kenya went on to include an extensive collection of portraits of the tribal people here.  They ranged from witch doctors to tribal chiefs and eventually her work was acknowledged by the Kenyan government as a record of the fast disappearing tribal people.  Her photos can now be found both at Elsamere and in the Kenyan National Museum.

My visit enables me to discover that Joy lived an amazing life and I am inspired once again to discover that one person can make such a difference in this world. 

She first came to Kenya when her first husband sent her on a scouting mission to determine if it was a country they could settle in. While on the boat trip she fell in love with Peter, a man who went on to be her second husband.  She eventually settled in Kenya with him before meeting George Adamson on safari and eventually marrying him.  Together they accomplished great things in conservation here in Kenya and rehabilitated lions, cheetahs and leopards.  The relationship that both she and George had with the Big Cats was truly amazing and continued even after they were released to the wild. Joy went on to get world recognition and win many accolades both for her writing as well as for her work in conservation while George stayed home to work with the cats.

Today, many organisations around the world continue her work both in her honour and Elsa’s.  Sadly she was stabbed to death by one of her houseboys over a pay dispute and George was killed some years later by poachers.  The Land Rover in which he was killed is on display on the grounds. If only cars could talk…

I come away inspired and amazed by her story and happy I had the opportunity to pay a visit to this historic place.

Leaving home in a sense involves a kind of second birth in which we give birth to ourselves.  ~Robert Neelly Bellah