First off, Happy New Year to you all, and wish everyone the best for 2009!
Back in September I fulfilled one of my ultimate goals of going on a natural wonder - a real live African safari in the Masai Mara. My time in the mara made me realize that one safari was not enough! Over the holiday period, i was lucky enough to go on another safari in what is described as the 8th Natur.JPG)
al Wonder of the World – the Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania. Now, I’m not going to try and compare the 2 safari’s or attempt to decide which one was better. They were both incredible experiences, each providing its own unique sights and beauty. One stark difference though relates to the laws that govern safari’s in Kenya and Tanzania. In Kenya, safari vehicles are allowed to veer off the roads and follow animals wherever they go. While this makes for much closer enounters and interactions, it does so to the detriment of the ecosystem, whereas in Tanzania safari vehicles are required by law to stay on the gravel roads which is so much better for the environment and the animals.
Anyways, we arrived in Arusha after a long 9 hour bus ride from Mombasa where we were picked up by our hotel for the 3 hour drive up to the crater. The crater itself is an 80 sq km. piece of land that used to be a volcano and is now its own self-supporting ecosystem. The animals that live inside the crater are basically on their own, the walls of the crater are incredibly steep and therefore no animals can really enter/exit the crater. Which makes you wonder how some of the larger animals (i.e. hippos, elephants) got there in the first place? Just another one of nature’s miracles. We finally arrived at the Serena lodge on the rim of the crater weary, dusty, dirty, and sweaty – to find that the president of Tanzania was on his way here as well. As we were the only ones in the lobby at the time, we were instructed to sit and wait while he passed with his entourage and to “sit still and not make any sudden moves” (suffice to say that his entourage was probably all armed and ready to shoot first and ask questions later). The president arrived an walked by us and offered a friendly ‘hello how are you?’ to which I think we all responded with some sort of ‘good thanks, you?’ The irony is that I have been living in Kenya for 6 months now and have yet to even be in the same city as the President of Kenya, I was in Tanzania for about 4 hours before I met the President there. Ah well, now I can add him to the list of game animals that I saw.
As our lodge was located on the rim of the crater we were treated with 2 incredible sunrises (which required early wakeups but totally worth it) as the sun slowly came up over the rim. It was one of the more incredible sights I’ve seen. Our day long game drive provided us with grea.JPG)
t sights and lots of game, also I finally saw the only animal I did not get to see in Masai Mara – a cheetah! As I mentioned back in September, being on safari allowed me to see the Africa of my dreams. This time, it was a more surreal experience as I sat and watched all these incredible sights, the magestic animals in their natural habitat, the natural colours of the crater, and the painting that was their habitat, a strange feeling came over me as I thought about the spectrum of sights I have seen in my time here. From the saddest sights of poverty and despair, to the gem that was the sun rising over the rim of the crater as it greeted the earth for another day of life. But that’s the magic of Africa, it may sometimes bring you to a low, or make you question a lot of things but it will always bring you up again.
Back in September I fulfilled one of my ultimate goals of going on a natural wonder - a real live African safari in the Masai Mara. My time in the mara made me realize that one safari was not enough! Over the holiday period, i was lucky enough to go on another safari in what is described as the 8th Natur
.JPG)
al Wonder of the World – the Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania. Now, I’m not going to try and compare the 2 safari’s or attempt to decide which one was better. They were both incredible experiences, each providing its own unique sights and beauty. One stark difference though relates to the laws that govern safari’s in Kenya and Tanzania. In Kenya, safari vehicles are allowed to veer off the roads and follow animals wherever they go. While this makes for much closer enounters and interactions, it does so to the detriment of the ecosystem, whereas in Tanzania safari vehicles are required by law to stay on the gravel roads which is so much better for the environment and the animals.Anyways, we arrived in Arusha after a long 9 hour bus ride from Mombasa where we were picked up by our hotel for the 3 hour drive up to the crater. The crater itself is an 80 sq km. piece of land that used to be a volcano and is now its own self-supporting ecosystem. The animals that live inside the crater are basically on their own, the walls of the crater are incredibly steep and therefore no animals can really enter/exit the crater. Which makes you wonder how some of the larger animals (i.e. hippos, elephants) got there in the first place? Just another one of nature’s miracles. We finally arrived at the Serena lodge on the rim of the crater weary, dusty, dirty, and sweaty – to find that the president of Tanzania was on his way here as well. As we were the only ones in the lobby at the time, we were instructed to sit and wait while he passed with his entourage and to “sit still and not make any sudden moves” (suffice to say that his entourage was probably all armed and ready to shoot first and ask questions later). The president arrived an walked by us and offered a friendly ‘hello how are you?’ to which I think we all responded with some sort of ‘good thanks, you?’ The irony is that I have been living in Kenya for 6 months now and have yet to even be in the same city as the President of Kenya, I was in Tanzania for about 4 hours before I met the President there. Ah well, now I can add him to the list of game animals that I saw.
As our lodge was located on the rim of the crater we were treated with 2 incredible sunrises (which required early wakeups but totally worth it) as the sun slowly came up over the rim. It was one of the more incredible sights I’ve seen. Our day long game drive provided us with grea
.JPG)
t sights and lots of game, also I finally saw the only animal I did not get to see in Masai Mara – a cheetah! As I mentioned back in September, being on safari allowed me to see the Africa of my dreams. This time, it was a more surreal experience as I sat and watched all these incredible sights, the magestic animals in their natural habitat, the natural colours of the crater, and the painting that was their habitat, a strange feeling came over me as I thought about the spectrum of sights I have seen in my time here. From the saddest sights of poverty and despair, to the gem that was the sun rising over the rim of the crater as it greeted the earth for another day of life. But that’s the magic of Africa, it may sometimes bring you to a low, or make you question a lot of things but it will always bring you up again.
1 comment:
How strange it is that every sunset seems different from the next, even though they are all the same process and the same movements....
Sounds like the safari was an experience of a lifetime. I'm envious beyond description as we sit here in 40cms of snow reading about the uninhabited wonders of Africa that you are experiencing. Come home soooooon!
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