Ngorongoro
We reached Ngorongoro by evening and camped at an elevation - it was somewhat cold and we put on our fleece jackets. As Happy was preparing dinner I queued up at the shared bathroom. There were some guys from UK ahead of me and they had just come in from Congo after seeing the silverbacked gorillas (and apparently got caught in the cross-fire between rival groups along the way) - they helpfully warned me that the water in the shower alternated between hot and cold so I was prepared.
Early next morning we drove into the crater of Ngorongoro. Driving into the park we could see several Masai grazing their herds. The government has reserved the Ngorongoro Conservation area for the Masai, so the animals and Masai live in peaceful co-existence like they have done for hundreds of years. Nice. Ngorongoro is unique in that it is contained within the crater of an extinct volcano. We had heard that the wildlife contained there could not escape due to the steep walls of the crater and hence remain captive, but turns out that the area has such a rich ecosystem that none of the inhabitants really want to leave even though they can.In any case, an excellent park to see wildlife since you get to see a rich variety of animals within a small area (somewhat like a wild zoo). The highlight of the visit was seeing a pride of lions feasting on a water buffalo they had just killed at the edge of swamp. The rest of the buffalo herd were lingering near the spot and further up we could see some elephants and in the distance Thomson's gazelles and zebras. It was amazing that you could see such a variety in wildlife within one view.
Later, we also saw a Cheetah pair (brothers) from close -they were magnificent and sleek, spending an hour sunning themselves near our van and finally walking away slowly as they bored of us.
We valiantly tried see the African Rhino to complete the big 5 ( Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and Rhinoceros) but luck was not on our side. Apparently one of the Rhinos had recently given birth and hence very protective and not ready to come out into the open.
Lake Manyara
Well maintained park with a good visitor's center. Famous for its rare tree lions - we didn't see any though. Also known for its birds. We had kinda tired of this safari thing by then and just wanted to return to civilization.
We returned to Arusha, tipped Kibireti and Happy, and shifted our lodging from Moshi to Arusha to check out how the city was. We had a couple of days to ourselves before we were to leave back. We did new year's at a local club in Arusha. We also visited a discotheque - it was strange, we saw many guys dancing in a pit at the center, after a while a few couples joined in and we did too. But overall it seemed unsafe so we left quickly after a horrible dinner at the adjoining restaurant.
Overall the Safari was great and if we were to do this again, we'd probably spend more time in Serengeti.
We reached Ngorongoro by evening and camped at an elevation - it was somewhat cold and we put on our fleece jackets. As Happy was preparing dinner I queued up at the shared bathroom. There were some guys from UK ahead of me and they had just come in from Congo after seeing the silverbacked gorillas (and apparently got caught in the cross-fire between rival groups along the way) - they helpfully warned me that the water in the shower alternated between hot and cold so I was prepared.
Early next morning we drove into the crater of Ngorongoro. Driving into the park we could see several Masai grazing their herds. The government has reserved the Ngorongoro Conservation area for the Masai, so the animals and Masai live in peaceful co-existence like they have done for hundreds of years. Nice. Ngorongoro is unique in that it is contained within the crater of an extinct volcano. We had heard that the wildlife contained there could not escape due to the steep walls of the crater and hence remain captive, but turns out that the area has such a rich ecosystem that none of the inhabitants really want to leave even though they can.In any case, an excellent park to see wildlife since you get to see a rich variety of animals within a small area (somewhat like a wild zoo). The highlight of the visit was seeing a pride of lions feasting on a water buffalo they had just killed at the edge of swamp. The rest of the buffalo herd were lingering near the spot and further up we could see some elephants and in the distance Thomson's gazelles and zebras. It was amazing that you could see such a variety in wildlife within one view.
Later, we also saw a Cheetah pair (brothers) from close -they were magnificent and sleek, spending an hour sunning themselves near our van and finally walking away slowly as they bored of us.
We valiantly tried see the African Rhino to complete the big 5 ( Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and Rhinoceros) but luck was not on our side. Apparently one of the Rhinos had recently given birth and hence very protective and not ready to come out into the open.
Lake Manyara
Well maintained park with a good visitor's center. Famous for its rare tree lions - we didn't see any though. Also known for its birds. We had kinda tired of this safari thing by then and just wanted to return to civilization.
We returned to Arusha, tipped Kibireti and Happy, and shifted our lodging from Moshi to Arusha to check out how the city was. We had a couple of days to ourselves before we were to leave back. We did new year's at a local club in Arusha. We also visited a discotheque - it was strange, we saw many guys dancing in a pit at the center, after a while a few couples joined in and we did too. But overall it seemed unsafe so we left quickly after a horrible dinner at the adjoining restaurant.
Overall the Safari was great and if we were to do this again, we'd probably spend more time in Serengeti.
Labels: africa, lake manyara, ngorongoro, tanzania
posted by Ravi @ 5:26 PM
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