Asante Tanzania

This morning was crisp and cool as we left our ridge top lodge and descended into the immense crater called Ngorongoro. The crater was formed 25 million years ago when a volcano collapsed to form a "caldera" with sides over 500 meters high and an area of 20 sq kilometres. It has been compared to both the Garden of Eaden and Noah's Ark- it is easy to see why! All of the big game of Tanzania can be found within the crater except for the giraffe and Impalla. Both of these species are grazers and require the woodland acacia.

Among the highlights today was the sighting of several black rhinos...our top 5 sightings is now complete. There were numerous newborn animals to be seen as well as the lions and other preditors that prey on them. We watched as family groups of buffalo and wildebeest challenged the lurking hyenas, keeping them at bay, for the moment.

Tomorrow will be another early day as we leave this amazing area and make our way back to Arusha, where we will catch the first of three flights that will take us to Victoria Falls. En route we will stop over for a night in Dar es Salaam, on the east coast near Zanzibar and continue through Johannesburg on the way to our next destination.

Asante/thank you, is our heart felt comment as we prepare to leave this beautiful, friendly country of Tanzania. 

                                        Sunset over the Ngorongoro crater

                                                        A stalking lion

                               Warthog family.... And were they grubby.

                             Wildebeest mom and newborn calf

                                                    Baby Zebra

                                                       Hippo pool

                                          The elusive Black Rhino

                                Our guide James.... best in the business.

                                                              The gang

                                                ASANTE TANZANIA !!

                             This Toyota took us on many of the less travelled roads.

We've joined the migration

Our tramp through the scrubland of Ndutu, accompanied by an armed ranger was quite exciting. Fortunately it was not too hair-raising...no nasty comments please...even though we were walking on pathways with the fresh footprints of lions, elephants, gazelles, hyena...you get the picture. The thoughts of an aggressive carnivore hidden nearby kept us all on our toes for the 10 km trek. The animals we saw were very aware of our presence long before we saw them, with the towering giraffes showing the most interest in us.

Leaving camp at 6am for a pre-breakfast game drive, we were treated to the magic abilities of James as he constantly found game for us to photograph. The carnivores were all heavy with gourged bellies and the pride of lions with many young were particularly heavy. The cubs could hardly walk as their extended bellies swayed back and forth. The cheetahs were a special sighting, with two individuals and a grouping of four making their way onto our list of sightings.

Following a quick breakfast we left Ndutu, making our way back towards the Ngorongoro Crater. The road took us through huge herds of migrating wildebeest and numerous other herbivores. We soon entered the conservation area that is shared with the Masai tribes. They were sending boys out to chase the wildebeest away from their foraging cattle and goats...with little success. Imagine thousands of determined animals being chased by little boys. They just outran them and continued to go where they pleased!

We are now at the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. The road we followed to get here was serpentine as it slowly climbed the crater wall and then snaked along the ridge to reach the lodge overlooking this, the largest intact crater in the world. The lodge is a "slight" upgrade over our previous accommodations and we are basking in the beautiful surrounding we now find ourselves in.

Tomorrow we will be setting off to the crater floor for another early morning filled with anticipation.

                                                     Love Birds

                                               (AKA    M &P,  M&M :-)

        The hikers, protected by our observant Ranger who constantly scanned the area

         The giraffes were least wary of us as we walked through the woodland area.

                                Even the starlings are pretty.

             The resident Genet (related to the Mongoose) in the rafters of the Ndutu Lodge

                                           A beautiful cheetah

                                  Another bird!!!!! Let's call it a peach breasted Serbet!

 This "parade" of elephants put on quite a show right beside our vehicle. The mother gave a loud trumpet as we approached her, warning us to back off.

                                      King of the Serengetti

A Masai village in the Ngorongoro Conservation area. The drive through the area was spectacular and our drive-by photos didn't do justice to the beauty of the landscape.

Three days of game drives

The wildlife in Ngorongoro Conservation Area was everywhere. This area of land, surrounding the crater is a protected area where both the Masai traditional livestock grazing lands and the migrating wildlife co-habit. Huge herds of wildebeest and zebra were grazing alongside the goats and cattle of the Masai.

