Ngornogorno Crater
Zebras drinking from a small stream in Ngornogorno Crater
August 13, 2003
The road to Ngorongoro Crater was bumpy at best and gravel, pothole-filled crooked
one-lane-wide road for two-way traffic at worst; it's supposedly under construction.
On this long drive our driver and safari guide, Eric warned us not to pee in the
“Bush” because there are snakes in they’re waiting to jump up and bite us in places
that they can’t suck the poison out of. He also told us of his brother and a couple
of his friends who were killed by an African Cape Buffalo, perhaps the most poorly
tempered and dangerous animal in the area... even more so than the notorious lion.
After stopping at the welcome area of Ngornogorno Park we learned more about the
evolution of man, because Oldavai Gorge is on the grounds of the Ngorongoro Conservation
Area grounds.
We arrived to our lodge at around 6:30 and ran into an old friend's mom, who
I knew as a child, Barb Wentworth: she had just summited Kilimanjaro two days before
us. We talked for only a short while though because we were off to a Masai Village.
The two town spokesmen of the Masai village were sons of the chief and told us of
their education in Arusha and their will to keep their tribal traditions alive,
although their traditions are very controversial throughout Tanzania and the world.
They taught us that in their village the men can marry as many women as they please
and the women build the cow dung huts, cook, clean, and undergo circumcision and
uterus stapling to please the men of the village.
The men are known as warriors and carry tall spears to carry on the tradition, however
they have not had a war for many years and the men only graze the cattle and pleasure
themselves with whatever woman they choose.
This particular village consisted of 14 houses, one for each wife of the chief and
a gated circle in the center for the village’s cattle; this village had about 200
cattle.
After asking a few provoking questions the spokesmen got upset and refused to answer
saying that it was tradition and there would be no more questions on certain topics,
but they continued to encourage questions on any other subject.
We later learned they use much of the money we gave them to buy banana beer and
many of them get drunk nearly every night of the week on the expense of the tourist;
the women are not allowed to participate in such activities. We asked what the women
think about certain topics and they responded that the women have no say, the men
make all the decisions; they were not at all embarrassed about saying this.
Masai warriors in their village near Ngornogorno Crater
Masai warrior & our guide
Masai children outside a cow dung hut
August 14, 2003
We were up early and out of the lodge before most groups had gotten to breakfast.
Our safari-mobile (as I named it) was the first out of the parking lot and as we
left we passed about 40 or 50 other safari-mobiles waiting for their tourists.
View from our hotel at Ngornogorno Crater
By 8:00 we had made the journey to the crater floor and on the way already spotted
an African cape buffalo. Soon after, the wildlife became endless: two mother lions
with their cubs 30 feet away, hundreds of flamingos, dozens of hippos at the
hippo pool, and hundreds upon hundreds of wildebeests and zebras milling along to
the lake and pasturing through the tall grass. These last two animals are known
to travel together more often than not due to their strengths, the zebra sees very
well, but has a terrible sense of smell, whereas the wildebeest is just the opposite,
great smell, and awful eyes.
We also spotted a hartebeest, a few hyenas, all sorts of birds and cheetahs. Two
cheetahs were on the hunt and later I heard they came within feet of catching a
gazelle for lunch.
After lunch, we saw two male lions hunting a trespassing wildebeest on our way to
the hippo pool, where we saw about 30 hippos trying to stay cool. Eric warned us
here that we should stay far from the water because it’s known for the python infestation
it has... that would not be the way to go.
Even on the way out of the park we couldn't escape seeing wildlife. We
spotted a mother Thompson’s gazelle with her newborn baby of about 3 or 4 days and
the elusive black rhino.
After leaving, we left without Kerrin and Neal who were off to Serengetti while
we were on the road to Tarangire.
Wildebeasts in Ngornogorno Crater
Hippo in the water near our lunch stop
Ostrich in Ngornogorno Crater