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Epwo m-baa poking in-gitin’got
“Everything has an end”
-Maasai saying
Safari Day 4
Ngorongoro Crater & Back to Moshi
Woke up early as Madil wanted us to be packed up before breakfast for an early start on the drive down into the crater. The night before Madil had gotten permission from the rangers to drive after 11 PM so that he could watch the World Cup soccer game at one of the lodges. I think he partied hard and got back late. We all kind of chuckled about this since our planned "early" departure was "slightly" delayed! Breakfast was bread, chapattis, omelets, vegetables and we received box lunches. I went into the cooking area to say thank you and they even let me take a few photos.
The morning was cloudy, foggy, misty and cold, so no views of the crater until we started descending. The park has a one-way road to descend and a different one-way ascent road. Both are narrow, steep and rough, although it didn’t feel too exposed because of the thick foliage and trees lining the roads. Madil stopped a couple of times on the descent so that we could take pictures. The sun never really came out until lunch time, but the clouds made for great shadows and light on the crater floor.
You can see part of the road to the right
Once we got to the bottom, we were near
So now we had the Big 5: elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard and rhino, listed in the order we first sighted them. I think we were lucky to see so much! After the rhino we headed back to the lions, who were sleeping right out in the open and not moving around much.
We next went to a hippo pool. There is fresh water in the crater, so the animals tend to stay in the area or on the surrounding slopes and migrate within the crater itself. The hippos were great. Some were doing the usual submerged splashing but would often raise their heads and sometimes rest their heads on each other. We also got to see three hippos completely out of the water as they slowly moved through a shallow, marshy area. We were very close to the “action” and observed for a long time.
As we continued to drive, we saw ostrich, wildebeest, gazelles, many birds, including storks and flamingos, and hyenas scavenging or taking a break.
We didn’t get really close to the flamingos, but their pink color was pretty and since they typically stay together in large groups, the color was vivid. We stopped to watch one hyena toying with two jackals who wanted the hyena’s “find”, which was hanging from his mouth. It was fun to watch the interplay among the three animals. It was almost like a game of tag or keep-away and one of the jackals ultimately ended up with the meat.
Across the road from the hyena/jackal interaction, Madil spotted a cheetah. It was kind of far off and it took me awhile to spot it through the binoculars. The cheetah was watching a gazelle that was just over a small rise in front of him. We could only see the gazelle’s horns. After awhile, the cheetah moved closer. Then it became a waiting game. At one point, one of the crazy wildebeests wandered into the “scene” and we thought it would ruin the whole thing. The wildebeest ended up going behind the cheetah, (smart thinking!), but the cheetah remained completely focused on the gazelle. Everything seemed very still and quiet and in slow motion while we watched the cheetah and gazelle. Suddenly it happened! The cheetah made a move and flushed out the gazelle who popped out of the depression and oddly enough, circled back towards where the cheetah had come from. The gazelle ran in a zig-zag pattern trying to take the cheetah off the line of attack. Both animals were gaining speed; cheetahs can accelerate from zero to 45 mph in two seconds and reach 70 mph in a few more seconds. Even with that kind of speed, for a brief moment it looked like the gazelle’s evasive tactics would allow it to get away. The cheetah swiped at the gazelle, the gazelle tripped, the cheetah took advantage of that split second advantage and pounced. The gazelle fell and the cheetah essentially smothered it. We could see the gazelle twitching, its legs and tail; it actually took much longer to die than I expected. And, it was over…the cheetah dragged the dead gazelle into some bushes; Madil said he would eat it right away. (I read later that cheetahs rely on tripping their prey because unlike leopards, they don’t have retractable claws to allow them to grab and hold.)
I think we were all a little stunned that we saw this happen – it was truly amazing! We were also very excited, as witnessing a kill is rare.
And speaking of natural parts of life, as we were driving after the cheetah kill, Madil got a call about more lions. We reached the spot just as the male was finishing mating with one of the females. Then he took a nap! We were bummed that we missed this but hey…simba sex… or… cheetah kill? Hmmm… Anyway, this was a fairly large pride with several younger males and a bunch of females. We never got an exact count (maybe around 10) because most of the females were sleeping in one big pile. We stayed and watched for a long time, hoping that the older male would want to indulge his mating habit again J. But he never moved, or made a move, as it were. One of the younger males walked around several times and the females in the big pile popped their heads up once in awhile. Like the group we had seen earlier in the morning, these lions were also right out in the open and quite close to the road. We definitely saw many lions on this safari.
