Lake Manyara & Ngorongoro Crater Safaris

We were picked up on Tuesday by our guide Edmond and we drove about two hours to Lake Manyara. We did an evening drive through the national park where we saw baboons, a blue monkey, lots of giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, cape buffalo, hippos, thousands of flamingos along the shores of the lake, Thompson gazelles, impalas, and two elephants. The elephants were a mother and baby, which was really fun to see. They crossed the road right behind us, so we got some really great pictures.

We left the lake as it was getting dark and headed to our campsite. When we arrived, we were the only ones at the campsite, so we had it all to ourselves. There were tents set up and there were mattresses on cots in our tent. Denise and I had a sheet over the mattress, one blanket each, and no pillows. Bob and Edmond had sheets on their mattress and one sheet to cover up with. Denise and I got the better end of that deal as it got a chilly during the night. We had taken groceries from Arusha with us for food, so we had PB&J (goober jelly) sandwiches for dinner. We also had snickers because when we saw them at the store, we got really excited, as we haven't had chocolate for so long, we had to have them! After dinner, we taught Edmond how to play the card game Golf. He enjoyed it and said that they usually play poker or last card. So, we are going to learn last card before we leave.

In the morning, we left the camp site at 5:30am and headed to Ngorongoro Crater National Park. We drove up to the rim of the crater and then down inside it. It was absolutely beautiful and we immediately saw all kinds of animals. The animals are within this giant crater and very few of them migrate from it. We saw a lot of the same things we had seen the day before, like zebras, wildebeest, cape buffalo, baboons, two elephants, gazelles, impalas, and hippos. As we were driving around, Denise saw something and we stopped. At first we thought it was just another hyena, but it was a cheetah and there were two of them! We watched them walk through the grass and had to keep a pretty close eye on them, as the grass was tall. We thought they were either going to the lake or to the road. We were hoping they were going to the road, as the lake was away from us. We watched them for quite a while and they finally crossed the road. By this time, there were several other cars of people watching Tracker Denise's find. One stopped in the road and was intrigued by the people (that or he wanted to pounce on them, but I don't think so). They crossed the road and the other animals were on alert and going away from them. They sat down and relaxed in the grass and we went on to see some other animals.

Later, we saw a black rhino in the distance, which was huge! We also saw three lions, two males and a female, in the distance but got some pictures. They were laying down by some water and there was a cape buffalo who was near them. He walked away from them, but every so often turned around and stared at the lions. We also saw lots of birds like the golden crested cranes, lavender breasted royale (sp?), ostriches, pelicans, and again thousands of flamingos. There was also a huge elephant that we saw who had gigantic tusks. For some reason, only male elephants are found in the crater. It was a beautiful drive and the numbers of animals was amazing. We parked for lunch by a hippo pool and had more PB&J sandwiches. :-)

After lunch we went looking for a leopard, the only big 5 animal we hadn't seen, but no such luck. We headed back to Arusha around 4:30pm and arrived at the Backpacker at 6:30. We were very dusty and sunburned, but famished. We ate dinner and Luca and his friend Dennis came and joined us. Luca brought his college information, so that Bob could take a look at it. His degree is in Natural Resource Management and he wants to get a masters in something like Community Development. He would love to study in the US, so Bob was telling him what he would need to do to make that happen. Luca is very bright and an extremely caring person. He is a Maasai and wants to work with his people to make their lives better, while still keeping their heritage. We are going to meet him this afternoon, as he has invited us to where he lives in Arusha. He told us last night that he bought some cards and has taught his friends how to play golf. He laughed and said that's all they want to play now. So, we're going to have him teach us how to play Last Card, so that we can take it back to the US with us.

We have only two more days before we leave, so we're starting to wrap things up here. We have a couple more business meetings tomorrow, so we'll be heading home with many plans and actions that we'll be taking for the Children's and Mother's clinic in Kibungo Rwanda, starting a health post in rural Rwanda which is in a district with no health facilities, a children's clinic at the Center for Champions (home for street children) in Rwamagana Rwanda, and further down the line in maybe 1-2 years a facility in Longido Tanzania. There is lots of work ahead, but it's not work when you meet the people here and listen to their stories. I feel privileged to have met the people who we've met and to have friends and family in this part of the world. I am already looking forward to when I'll be able to return. Next time though with Brian, so that he can visit the places and meet the people who we've met. Every day is amazing and I'm grateful to be here.