At dinner, I chatted with other guests who had already been to Ngorongoro and Serengeti with Manyara being their last stop. They all had nothing but great things to say about Serengeti. The one story that stuck in my mind was about seeing elephants and giraffes that morning just outside their room - may be 50 feet away, and a couple of lions further away. That would be a sight we might experience tomorrow - we hope!
By far the highest expectations we had were from the Ngorongoro Crater, based on all the rave reviews we had read. Best to have that as our last stop, a climax!
Being a tent lodge didn't really matter in terms of noise because tents were separated enough from each other. They were permanent tents on concrete pad, but late at night, blowing wind was shaking the whole tent - noisy enough to wake me up. Otherwise, no complaints.
After breakfast, we left at 8 am and drove to Karatu 22 km away - entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), which is much bigger than the Crater itself. That's where good paved roads ended. Until we return here on Saturday, it will all be dirt roads going at 50 mph - what we called "African Massage."
Tanzania, knowing the popularity of their destinations with foreign tourists, have levied high fees to visit their parks. Just to enter NCA, for example, it is $295 per vehicle (single entry.) In addition, it is $70 per person per day (360,000 TS plus VAT) for the Ngorongoro Crater and $60 pp pd for Serengeti. (Fees at Manyara were $59 pp.) After paying fees, we entered NCA and drove to the Crater viewpoint 32 km away, up several thousand feet. Being at such high elevation, you could really see no activity, or signs of life, at the bottom of the Crater. For that, we'd have to wait two more days.
 |
| Ngorongoro Crater - highest concentration of wildlife - none visible from here |
At the Crater Headquarters, we purchased the additional tickets and drove on 64 km - initially, driving 1/3 of the way around crater rim and then descending down to Serengeti plains beyond. At higher elevations, where there were larger (Acacia) trees, we saw camels and many giraffes. Masai people are allowed to live within NCA - there villages would pop up now and then. On the plains, there were only gazelles blending in the dry grasses.
 |
| Entrance to Serengeti Park |
Finally, we reached the official entrance to Serengeti park - just a pitched roof entry way over the dirt road with a sign hanging in the middle. There are no fences or any other obstructions. That's it. Of course, there were Masai children waiting in the shade hoping to have their pictures taken at the entrance (for a tip, of course.) Because we were running a little late, we skipped visiting Oldupai Gorge for today - will do that on the way back two days later.
Driving several km further, we reached Naabi Hill Gate. This is a good, safe stopping point - a rest stop for lunch and restrooms. Your tickets are checked here both while entering and exiting. We continued on to have lunch at Serengeti Sopa Lodge, where we were staying two nights. The "real" Serengeti had now begun - the roof hatch was up, and we were ready to view some wildlife. Much of the first part was open dry grass, so the only animals were gazelles, an occasional jackal, hyena or vultures. As the grasses grew taller and some trees appeared, there were a lot more elephants, giraffes, zebras and wildebeests. Since we entered NCA at Karatu at 10 am, it was sort of a game drive anyways just reaching the lodge in the heart of Serengeti. We had already seen hundreds of animals.
At the Lodge, we checked in, had lunch and started out for the game drive around 3:30 PM. We drove around until 7 PM, and as was promised, saw two lions in the distance - not enough, but just to check off the list. We did see plenty of other animals - giraffes, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, hippos, impala, baboons, mongoose, hyrax, topi, leopard, warthogs, and so on. A large herd of elephants was seen very close to our Lodge every time we drove by.
 |
| With poaching under control, elephants are thriving here. |
At dinner, we heard about a balloon ride over Serengeti, but decided it wasn't worth $650 for one hour. We also heard about lions drinking from the Lodge swimming pool the previous night, but they had moved on. We saw no large animals at the Lodge. Only an occasional hyena laugh in the distance. The night sky was brilliantly lit with millions of stars - much like we witnessed in the Galapagos last year. We did have a Capuchin monkey sneak in to our room and grab a handful of sugar packets next morning.
 |
| Capuchin monkey stole sugar packets |
Serengeti is roughly "Y" shaped park with its left prong extending to Lake Victoria to the West, right prong touching border to Kenya (and Masai Mara) to the North - though there is no fencing or demarcation, allowing wildlife to move around freely. The bottom prong leads to Maswa Game Reserve to the South. We spent much of our time on the East/South side (Between the Lodge, Naabi Hill Gate and Seronera airport) where most of the action was at this time of the year.
