Day 4 of Safari :Ngrongoro Crater, And Indian Dinner with Pakistani host

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I had a bad start for the year. My car had starter problem and I had to join a group of dutch to go down into the crater. I was quite pissed .... Instead of starting at 6:30, we started at 8:30 am!

My fellow land-roverites were friendly. A mom with 2 teenaged kids - everyone was very well traveled and very well spoken.

Ngrongoro Cater is the place where most of the Discovery/National Geographic safari game videos are shot. Its a small flat caldera (part of volcano) surrounded by tall mountains from all four sides. It has a very large density of animals, and one can find all major animals there. They are easy to spot, because the topography is flat, and there are hardly any trees to give animals ay cover. There is a big salt-lake in the middle where 60% of world's flamingos feed. Since it was a wet season, everything was lush green

I saw lions, hippos, ostrich, elephants and black rhinos there, along with all minor animals like jackals, hyenas, several birds, zebras and antelopes. Lunch was by the lake, and falcons terrorized everyone by snatching food from people's hands. I took a few good pictures of falcons

I was supposed to be dropped off at Karatu (town outside NCA) by the dutch group, and my guide was supposed to pick me up from there after getting the car repaired. I was worried, since my luggage was with my guide .. and what if he didnt show up. But all apprehensions were unfounded, as I met Omar on reaching Karatu.

We headed off to Arusha right away. I reached Arusha at 4:30 pm - I was tired, dirty and probably smelly - so had a really long bath.

In the evening, I asked my hotel conceirge for multi-plug to charge my phone/ipod. They didnt have it, and my search led me to a narrow alley right around the street corner. I met a guy with indian features, speaking hindi. I started a conversation in Hindi, and found that his name was Asif, and was from Karachi, Pakistan. He was very friendly and owned a tandoor shop. He asked me to come back around 10 to have dinner with him and his friends. I was so hungry that I said that I couldnt wait for so long. So he offered me a plate full of pakoras and chutney... I stayed there and soon, his friend came over. all were indians - from Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Saharanupr (UP). I had great converation with Jaipuris, since I grew up in the city - we talked about movie theaters, schools, world politics and everything else.

finally - dinner was served at 10. Asif cooked french beans for me specially (typically, they had tandoori chicken/lamb, but since I am a vegetarian, he made vegetarian meal for all of us). Having tandoori roti was heavenly!

Conversation moved to US and getting visas. Since all of them were muslims, they told me horror stories about how many time their visa got rejected by US embassy in Delhi. They asked me if I could help them getting a visa. I said I would keep in mind .. but they kept asking me about it, and one of them even offered that if I find a woman to marry him, he'll pay her handsomely. That got me a bit suspicious about their intentions for visitng US. My rationale was - why do they need american visa. I was aware that I was falling into same sterotype by being suspicious about them just because they were muslims. If they were hindus or christians or buddhists, I wouldnt have doubted their intentions afterall.

Anyways - I left the party early - thanked Asif for his hospitality, and went striaght to bed. I am grateful to have met Asif, my pakistani host that day!

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