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Published: July 28th 2008
Zebras sensing the lion
The lion sneaks up close enough to single out one zebra and then the whole bunch bolts in different directions.Hello again,
We are having a fabulous time here in Dubai, but let me finish our African Safari saga. We had arrived at our lodge on the rim of the Ngogongoro Crater at what seemed to be sunset, but we couldn't be sure since we were engulfed with clouds. The driver said that we must hurry through the lobby if we wanted to get pictures of the crater because of the fading light. The pictures came out quite well. We probably should have been noticing that the staff were all wearing multiple layers of sweaters, sweatshirts and jackets. Their boiler for heating water for the radiators which was their source of heat was broken. You cannot imagine how remote these places are without even a village, much less a town, to pick up a few parts. They told us there was hot water for showers, but it didn't reach our room at all and Jim waited quite patiently for about 15 minutes before giving up on a shower. However, the staff assured us "No worries". We would each receive an extra blanket that we were invited to wear to dinner if we liked and after to the entertainment. IT WAS FREEZING!
Thank goodness, they had electricity. The single candle on our dinner table was our only source of heat. There was a "Traditional" dance later, but we couldn't tell what tradition might be. They moved frenetically enough to keep them warm though. Chrissy and I wore our blankets back to the room and went to bed early.
We left the next morning at 6:00 armed with our box breakfasts and box lunches for later. It had not gotten warmer and was still very damp and misty. We were pleased to have so many in one vehicle now since the heater didn't work well enough to defrost the windowshield and we had to open the windows a bit for the driver to see on the winding, slippery, treacherous road. It took us about 30 minutes to descend into the crater and then he put the top of the Landcruiser up. Oh my, then we did experience a bracing wind, but the enormous herds of wildebeest and zebras took our minds off that soon enough. It was overcast all day and we were pretty well cold all day. Sorry about the moaning - now that's out of my system.
First we saw a
Stately Giraffe
These and the elephants were so great to find and watch. herd of wildebeest that were moving in single file down to the water in the lake. They decided that they wanted cross the road before we got there and started running. The line was about 3/4 to a mile long so we watched them for quite a while and finally had to just push through them. Our camera's battery ran out just then, so I haven't any pictures down in the crater. Sorry! The crater is truly fabulous - a little ecosystem all on its own. It contains the desert and a rain forest and everything in between. It was fabulous. We were seeing all the same animals, but much larger amounts of them. The flamingos on one end of the lake were still asleep, but beautiful pink spots on the water.
We saw a pride of lions just on the verge of the road. 2 males, 2 females and 4 cubs. Amazingly, we didn't seem to bother them at all. The hippos were plentiful and we even got to see one out of the water and walking around. The only rhino that we spied was asleep so he just looked like a large rock out in the grass until
he shifted his head and we could see his horn. When we stopped for breakfast at 9:30, there were a group of very crafty monkeys that lived there. We were not to feed the animals anything, but these monkeys fed themselves. One jumped into the front seat of the car, opened one of the lunch boxes, grabbed something and was gone in about 2 seconds. Chrissy and I decided to save our cookies for later and go to the bathroom. One monkey jumped through the open roof and grabbed those cookies and was gone in a flash. Unbelievable. The driver said they were only scared of him and never of white men. We felt quite ineffectual up against them. We left the crater at mid-day, but the driver said 3 or 4 days are needed to really appreciate it. It was so wonderful to pull the top back into place and to try to warm up a little. We almost cheered when we came to a paved road again.
There were continuous Masai villages along the way. The driver showed us some Baobo trees that are supposedly as old as Kauris or
Redwoods. There were school children everywhere, so most
Hippos in the pond
The reflection of the sky makes it seem upside down. of the population must have access to an education. We left the Leaches and Nathan at a nice place in Arusha and they would arrive in Nairobi the next day. Pastor Jon and the 3 of us flew to Nairobi about 7:00 pm. I almost trampled Jim and Chrissy in my rush for a hot shower and to get the red dust out of my hair as we arrived back at the Mennonite Guest House. Pastor left early the next morning. We checked out at 10:00 am and the taxi driver took us shopping until we went to the airport.
We arrived in Dubai at almost midnight and it was 38 degrees C, that's a little over 100 degrees F. WE WARMED UP QUICKLY!
I will follow with our Dubai happenings later. Thanks for all the comments and messages. We love them.
Shirley
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