Kati Kati tented camp was our home for the next two nights. We were very well cared for, with security guiding us to our tents in the evening. We were instructed to stay inside once night fell and after the first night it was very obvious why. We were serenaded by lions, hyena and elephants on both nights. They sounded way too close. The last evening there, as we sat around a campfire, enjoying a beverage, a "tower" of giraffes came within a few hundred feet of where we were sitting and continued with their grazing at the tops of the acacia.

We have driven many miles on very rough roads but the time has flown by, as there is such beauty all around us. The people here are wonderful and have been so friendly and kind to us. We have now seen 4 of the big 5 African animals. Lions, elephants, leopards and Cape buffalo are now checked off our list. The rare and hard to spot rhino is yet to be seen. 

Today we have witnessed the migration of wildebeest and zebra that totalled in the millions, as we drove for our second day through the Serengeti. Our guide, James has an amazing ability to find game that all the other guides have not been able to find for their passengers. The different kinds of birds and animals is too numerous to mention in this blog, but a few of them are pictured below.

Tonight we are in Ndutu Lodge, on the western edge of the Serengeti Plain and we are soon off on a hike with an armed ranger befor returning for supper. 

                                               The beautiful Acacia tree

                                             A "dazzle" of Zebras

                                                 The Cape Buffalo

                                                          The Serval cat

                                                         The Jackel

We watched in awe as 8 mature lions and 3 cubs walked away from a previous kill to this tree. Four of the mature lions climbed up into the tree and promptly went to sleep while the babies and remaining lions curled up in the long grass at the bass of the tree.

                                                 The Leopard

After searching, James found the area where the leopard was spending the afternoon and we were able to capture this picture as he climbed up into the tree. He didn't stay there for long.

                                    Flamingoes in a brine lake

      The Hyenia in the middle of the wildebeest migration where food supply was plentiful

                                         Wildebeest with newborn calf.

 Calves are usually born in February so we were fortunate to see a grand total of 6 calves among the millions of Wildebeest migrating.

                                                     The Cheetah 

                                             Ndutu Safari Lodge

These are our accommodations for tonight. They have very limited Internet service but we will try.

Lake Manyara

No rest for the wicked!

James was ready for us as soon as we completed our orientation with the Grumeti rep. The unfortunate thing is that he is now suffering from snow blindness. The sight of Murray in shorts with the sun gleaming off his snow white legs has left him in great difficulty. Fortunately he is a fast healer!

We were on the road out of Arusha by early morning, feeling the affects of jet lag yet wide eyed to the beauty of Tanzania and the multitudes of people. We passed household markets selling all kinds of local produce. Our first stop was the Migunga Tented camp. This was to be our home for the night.

After a quick lunch we drove towards the Lake Manyara Park for our first game drive. Along the way we stopped at a Masai village for a cultural experience. Awesome!

Our pictures are an example of the many sights that we saw.

                                 Welcome dance at the Masai village.

The chief has 14 wives, each wife costing him ten cows. The neighbouring chief has 45 wives and is considered to be very wealthy.

The women build the houses from sticks, mud and dung. Here they show some visitors a good time.

Their diet consists of milk, blood, and meat; nothing else.

              This was our home in the forest. The night sounds were very loud.

            The birds are so colourful. This kingfisher posed beautifully for us.

         Giraffes and gazelles and many kinds of monkeys kept our cameras clicking.

                                   Just a few of the elephants.

Internet service is not available so our posts may all come in at once.

 

Arusha

We've arrived in Arusha after several delays, and were welcomed by 28c temperatures and our guide for the next 8 days. James welcomed us to Tanzania and informed us that we could rest assured that we had the best guide in the business. 

Our flight from Amsterdam crossed the Alps, north of Italy and followed the Italian coast before crossing the aqua marine waters of the Mediteranian. The next several hours consisted of the endless sands of the Sahara. 

Our hotel, The Arusha is a colonial style set of buildings surrounded by beautiful tropical gardens. Following breakfast we'll head off towards Lake Manyara and our first full day of touring.