Best part about Serengeti is that it doesn't feel like a park at all, just a vast openness where the wildlife roams freely just like it did before. No permanent human settlements are allowed except for the lodges - an exception also exists for the Masai people.
During game drives, our driver would take us to rest areas half way through the day for "rest" stops, and for lunch at Serengeti Visitor Center or Naabi Gate, where all Jeeps would congregate about the same time. Being low season, we estimated at most 30 Jeeps in the entire park (about the same in Ngorongoro Crater as well.) These areas are not fenced (or otherwise seemed protected from large animals wandering in), but we were told that it was OK to be outside the vehicles. Makes you wonder.
In any case, creature comforts were catered to. Rest areas had toilets with running water. The visitor center had an outdoor picnic area, restrooms, a snack and coffee shop, and a gift shop. In addition, it had a collection of animals skulls and bones, and a self-guided walking path that provided informative signs and exhibits about the history of the Serengeti, its ecosystem, and its wildlife.
 |
| Serengeti Visitor Center picnic area |
 |
| Jeeps lined up at lunch time in Ngorongoro |
We had two nights each at Serengeti Sopa Lodge and Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge - both could be considered five star luxury accommodations ($500 per day - with all meals included.) Breakfast and dinners were mostly buffet style. If we were to be out at lunchtime (most likely scenario), they would provide us lunch boxes with more than enough food - sandwich, salad, cookie, drink, fruit, chips, or some variation thereof. Since most of our day was spent sitting down in the car, there was very little exercise other than standing up to take pictures and then sitting down; also getting bounced around on those dirt roads when speeding. We could have easily skipped lunch. I ended up sharing half of mine to other drivers and tourists.
Accommodations were spacious with large private bathrooms. We spent very little time there, of course, except to sleep. For WiFi connection, we had to hang around in the lobby or dining areas. Nice looking pools were closed for maintenance.
Unlike Manyara, people at each table were engrossed in their own conversations so there was no interaction with others. I suspect that since most Jeeps hit the same spots, we all had very similar experiences each day. Although there were many occasions where Jeeps that arrived mere minutes after us, missed the action. May be the same thing happened to us and didn't know it.
Having seen only two lions in the distance yesterday, we were on a hunt for more lions this morning. And boy, did we find them - all day long.
 |
| Best chance to find lions is on rocky outcrops (kopje) |
 |
| And there they were. |
Considering that we had not yet seen a cheetah or a rhino, our guide reworked the plan so we could give ourselves another chance to enjoy Serengeti with a morning game drive. On the way back to Ngorongoro Crater, we'd then stop at Oldupai Gorge before reaching the crater in the evening - instead of for lunch. We would take box lunches and eat at Naabi Hill Gate before exiting Serengeti. This was much better than having a free afternoon at Ngorongoro Crater.
From other drivers, our guide knew where exactly to find a cheetah this morning. It was relaxing in the thin shade of a small tree, but certainly was on the lookout for food. There was only one other jeep parked on the road ahead of us. There were no prey around as far as we could see - a cheetah would go mostly for gazelles and impalas; zebras and wildebeest would be too large for a single cheetah to tackle - and they don't hunt in groups.
 |
| Time to move closer to food. |
 |
| Such a graceful animal. |
As the cheetah started walking to get closer to prey, it went right in front of the other jeep totally disregarding the existence of it. I wish it had decided to perch on top of the vehicle (like the video below), but that was asking for too much.
 |
| People in vehicles don't even count (as prey) thankfully. |
We had also not seen any hunt in progress, although we had seen crocodiles having just killed a wildebeest and were in the process of devouring it. First they drown the wildebeest and then, because they lack the jaw strength, they twist themselves to tear meat apart. It looks like the prey is struggling, but it is already dead. Only when the mother crocodile finishes eating, little ones (babies) and later Marabu Storks get their chance.