He's thinking, but that's about all he's doing
The only negative encounter we had on the whole safari was in the crater. We were parked, observing animals as usual, when another vehicle pulled up behind us. One of the guys (not the driver) told us we needed to move because he wanted a better view of the animals and we were basically in their way. He was much ruder than my writing shows. Needless to say, we were all taken aback by this since everyone is very polite even when jockeying for position as the drivers often are. For example, we might be stopped to watch some lions and then we move on and allow another vehicle to take our place. But this guy was way out of line since there was no reason for us to move – his view was essentially the same as ours. You can see from these photos how wide open everything in the crater is. Plus, it’s really up to the drivers to make these decisions and work with each other. I bet it was really “fun” to have that pushy client in your vehicle.
Stopped at a picnic area next to a small lake for lunch. Madil suggested that we eat inside the land cruiser because of the black kites, birds that are very aggressive and will swoop in to “steal” food. Lunch was the usual mix of food – chicken, bread, fruit, cheese, chocolate, and a weird sandwich made with butter and carrots. Extra food was collected to give later to one of the Maasai boys. We were able to stretch our legs and walk a little after lunch within the rest area.
After lunch we started to head out towards the ascent road. We made one last stop in the crater at another rest area, where Mick and I helped a tour group take some photos. Mick actually got in one of the photos; I’m sure the group will be wondering about their new addition, or then again, there’s always photoshop! There were a bunch of monkeys in the area and one of them went inside the tour group’s vehicle, where it would jump from seat to seat. It would go crazy and leap around even more when we teased it from outside.
Madil put the top down in our vehicle for the last time; the official end of our game drives. I personally was/am overwhelmed with how much we observed and experienced over the past few days.
Our intrepid group & vehicle, from the left:
Madil, Marsh, Jane, Jo Ann, Sharon, Mick
Photo courtesy of Roger
We left the crater floor and climbed the very steep road to the rim and then along the rim road to the park gate. The sky had cleared since the early morning clouds and Madil stopped at the last overlook before we left the park for a few final photos of the crater. What a beautiful place – so glad that it’s protected. (By the way, I still want to run in the crater.)
We also stopped at the park gate for the obligatory paperwork and this time took pictures of the rhino painting.
Madil with one of the Big 5
Back on paved roads, we had a long drive back to Moshi, broken up by a few stops for “shopping”. Madil stopped at one place that had a lot of mementoes, including carvings, bowls, Maasai crafts etc. Mick and Sharon picked out bookends, Marsh was looking at bowls and I found an ebony pot and some necklaces. There were several “salesmen” and when I asked the price of my items, he says 45000 (shillings). At this point in the day, I am not into bargaining at all, so I counteroffer 15. He acted completely appalled and came down to 35 then 25. Then he tells me to raise my price and start negotiating. So I tell him that sometimes an agreement can’t be reached and that’s OK, no bad feelings. I truly didn’t care whether I got this stuff or not. I’m outside when the guy comes out and says that his boss said to take my offer. It usually happens like this – you walk away and they follow you. Amusing but sometimes painful. I have mixed feelings about the whole bargaining thing.
We all pretty much zoned out for the drive, sleeping or, in my case, watching the scenery out the window. We made one final stop at the same tourist stop where we had lunch the first day of safari. Both Jane and Marsh were seriously considering tanzanite purchases and the rest of us wandered around. Jane, Sharon and I ended up discussing the merits of the tanzanite that was already “set” vs. “free” stones. There was a beautiful pair of stones (not set) that we thought Jane should buy. In the meantime, Marsh had picked out a gorgeous piece and got a decent discount. Jane decided to buy the pair and I helped her with negotiating the deal – she even ended up with some carved hippos, a beer and a bottle of water!!!
Final part of this road trip was back through Arusha to Moshi. A few names that caught my eye: Good Bite Café, Fantastic Cafeteria, Happy Store. Night fell as we drove and Madil had to watch carefully for people coming out onto the road. As we got to Moshi there was a large group of men in the road which Madil reported at the police checkpoint. Earlier in the day a bike had suddenly swerved in front of us – Madil slammed on the brakes- it was the only time I ever saw him yell at someone. These roads can be dangerous because of all the people and various types of vehicles and bicycles, scooters, etc.
We finally reached Springlands around 8 PM. Our support crew, Erastu and Mzava were waiting, so we quickly pulled tips together. Marsh gave the money to Madil to distribute and then we said our goodbyes. There was one new guy there with Erastu that we hadn’t seen before. We had given Madil some extra tip money meant for him (Madil) but it probably ended up going to this new guy. (We saw Madil the next day and Marsh asked him about it and Madil said everything was OK. I know that Mick and Sharon very generously gave Madil some extra money when they saw him.)
Dropped our bags off in the rooms and then met for a late dinner. As usual, for me, the appetizer was the best part. This one was pasta with an interesting sauce and some greens. I should have asked for a second one! Oh well, at least there was ice cream for dessert. Took a nice hot shower which felt great and then to bed. End of the safari adventure….whew…