Well, it's been a week, and since there is so much to tell, I will divide it into two easier to read emails. We last left our protagonist in Arusha shopping for a birthday present. Sometime after taking a chunk out of my toe on a metal wall, and falling going upstairs into the truck, we got rolling on to the Meserani snake park. Oh- sidebar- probably should give the current health update- 17 mosquito bites (hopefully very few malarial ones) chunk missing from little toe (glad I got that tetanus booster), banged knee from falling up the stairs in the truck, scratch across back from safari jeep in the crater, cut in knee from jumping down from roof seats to treat injured comrade, huge bruises on thighs from camel riding saddle, and some wicked bruises on my shin from diving catch during frisbee toss, into two folding chairs. It could have been worse, I rolled within 2 inches of the fire for dinner. But- never fear- all is well!
Anywho- back to the birthday night. I made a special treat of fajitas for the whole group for Maria's birthday, and our whole crew gave her a card and a batik. After dinner we went to the bar at the snake park and celebrated with another Dragoman bus. I like to refer to the night as the Night of the Walking Drunks. Suffice it to say, there was dancing on the bar, a drinking game involving dipping your fingers in sambuca and lighting it on fire (I won), and the knowledge that it is never a good idea to mix a bar with cheap beer (less than a buck) with hair shavers. A few of the guys were sporting some really bad shaved heads the next morning. I returned to my tent sometime after the birthday girl heaved on the lawn, Steve visited the tent in the middle of the night because he was having an argument with Scott and Nariane, who then proceeded to come to my tent and continue their argument. Later we heard our leaders Brett and Jen embroiled in a wicked lover's spat. Oh what a night! Only Denford and I were up for breakfast- as we were the only ones sober the night before!
Anywho- once we all got moving- we rode camels to visit a masai village. There was one man, 10 wives and 50 children. It's a very interesting culture. We spent time playing with the kids and learning more about their lives. They are very distinctive people with red tartan wraps and elongated ears. Many also have their 2 bottom teeth removed in case they get lockjaw- they could be fed through a straw.
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| Simon and Steve. And yes, that haircut was thanks to a bar, cheap bear and head shavers. |
Then, we were off again- driving across Tanzania- our destination- the Ngorogoro crater. It's the largest caldera in the world, and home to lots of animals. We started the next day before light, climbing into jeeps for our trip to the crater. Approaching is bumpy business (glad I wore 2 sports bras) and we were in clouds the whole time. We worried that we weren't going to see anything! How wrong we were! The crater is about 20 km across, so it is a very concentrated location for animals. Dropping into the crater is breathtaking. And because it's the end of the rainy season, everything is lush and green. We started the morning looking at herds and herds of zebra. Their noses so velvety and soft! Then, there were warthogs, with their funny, prissy run, and wildebeest and African buffalo. Interestingly, there are no giraffes in the crater- they don't like the hike apparently. And, there are only male elephants. The females are better climbers so they live higher up in the crater. We saw elephants (who were happy to see us, if you know what I mean!) jackals, hyenas, and the most incredible expanse of flamingos on the soda lake at the bottom of the crater. We also were lucky enough to see hippos out of the water as well as in it (they are the most dangerous animals in Africa in case you didn't know!). The highlight of the day though was watching a cheetah. They are rare to see, and our patience was rewarded when we saw him chase some gazelle. I hope the picture turns out. It was a fantastic day- the only of the big 5 that we didn't see was a leopard- but we held out hopes for the Serengeti.
Then we were off to Simba camp on the edge of the crater. We were visited in the night by bush pigs. We were lucky- sometimes the camp is visited by elephants. That's not what I want to run into in the middle of the night when I gotta pee!
OK- I'll finish up in another email- you probably need a break!
Linda
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