We had also seen lions and leopards (and later, hyenas and vultures) cleaning up dead carcasses. And now, we came across this lioness in action.
 |
| Waiting for the right opportunity |
 |
| then approach and wait for the right moment. Four male lions were resting under the large tree on the opposite side. |
 |
| Ambush, but no success. Only 1 in 5 attempts succeed. |
 |
| Male lions waiting for their meal. Lionesses do the hunting. |
That was some experience - wish it was a successful hunt. Serengeti had lived up to its reputation; and Ngorongoro Crater is yet to come.
On our way out of Serengeti, we once again noticed that gazelles seemed to congregate near the dirt roads. They (and impalas, zebras, wildebeest and buffaloes) would scatter away as our vehicles approached them at 50 mph. With experience, each animal knows how much safe distance to keep between themselves and potential danger. Running away up to a certain distance before stopping is just good life training for them and their young ones. What didn't make sense was when animals on one side of the road, not in harms way to begin with, darted across in front of our jeep to go to the other side. Both sides were the same open plains, same grass, even same herd. Go figure!
We know that domesticated animals such as cows, cats, dogs, etc. know just to barely get out of way of an approaching car but not much more. They definitely don't take off and run far away. We saw the same response from wild animals in Ngorongoro Crater hardly 100 miles away. Yet, here in Serengeti, it was markedly different. I guess Serengeti still remains much wilder.
Only a few miles outside the Serengeti National Park, and a couple of miles off to the East of dirt road B144 on the way to the Ngorongoro Crater, is the Oldupai Gorge, so named for the Oldupai plants found there, (but misspelled Olduvai in the press for a long time.) This steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley is about 30 miles long. Here Mary and Louis Leakey discovered human fossils and tools dating back to over 2 million years. Fossils remains of over 60 hominids (human ancestors) have been found in this area, making it one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world.
 |
| Oldupai Gorge - 2 million years of evolution in one place. The plants in front are Oldupai. |
The site is significant in showing the increasing developmental and social complexities in the earliest humans, for example, in the production and use of stone tools. And prior to tools, the evidence of scavenging and hunting—highlighted by the presence of gnaw marks that predate cut marks—and of the ratio of meat versus plant material in the early hominin diet. The collecting of tools and animal remains in a central area is evidence of developing social interaction and communal activity. All these factors indicate increase in cognitive capacities at the beginning of the period of hominids transitioning to hominin—that is, to human—form and behavior.
The site is still being built, but a short narrative by a local expert followed by a quick run through two rooms of the museum gives you an idea of the enormity of the work done here. It contains information and artifacts related to the Leakey family, the fossil discoveries, the gorge, and the Laetoli footprints. The museum also shows how the great migration out of Africa to the rest of the world must have taken place thousands of years ago.
I was hoping to see "Lucy" our great-great-great...aunt here. But originally from Ethiopia, she happened to be traveling in the U.S. somewhere.
 |
| The journey out of Africa - all the way to South America |
Not far, about 28 miles away, is Laetoli, another important archaeological site of early human occupation. The oldest human footprints - believed to be 3.6 million years old are found there. We saw a replica at Oldupai.
 |
| Replica of Laetoli footprints |
Back on B144, we left the Serengeti plains behind, and climbed up and around half of the Ngorongoro Crater Rim, mostly retracing our path from two days ago. Sopa Lodge is at one of the high points around the crater with each room with a magnificent view of the crater. Much better views are from the lobby, restaurant and balcony upstairs.
 |
| View of Ngorongoro Crater from Sopa Lodge |
We had plenty of time and daylight to check emails and enjoy the views while having tea and cookies. Tomorrow would be, hopefully, the high point of the safari. The last few days were completely dry - and therefore, hot and humid. During game drives, we were constantly moving with windows open so it felt pleasant. It cooled down enough at night.
