Into the Wild—The Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti

December 30, 2011

I met my new group Christmas night. In addition to me and Sam from home, there are 13 travelers and Nat, our German tour leader, Isabella, our Polish driver, and Samson, our Kenyan cook. It’s funny how you get used to what you know. I was a little bummed when I originally arrived in Kenya and saw that our trip was going to be led by Intrepid instead of Dragoman, the Intrepid partner that ran my Patagonia trip. Now, after a week with the fantastic local Intrepid crew and guide, I was bummed that Dragoman was running this part of the trip.

I feel like Drago was great for Patagonia because the point of the trip was the natural physical surroundings, so the fact that our guides weren’t South American, or for that matter, Spanish speakers, wasn’t that big of a deal. After having such great interaction with the local crew in Kenya though, and wanting to know about Tanzanian culture, I was hoping for more local guides the second two weeks of the trip. But I tried to keep an open mind…

The trip left early morning. I will say that the Drago trucks are a bit homier than the Intrepid vehicles, and it was nice to listen to music on Helena, the truck. Shortly into the drive, Katie, a fifty-something Australia-residing Canadian who became a bit of the group mom, put on Toto’s “Africa” and danced up and down the aisle of the truck. I would soon learn that this was a morning ritual, and while I don’t know that the people who had been traveling with her for the previous three weeks in Uganda and Rwanda appreciated it by this point, I ended up really looking forward to her little dance each morning—she was clearly enjoying herself—and I will never again listen to Toto without thinking of the trip.

Katy's Dance

Dancing while waiting for our
Jeep Drivers.

 

We had a long day of driving to our first campsite in Snake Park outside of Arusha. The drive was pretty uneventful, but our first lunch stop was in the middle of nowhere (though next to another Drago truck that had also left that morning). Our food preparation, eating, and flapping routine were watched by a dozen or so shepherd boys. The picture of the two orange trucks, 30 dish-flapping westerners, and 12-20 year old African shepherd boys in their Maasai garb carrying sticks and clubs was a bit incongruent.

Lunchtime with an audience

Oh, and there were a few dogs as well.

 We arrived at Snake Park in the evening. The park gets its name because of the snakes it houses—fortunately behind glass— for research and their anti-venom. Still, I probably should have waited until after the camping to learn about all the different serpents that live in the savannah we’d soon be visiting.

Poor picture, but you get the idea. You wouldn't want to
run into one of these  in the wild.

Sam resting in front of the tent.

The next day started with a couple hours’ drive to and then a walk through the village of Mto Wa Mbu, a town outside the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti.  We learned how villagers grow rice and brew banana beer and saw artisans painting and carving. Its close location to the crater has made tourism a main industry for the town, but to be honest, the tour felt quite flat. There was a definite enthusiasm missing from the guides, and after our tours in Kenya I was a bit disappointed. The tour did end with a fantastic homemade lunch, however, that did redeem the experience to some degree. J 

Learning about nature

Sam learning how to carve

A lot of the kids here love posing for pictures.
They'll ask you to take a photo and then inspect
themselves on your camera.

She wasn't posing for the camera, but I couldn't resist.

Brewing banana beer. Err...

Highlight of the tour... 

We had short drive to our campsite in Karatu, and we were in for a treat when we arrived—a pool replete with water bar and spouting decorative elephant. The majority of us took advantage of this and spent the afternoon lounging under an elephant trunk.

Pretty fancy!

Drinks, anyone?

Even the sunset was fantastic in Karatu

 Our journey to the Ngorongoro Crater was to be an early one—our safari guides were picking us in 4x4s the following morning at 5:40. This meant a 4:00 wakeup and a 4:30 breakfast. We were fed, watered, and packed and waiting with eager anticipation for our drivers to arrive by 5:35. 5:40 arrived with no drivers, and then 6:00. Still no drivers. Nat (being German) had called and confirmed the time with the drivers at least three times in the preceding two days and was beginning to get a little upset. 6:05. 6:10, 6:15, still no drivers. (During the time we were waiting, another group in the campground had gotten up, eaten breakfast, taken down camp, and hit the road.) Finally, at 6:20, a truck showed up. The poor driver (who looked like he was 15, though we later learned he was 27) was met by an angry German climbing into the passenger seat to scold him. He was understandably a little reserved when he got out of the truck and was asked if he was bringing any of his friends. Another 15 minutes passed and the second driver arrived. Finally, at 6:40, a full hour after our scheduled departure, the last driver arrived. He was the senior guide and quite secure in his job. His answer to Nat’s reprimand was Hakuna matata--no worries—and a big smile.  A few minutes to get loaded and we were off towards the crater.

The crater is amazing. We literally saw thousands of animals. I felt like I could have been in a National Geographic special. I won’t go into detail about it here though, as I’ve already shared many photos of the animals.

After lunch and a little more time at the crater, we headed to the Serengeti. At one point, the driver of one of our trucks was speeding to pass another vehicle when the wheel of our driver’s truck fell off. Really. Rolled right off. The truck came close to rolling, and the passengers and the driver had a sobering moment. Fortunately, everyone ended up safe and the driving got a little more conservative from that point on—for a bit, anyway.

We spent that afternoon and the next day in the Serengeti. The grass on the savannah was quite high which made spotting some animals, particularly cats, difficult. Relative to the crater, the Serengeti is sparsely populated, but the challenge of trying to see the different creatures was quite fun. It also heightened the excitement when an animal was found.  

Camping in the Serengeti is an experience. There are no fences around the campgrounds. Basically, you are sleeping amongst all the animals you were spotting all day from the trucks. After a delicious dinner and toasted marshmallows (Yes, we roasted marshmallows! In the Serengeti!), I made my way to the bathroom in preparation for bed. The bathroom was a little ways from the tents, and it was pretty dark out there. On my way back to the tent after surviving the toilet—it’s amazing how we adapt!—I looked to my left and my gaze was met by some yellow eyes in the darkness. I took a second glance and then quickened my step. When I was closer to the tents, I shined my light back to where the eyes had been. They were still watching me. I moved so a tent was between the eyes and me and waited for a moment. But when I looked back again, the glowing eyes were still watching me. With my heart beating a little faster, I abandoned my plan for an early night and returned to the others at the fire. (I learned the following morning some saying about red glowing eyes are the eyes one needs to fear in the night—those of cats—and that yellow eyes are generally eyes of less predatory animals. Trying to confirm that now with a quick internet search, however, has left me unsure.)

Somewhere in the Serengeti

The third day our drivers dropped us off at the elephant pool where were to pick up Isabella, our guide who had stayed behind to work on Helena, the truck. Neither was at the site. While Nat tried to learn where they were, I used the internet only to find that my backup ATM card had been cloned in Brazil, fraudulently used, and thus canceled. I also learned that the card I had lost in Peru (Remember that?) had not made it back to my parents so they wouldn’t be able to mail it to me in Africa. Grrr!

We went back to Snake Park to camp that night. Christina, my roommate from the Kenya part of the trip, and Victor, the guide, and Babu, the cook were all there with their new group of travelers, and it was fun to catch up with them.