Part 2: Ngorongo Crater
Trip Start
Oct 05, 2007
1
13
16
Trip End
Oct 27, 2007
Ngorongo Crater, Tanzania
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Even with my mental preparation, it was a challenge through and through. First of all, getting kitted up in an enclosed space is the pits. Worse still, it was wet. and cold. And I attempted to find and put on my damp clothes in the dark so as not to wake Richard. (In hindsight, I should have just turned on my headlight and to hell with that! - Sorry, Toast).
After fumbling with the tent zippers for awhile, I made my way out of the tent and into the darkness
Ngorongo Crater - descent
. I didnt think to make a mental note of which tent was ours so I could find my way back. I assumed this would be an easy task of finding the military green one situated by the tree, near the yellow one. (I hadn;t noticed that sometime during the night, the yellow one was dis-assembled, which would prove to be a major stumbling block in finding my own way back).Navigating through the minefield of tents, tripping across the anchor ropes only a couple of times, I found the troilet block at the edge of the campsite. The place looked like a Turkish prison - dark, damp and mould...more than a little filthy - both natural and un-natural. The urinals clearly had no running water. The mirror that hung above the sink had a large chunk missing from the corner. It was excatly what I expected it should be. No wonder then that I didnt linger, and opted for the Purel disenfectant over touching the fawcet to wash....
As eluded to earlier, finding my way back in the dark was no easy task. Although I could spot the tree that i used as one of my markets, all of the tents now looked the same, and all look to be in equal relative proximity to the tree! Worse still, that yellow tent was missing, and I couldnt see which tent was mine......
Ill have seconds of the toast, please!!
I stood there, looking around in the dark, still trying to get my bearings in the darkness (though the starts, once again were AMAZING), and began walking around the base of the tree. Finally - I found a tent that had a makeshift rain cover (missing a tether on the back) and figured this would be ours. In any case, I was going in! BINGO.
Back to sleep.....
Outside, the clamour of the campsite at dawn was growing increasingly audible. Waking slowly - and tepidly popping my head out of my sleeping bag, I saw Richard doubled over in a mound at the door of the tent. He was also waking up, and wondering aloud what the heck he was doing lying there at the foot of my makeshift bed. Funny, I had always wanted a dog that would sleep at the foot of my bed, and this was as close as I had yet gotten!!
The small hill we had pitched our tent on had proved an unwise choice (once again). In this case, Toast ended up sliding down hill into a pile at the low corner of the tent, just at my feet. That's what he claims....
Outside it had stopped raining, through it was still cool and damp
Crater view
. The sky was of a beautiful orange/pink colour as the sun rose above the crater rim. A qujick campfire breakfast, time to wash up and brush the teeth, and it was time to take down our tents and load the safari vans. Of special interest was the Italian camper who was chased off from bathing in the sink that was to be used for cooking. Thankfully, we would not be having any more meals at Ngorongo....Boarding the safari vans once more, we pulled out of the campsite and began our morning descent into the crater. The inside wall of the crater was a steep slope. It was covered by vegetaion in places, but the road that took us down into the crater was narrow. From the road, the vista across the crater was beautiful - you could see the expanse of the crater, its soda lake, small forest and open grasslands.
Reaching the crater floor, our convoy headed along the shore of the soda lake - passing flamingos, herds of zebra and wildebeast and various birds. We were lucky to sport and pull up to a pack of lions that were feasting on a fresh kill - looked to be a wildebeast from a nearby herd that we could see in the distance. As the male lion feasted, the lioness and her cubs waited for their turn, patiently.
Sida lake in crater
Driving on, we stopped to watch and photograph osterich, elephants, and finally - at last - the elusive Black Rhino!
This was no ordinary encounter. This Rhino was a large and determined creature. It slowly but surely made its way toward the road on which our van was parked - along with dozens of other vehicles now closed in for a picture. This Rhino was lookiong to cross that road, vans or no vans, and with determined pace, it made its way toward, then exactily in fron of our van! We were a hood's length from a live Rhino, and what amazing pictures we got!!! It was among the most exciting wildlife encounters, no question.
With our conquest of the big 5 complete (plus many other fantastic animals), we made out way around the soda lake into the forested section of the crater for lunch. Here we were entertained by a small group of monkeys that seemed to have the art of theft down pat. these cute little buggers were able to distract you while others entered your vbehicle to find and snatch any food that might be inside. They were extremely effective in targeting a nearby van, hitting it twice and making off with a significant amount of food (fruit, cookies, sandwiches) while the vehicle's occupants helplessly sttod by in amazement
Hippos
.Thankfully, the attack on our van was thwarted by Laurie.
I have a few great monkey photos for this stop, but before long we were on the road again, this time existing the crater and re-tracing our path to Lake Manyara and the campground that started our safari journey.
I slept much of this journey, and while one of the vans in our convoy pulled aside for souvenirs as we neared Lake Manyara, we convinced our driver to keep going. Our mission: The inground swimming pool at the campsite! Upon arrival, Richard and I forwent the showers and hit the pool. It was glorious. Absolutely glorious......Removing days of dust and grime in one giant splash!
Post swim, a change of clothes (sending our accumulated dirty kit off with the local washer-woman), Richard and I hit the lounge for a couple of cokes. As this was definately NOT Rochard's day (he had already cranked his skull getting into the safari van earlier), now had dropped his coke, smashing the bottle and its contents across the floor.... The was was yet to come for the poor lad later...
Zebra herd
.As the rest of the crew finished up their post-safari showers, we assembled in the dining area for dinner. Oh JOY! Curry AGAIN!!!! So I had rice. And after dinner, off to the lounge again, where our guides had arranged for a local dance group to perform for us. They were quite good, and at some point, they managed to get most of us up there dancing with them. I am hopeful no pictures of this will ever surface...
Several beers were consumed as our group turned its attention to playing cards. A fairly competitive and viscious game of Strings ensued, and as the evening wore on, it became apparent, that it was time for lights out and a FINAL night of camping.
I should note here, that during the lounge events, Richard made a dash to the tents to get his camera. In the dark, he ran headlong into the barbed wire that seperated sections ot the campground, spearing himself across the chest and legs, tearing his pants, though luckily - leaving intact the fleece that had effectively grown permanently attached to him. (I think he's STILL wearing it)!