This lodge had a lot more guests than the one in Serengeti. Dinner as well as breakfast were buffet style. Plenty of food, enough variety, nice ambiance, and nothing to complain about.
Before dinner, the lodge offered a presentation about the Ngorongoro Crater, and history of Tanzania. It was very informative, but there was little pubic interest. I was the only guest attending. What did I learn? TanZania was so named when Zanzibar was added to Tanganyika in the recent history.
We entered the crater around 8 am. The sky was clear. It was sunny and pleasant - just like the previous few days. The landscape was similar to Serengeti once we descended in to the Crater, except the grass was much greener here. Due to underlying volcanic ash, the crater floor is more suited for short grasses rather than tall trees, except in some pockets. There were elephants, but no giraffes, who prefer tall acacia trees found outside the crater. Otherwise, all the other animals were present in abundance. It was also easier to spot birds here. Also common were babies - warthogs, wildebeests, zebras, hippos, elephants, and lions.
 |
| Buffalo showing off |
As we descended in to the crater, it was fairly quiet. Two buffaloes showing off, but not fighting yet, for the right to mate. A couple of vultures cleaning up a carcass in the distance. A jackal passing by. And then we noticed one jeep with all cameras and binoculars pointing in one direction. We were on the opposite side of the action. Two buffaloes were standing still next to a ravine, presumably to go down for a drink of water in the stream below. They were alert but not panicked. We heard on CB radio that there were two lionesses in the ravine, which we could not see.
Moments later, one of the lionesses lost patience and made a move towards the buffaloes, who quickly fled - a failed hunt. Lionesses then walked away - looking elsewhere for a different prey. Unlike what's known about lions - that they sleep 17 hours a day and they hunt at night - we were happy to see lions active bright and early in the day.
 |
| Buffaloes 1, Lions 0. |
The crater floor being 12 miles across nearly flat land gave us a panoramic view in all directions. There were animals everywhere - some alone, like ostrich, eland or hyena, others in herds like zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, elephants and hippos - most with babies.
 |
| Wildebeest baby nursing and prancing around |
By noon, it was fairly hot and in one area, no shade. Four lionesses were trying to stay together. One claimed the shade in the storm drainage pipe under the road. The other three, less senior in lion hierarchy, were restless and panting. As we approached, there were a couple of other jeeps ahead of us. When they moved on, our driver pulled our jeep closest to the lion sitting by the roadway. (He then quietly rolled up his window - more on that later.) We were happily clicking away our cameras from the windows as well as from the roof hatch. The lionesses were probably 5 feet away from us facing away. I thought that was close enough.
But then, one of them got a brilliant idea. She walked straight up to our jeep, found shade, sat down, and then decided to take a nap. The second one then followed and stood behind the first one, in partial shade. I could have easily touched her -- and that would have been the end of this blog! Needless to say, I didn't. She too then sat down.
 |
| Lion under our Jeep - won't move. |
Several other jeeps then came behind us, but we couldn't move. Our driver started and revved up the engine - no effect on the lioness. He then gently rocked the jeep - still nothing. The second lioness walked away, but the first one didn't budge.
What do you do if the lion doesn't want to move? Having a wide base, our driver was able to navigate the jeep around the lion - that's when I realized how far under our jeep she had crawled to get shade. The ground must have been hot too - I guess life is no picnic even for lions in 90 degree summers. Watch the whole encounter here - Close Encounter.
I later asked our driver why he rolled up his window when we parked next to the lions. He basically said (in a nice way) that he's not stupid. I then asked how come he didn't ask us to close our sliding windows (of course, it wasn't practical to close the hatch at that point, which lions could easily come through.) Good thing those lionesses weren't hungry, nor did they think of humans inside a vehicle as food - I can vouch for it first hand. He also mentioned that all the glass windows of the vehicle are no match for a lion. They could smash through them effortlessly, if they wanted to. And if one were to attack our vehicle, they ALL would jump in instinctively.
