Day 42 - 43 - Arusha (Crater game drive)

Day 42 - 43 (Acacia day 39 - 40) – Arusha
This morning, after we relived the events of the nights before (you really had to be there for the buffalo and the bush pig was too funny), we headed out to the Crater for a morning game drive. We managed to convince the drive/guide to get the show on the road early so we could be the first truck in the Crater. We drove down the rim road, through crazy thick morning fog to reach the descent to the descent. There is only one road down into the Crater and a separate road out.
Slowly the fog cleared and headed into the Crater. It was like The Land of The Lost. It felt completely like another world down there. The Crater is about 300 square kilometers, has several lakes (salt and fresh water), forests, plains, and other areas. A lot of the fields and plains were also covered in wild flowers and were amazing.

It didn’t take long for the awe inspiring scenery to be trumped by more animals. We could see zebras, wildebeests and elephants in the distance but once again we got an up close look at some cats. Right near the bottom of the descent road there was another pair of cheetahs just hanging out. They appeared to be keeping an eye a herd of zebra and wildebeest that were slowly walking closer next to the road. That’s a good start to the drive so we continued on. We saw more zebra and wildebeests along with spotted hyenas running around. The salt water lake was full of flamingos near the shore and various other birds were also around.

The roads in the Crater are really just dirt tracks and some we had to bypass, as they were impassable even with four wheel drive. We drove around all morning and saw some more impressive elephants and buffalo. One of the small lakes was full of hippos and had a huge weaver colony in the tree at its banks. Eventually after looking and looking near the rocks and hills going up the crater, we saw to lionesses peeking their heads out over the lip of a rocky hill. However we were really on the lookout for rhinos and leopards, as that would complete our Big 5. We managed to find a rhino, just lying down in the grass. It wasn’t the most impressive sight by far but was really cool.

In the Crater, whilst we were the only truck around for a bit, it wasn’t too long before we were joined by several others. After seeing the rhino, we stopped to talk to another truck so that our drivers could compare notes and tell each other where the various animals where. I suddenly realized that in the other truck was a guy I knew form London. He had been on the trips to Oktoberfest and to Hogmanay that I did! It was really random to run into someone who I knew from such a different place in the middle of nowhere.

We continued driving in the Crater for several more hours, looking at animals and seeing a few more notable things. The funniest was a male lion, but not all majestic and proud like you always see. This one was lying on his back, legs all akimbo being lazy. Which to be fair is probably how these guys spend most of their time anyways.

As we continued our search for a leopard, we drove into the forest area. It felt like something out of a movie where there is an enchanted forest. The trees were all massive and covered in vines and moss. It was cool but it really felt like another world, especially compared to the rest of the Crater.

Eventually we drove out of the Crater and back to our campsite so we could have lunch and pack our gear. Then it as a few hours’ drive back to Meserani and our camp at the Snake Park. While we had been gone, the Snake Park changed. Well not really, a few more trucks had shown up, including 60 odd Nordics (Swedish, Norwegians…). The campsite slowly resembled a tent city as the number of occupants grew. We had a walk around, went to the local market and tourists stores.

The next morning there was also a Maasai village walk with a tour of the education centre and clinic. One of the men from the village came and walked us around to their village and explained a few things along the way. Also along the way we ran into several little children. When I say several children, I mean like 40. They decided that we were their new best friends and followed us around. It was pretty funny. But at one point I became a bit of a human gymnasium as I had at least 3 or 4 of them hanging from me.

After touring the village and looking at some huts and things, we went over to the education centre. A young English guy had started an education centre for adult education to help the local Tanzanians learn skills to get jobs, especially within the tourism industry. They taught English, French, computer skills and a few other things. However they had had to expand their facilities to incorporate an area for the children. Kids seem to be ever present and it really falls on everyone to look after them. He has setup a UK charity called livlife.org to help with the administration. We went over to the clinic afterwards. The clinic was setup by the Snake Park to look after its employees. But soon it became the most experienced and capable place in the area for dealing with snake bites and has been opened up to look after the whole community. Cases from the local hospital even get referred out to it.

This would be our last night together, so we had a big braai cooked at the Park and then partied it up. My friend from London (Coops), actually showed back up at our campsite (shouldn’t have been surprised, it was the main starting point for Seregenti / Ngorongoro tours). So the party got a little more involved. Also the Nordic tour had all returned and quickly overwhelmed the area. It was a big night, a bit crazy but really fun. I managed to get to sleep, shortly before it was time to leave… stupid Ma’s Revenge shots and konyagi…