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Feb. 15, 2003

Bad news: Mohammed's Land Rover had developed some problems yesterday, so he brought it back to Arusha to work on. As it turns out, he was able to get it fixed, but he had to meet us somewhere on our travels today.

We had coffee delivered to our tents bright and early. A vervet monkey stole the sugar bowl from our neighbors porch, and took it high up into the trees! We packed up into the Land Rovers (another driver and vehicle came to take Mohammed's place), and off we went toward the Rift Valley.

We met up with Mohammed, at a rest stop along the way, when one of our safari-mates, Jane, took a tumble out of the Land Rover. Robert sprang into action and dressed her wound as we all stretched and waited to repack the Land Rovers.

The rest of our travels would be on dirt roads, dusty and dry, but the landscape was dramatic as we drove first through the Rift Valley, and then on the steep switchbacks that took us up into the Ngorongoro Highlands.

It was a somewhat more populated area, and we passed through several small villages.

We got out to stretch and admire the view of Lake Manyara below, with a rim of pink all around it from the flamingos.

Finally, we entered the Ngorongoro Conservation area.

Robert gave us a short, insightful lecture regarding the volcanic origins of this area...

And we were off to the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact caldera in the world. Here, the rim of the volcanic crater is 2000 feet higher than the lush, green floor. Animals venture in and remain there, enjoying this tiny microcosm. The natural density of animals here is unmatched in the rest of the world, it is a veritable Noah’s Ark.

The crater is almost indescribably beautiful! The pictures just don’t do it justice, but here’s my take on the spot. If you had asked the most prestigious, adventurous zoo/wildlife park designers to come up with the worlds’ most perfect cost-no-object park, they would have said this.

They would have described situating it in a spot where the high elevation kept it cool, with fresh breezes, but the equatorial sun warmed it during the day. They would have suggested a natural wall surrounding the park, 2000 feet high all around, but they would have covered it with lush, jungly vegetation and flowers and mysterious rock formations for added beauty. They would have suggested creating little micro-eco systems on the floor, with lakes and rivers and savannah and hills and forests, each accommodating different wildlife. They would have suggested situating some luxurious lodges as well as campsites on the crater rim to accommodate any type of traveler, but each would have the spectacular view into the park. They would have suggested creating only 2 roads in and out of the park, and limiting visitors so as not to disturb the wildlife.

And then they would have said, “Ooops! That park already exists!”

Here are some pix of the crater and the crater floor itself, with Lake Magadi.

Here’s the view of the Ngorongoro Crater floor from our lodge perched at the rim…the low-lying clouds that morning in the crater were spectacular!

We stayed at the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, definitely the most luxurious lodge during our trip! From the impeccable service, to the perfect décor, to the spic-and-span rooms with perfect views, to the innovative construction with rounded river stones, to hot steamy showers with the water pressure that was to-die-for, to such fancy amenities as massages (of which Bill availed himself, declaring it one of the best massages he’d ever had!) …this spot was perfection!

But who cares about the lodge, right???? It was the animals we were here to see!

On to: More Ngorongoro Crater

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