We now had a great story to tell.
It was time for lunch. Nearby Ngoitokitok Picnic Area, one of the few places in the Crater where you can get out of your vehicles. It also has toilets.
By now, clouds had started rolling in. Every now and then, when showers started, we had to close down the hatch - and later open it up.
Those were light showers, but it worked miracles. The temperatures cooled down a bit. Lions came out of the shade and relaxed in open grasses. At one place, there was one lioness with her slightly older cub, who was posing "as a lion" and playing around with his mother. Just a few feet away, another lioness with three smaller cubs who were already using play time to practice and hone their hunting skills. The older cub would come join in from time to time. A male lion was resting farther away - having nothing to do with the play time. Yet another story to tell.
 |
| Posing as a lion |
 |
| Playing with mom |
 |
| Cubs playing - mother relaxing. |
Just that little rain also made the dirt roads treacherous. At one point, our jeep skidded without notice, and turned 90 degrees. Luckily, we weren't going too fast at the time, and there were no other vehicles or animals (or trees.) No wonder, they discourage visiting here during the long rains (Mar-May.).
Other animals also became active. We saw a hippo grazing during the day, which they rarely do. Wildebeest and zebras were fighting among themselves for the right to mate.
 |
| Let's see who is the strongest. |
 |
| Wildebeest fight differently, but with the same goal. |
To complete our wish list, we did see two rhinos, later 4 more in the distance. Wish they could be closer for a clearer picture.
 |
| Rhinos in the distance |
One thing noticeably different in Ngorongoro Crater vs Serengeti was that animals seemed more relaxed. We saw many gazelles sitting down, ruminating in open field. Wildebeest and zebras were also seen resting from time to time, while others kept watch. In Serengeti, they were constantly on the move, and watching each others backs at all times.
 |
| Sitting down for a change. |
By 4 PM, we had covered most areas of the crater and seen all we wanted to see. Time to return to the Lodge.
Sat 01/28/17 - return to Arusha
Having mission accomplished, we had only to return to Arusha and wait for our flight early next morning. There was no hotel reservation, but there was nothing much to do in Arusha if we had stayed there. I had toyed with the idea (earlier) of half a day hike up Mount Kilimanjaro, but logistics wasn't working out. Might as well. The mountain was covered in fog all the way down to the base for the entire afternoon and night.
After breakfast, we left at 8 am. All guided tours - especially large groups - get kickbacks or reward points for having tourists visit local shops or cultural sites such as a Masai village. I always hated the forced shopping time, especially when I am paying top dollars per day to visit that country. At our guide's urging, we agreed to visit a total of 3 shops. We had already visited one that sold Tanzanite jewelry - Tanzanite is a blue stone found only in Tanzania, and I wanted to see what it looked like. We had two more to go. A small wooden rhino would be a perfect size souvenir, though the stores also sold full size giraffe, which they would happily ship to your home. As much as you'd want to help local enterprises, paying $25 for the 6" wooden rhino which you could buy for $5 at Walmart just didn't make any sense.
Everything up until now was prepaid part of the safari. Now we will need some local currency to pay for tips, hotels and other incidentals. There was an ATM at Mto wa Mbu. There were just two people ahead of us, but it took 20 minutes. Considering that 1 USD equaled nearly 2000 TS (Tanzanian Shillings), we wondered what the daily ATM limit would be. It was 300,000 TS. For reference, 1.5 liter bottle of water would be about 2000 TS ($1.) To pay for our park entrance fees (in TS), our driver must have been carrying 1.5 million TS on the way up here. Don't know if he had to pay cash for our hotels as well.
As we exited NCA at Karatu, our "African massage" was over. Actually, it wasn't that bad once we got used to it. Besides, we were sitting in the second row behind the driver - almost in the middle of the car. It would have been a lot bouncy in the last row.
