Blogs from Ngorongoro Conservation Area, North, Tanzania, Africa - page 16

We drove back to a clearing of plains where the toilets were and ran into a group of Masai herdsmen on the way back to the truck. I am not sure how they feel about us, but I get the strangest feelings around them. It's weird how they aggressively come up to you asking you to take pictures of them or with them. Over time, with so many tourists taken unwanted pictures of them, they've adapted and now spend a good bit of time accommodating and even invited tourists. who can blame them though. Being pushed steadily from the land they called home for centuries further and further over time by the govenrment in an effort to preserve and use their land as 'national parks' for tourists to gather. It seems natural that they'd have ... read more

We were finally allowed into the Ngorongoro Park around 6:30pm, with some other people who had also arrived after the 6pm curfew. ... read more

We drove through the serengeti on the way to Ngorogoro crater and dropped off at the Oldupai Gorge. This is the spot where the earth has split opened revealing several levels, right down to the lava level. It was there that they discovered human footprints from 3.6 million years ago. The oldest known existance of man. They casted the footprints and created two casted replicas then preserved the orig. by covering them by rocks. The footprints were captured because the people were walking on lava which hardened and was covered over by ash and soil. They dug for the next couple of years in an effort to find human remains from this time period but had no luck. In Etheopia the bones of, Lucy, a 1 metre high woman were found in the great rift ... read more

If you want Safari we got safari! We got up before dawn to be picked up in Land Cruisers to go to Ngorongoro Crater. The first creature to be spotted was the Tanzanian Prime Minister, who had decided to hold a rally for the upcoming elections in the middle of the road, which held us up a bit as the armed police were not going to let us go anywhere. Just before the entrance a troop of Olive Baboons crossed the road & we were all very excited & trying to take photos of them. The entrance to the Ngorongoro Crater conservation area is just like the gates to Jurassic Park, opening up on lush green vegetation with the expectation of man eating creatures lurking within. We then had to get into the crater which involved ... read more

Monday 7th February Sleeping in these semi permanent tents is great. You get the feeling of being under canvas but it still feels safe and secure as there is a proper roof and a raised floor. The tents at Kisima Ngeda had very comfortable beds, unlike the ones we used to have in Mikumi National Park, when we stayed at that camp in the 70s. We adored this camp and there was always lots of wildlife right around the tents. But the beds were terrible and there was perhaps a little too much wildlife inside as well. I don't mind the bats and I can handle mice running over my sheets, but beetles, cockroaches and centipedes sharing your bed are more difficult to accept! We had breakfast at 8 am as usual. Another glorious morning with ... read more