Closing out my Tanzanian adventure with Ngorongoro

Ngorongoro crater

Camping overnight at the rim before descending
in it the following morning 

The night spent on the crater rim was extremely uncomfortable thanks to the wretched tsetse flies that I was stupid enough to ignore in the three days in Serengeti. I had felt the itch for a bit the day of the bite but it progressively got worse as the days went by. At least mosquito bites subside after a few minutes but this was a multi-day effect.

A Masai settlement - the Masai share the Ngorongoro
Conservation Area (NCA) with the wildlife

The itch was so bad that the whole night at the crater I was scratching my legs and belly because those were the places where they got me. When at breakfast I checked with Dennis how long the itch would last he had bad news for me. After seeing the over twenty-five small red inflammations where I had gotten bitten he told me that I will have to live with it for the next week or so!...depressing news indeed but at least I had the wildlife of the Ngorongoro crater to look forward to that day.

Zebras on the plains

Talking about the tsetse flies, there is a story that goes that the reason for Islam not penetrating sub-Saharan Africa is the pesky little tsetse fly. The account continues that the horses of the Muslim traders and the cattle of the Fulani were devastated by the disease carrying tsetse flies causing them to stop their advance beyond the edge of the Sahel.

Thus North Africa, especially Sahara and Sahel is predominantly Muslim and sub-Saharan Africa is predominantly animist and Christian, due to the later influence of the early explorers and missionaries to the then Dark continent. I can’t validate this legend but it makes for a fascinating tale!

Amusing how the warthogs kneel on the knees

The crater rim standing at 2200m was lush with vegetation but as soon as we descended the steep inner walls it changed quickly. Down at the floor of the crater it was bone dry which was a stark contrast to the moist forest that we had just descended from.

The diameter of the crater at its largest is around 18kms so its not a large expanse of land as compared to Serengeti but the crater is jut a small part of a larger interconnected ecosystem consisting of several more craters, highlands, savanna bush and woodland together called as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Black Rhino

Pelican

The small area within the crater meant that we could easily have a game drive through it in about 6 hours which was the official maximum time allowed by the conservation authorities.

The crater scenery was stunning and the concentration of wildlife in such a small area was astounding. In that short drive we encountered lions, elephants, one solitary black rhino, hippos, Thompson’s’ gazelles, ostrich, warthogs, hyenas, lots of birds and large herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo. The highlight was a close sighting of the serval. The elegance of this long legged wild cat and its stunningly beautiful coat probably clinched it.

Serval

The black rhino could have been another highlight but it was too far away and didn't move for hours leading me to jokingly ask Dennis if it was a cutout that the authorities had placed to attract tourists. Nonetheless, by getting a distant glimpse of this rhino I had seen the Big Five in my 5-day safari in Tanzania.

Infact, the concentration and the diversity of wildlife is so great in the crater that its quite feasible for one to see the Big Five in one single 6-hour game drive. We saw four of them with the leopard being the elusive one once again.

Hippo pool

My thoughts of Ngorongoro...well, it is ideal for someone who doesn't have a lot of time for safari but personally it was a little too easy and ironically that's the reason I wasn't too enamored with it. Of course it could well be that I didn't appreciate the amount of tourist vehicles zipping around in that smallish crater.

Zebra stripes

Perhaps the biggest reason must have been that the heart was content. After all I was on safari for five days had seen lots of wildlife plus accomplished my holy grail of seeing a leopard. Serengeti was always going to be a tough act to follow anyway.

Thompson's gazelle

Departing the crater as dust blows over its dry salt pan 

Soon we returned back to the comforts of the Sunbright camp in Mto Wa Mbu. It was time for celebrating a fulfilling safari over dinner and savoring the soup one last time. I would be splitting with Dennis, Justin & Holly the next morning after breakfast. While they continued to Lake Manyara National Park for a day I would be returning back to Arusha to catch my flight.

The comfortable tents at Mto Wa Mbu

I got a minibus from Mto Wa Mbu to Arusha after bidding farewell to Justin, Holly and Dennis. The region around Mto Wa Mbu is roughly still part of the Masailand but there has been a lot of people migration since the term Masailand was termed. On the ride to Arusha I had a couple Masai ladies sitting beside me and they were quite amused seeing me being fascinated with their oversized earring.

After picking up my luggage from my tour operators office I headed to the Kilimanjaro Airport to catch my flight back to Liberia...the land of Ebola as my colleague puts it. It felt that I was seemingly heading from one adventure to another bigger one.

I had made the most of my ten days in Tanzania and pretty much completed the northern safari circuit in addition to Mt. Kilimanjaro which was the main reason I came to Tanzania.

Justin, Dennis, Me and Holly

Masia earring

Tanzania actually offers a lot more than that though. I couldn't make it east and to its beautiful white sandy beaches, tranquil islands and exotic Zanzibar. To the west lay the Gombe and Mahale National Park which are unparalleled for close encounters with chimpanzees in the wild and the south has the vast Ruaha (40,000 sq km)and Selous National Parks (45,000 sq km) offering the chance to see wild dogs among other common East African wildlife. Having never seen wild dogs I wouldn't have minded seeing them but alas can’t have it all my way.

My tsetse fly bites...I wont be forgetting
this "adventure" for a week :)

At the airport celebrating
a successful trip

Dennis, who I rate as one of the best guides in my travels in Africa, was of the opinion that the parks in the south are much better because they don't have the tourist traffic of the northern parks where the average tourist generally ends up going.

I have a feeling I would probably agree with him because although the sheer magnitude of animals in the northern circuit is unparalleled the southern ones would feel more exclusive, more remote and certainly more wild.

Though I felt wishful of not being able to do the rest of Tanzania I did the most in my limited time there. As I close this chapter of my Tanzanian adventure I would like to think that my journey in Tanzania was a glass half-full rather than half-empty considering the borrowed time that I am on. It remains to be seen if Tanzania was my last great adventure in Africa…perhaps time will tell!