We reached Arusha Coffee Lodge, near Arusha airport around 1 PM. This is yet another high end hotel with restaurant - for included buffet lunch. Outdoor seating with decent number of choices for the meal. We had plenty of time, so no rush to leave. We were only minutes away from Arusha downtown, and then an hour away from the airport.
The Kia Lodge at JRO airport with simple cottages wanted $180 for the privilege of hosting us for 12 hours. Panone Hotel 10 km away to the west was asking for $150 with free shuttle to the airport. Rainbow Executive Lodge, in Boma la Ngombe, 8 km to the east charged us only $25 (50000 TS) through booking.com - the place was minimal - just a few rooms, all empty. Our room was large with basic functioning bathroom. Mount Kilimanjaro was only 20+ miles away, but completely covered in fog the entire time.
Our guide dropped us at the hotel around 3:30 PM, called and arranged for a taxi to the airport for a 2:30 am pick up next morning, and negotiated 30,000 TS rate for it. He had been tremendously helpful throughout, very knowledgeable and with a sense of humor. He had liked my binoculars very much (his were not as sharp focused.) so I gave him mine in addition to the tip. He was very happy with that.
The rest of the afternoon was time to catch up, write notes about the blog, etc. There was no WiFi and nowhere else to go in that tiny town. To get up at 2 am next morning, I tried to go to sleep at 7 PM, but kept waking up. It was warm, but with windows open and fan overhead, it was comfortable.
Sun 01/29/17 - Out of Africa
I was concerned about our taxi not showing up - at all, or on time. There would be no simple alternative at that early hour, if that happened. We had the taxi driver's phone number and our guide had also informed the Lodge about our early departure.
We were NOT able to check in online for our flight, and we had no way of checking if the flight was on time, but it was.
Thankfully, the driver actually came up even earlier than the 2:30 am pick up time, and was asleep in the taxi when we came out. The lodge had a large locked gate, which they came and opened for us. We were on our way to the airport only 20 minutes away.
Remember, JRO airport is the small one story terminal building with departures on one side and arrivals on the other. From the point where taxi drops you off, the entrance to the building is may be 50 feet away. Just inside was security check in, and airline counters just beyond. I walked up to the security and inquired if the flight was on time. They didn't know but the airline counter heard me and asked if I was flying TK567. When I said yes, they said that they were waiting for us. Wow!
It was barely 3 am. Our flight was to depart at 4:15 am, the plane had already arrived and everything was on schedule. But I guess we were the last of the passengers they were waiting for - everyone else was already there. After boarding passes, next was immigration. Here they fingerprinted us again (but not matched against our fingerprints on the way in.) Then we waited for the gate to open - and here I thought we were late, holding everyone one up. When the gate opened, it was second security check and another wait for the boarding to begin. We were sitting in the waiting area with windows facing the aircraft - like every other airport, but it was too dark to see anything else except the plane and surrounding area of the runway.
First leg of the flight was a 55 minute jaunt to ZNZ, the famous Zanzibar island, continuing on to Istanbul (IST) for a 7 hour flight. Views of Zanzibar while landing and takeoff were charming to say the least. May be next time.
Only 20 people boarded with us at JRO, but a lot more got off at ZNZ leaving an empty seat next to me. The flight was uneventful.
The flight took us straight north over Kenya, Ethopia, Sudan and Egypt - crossing the entire Sahara desert over to the Mediterranean sea, then on to East Turkey and finally to Istanbul. I was able to see the harsh Sahara desert from the plane, but the pictures did not come out that dramatic. About one hour later, I was also able to capture when we just left Africa over Egypt, and another hour later, crossed over to frigid mountains of East Turkey in Asia and then landed in Istanbul in West Turkey in Europe 45 minutes after that. We had left the 90 degree weather behind flying 3300 miles North and in the same time zone, and will be bundled up for the next 3 days in Istanbul where the high was 48 degrees and low 37 degrees.
What a wonderful trip!
