Africa

Day Seven: Monday

To Ngorongoro

Today we leave the wonderful Mbalageti camp and head east across the central Serengeti to the day’s final destination, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Elias wants us to depart from the main lodge no later than 8:00 am, as once again, according to our itinerary, we have a five to six hour drive (or longer during rainy season) ahead of us. Well, one thing we know for certain … it is the rainy season! In fact we meet la Famille Plouffe, also departing today, and they have just been advised that the local airstrip is washed out and they will need to drive further than planned to another remote airstrip.

The muddy water is broiling under the suspension bridge as we cross it one last time, and the submerged road seems more bottomless than ever. But Elias gets us through. At the main park road we turn right, instead of left, in the direction of the central Serengeti, the most popular region of the park for tourists due to its varied and stable wildlife population.

The road is a bumpy dirt and rough gravel track, slow going, but mostly dry, which is a real relief. The diverse landscapes merge as we travel through open savanna as far as the eye can see, rolling hills densely populated with leafy acacias, and swampy areas with thickets of leafless thorny bushes.

Dazzling birds are abundant everywhere and wildlife is plentiful. Gazelles, zebras, wildebeests, topis, buffalos, giraffes, elands, and one dikdik. We also see many more baboons, warthogs, and a tree full of vervet monkeys, the males with their colourful “privates” of turquoise and pink, and several females with babies clinging to their under-bellies. For miles we see (unmistakable) elephant droppings on the road and Elias assures us that these are fresh and we will eventually come upon the elephants. It is several hours before we do – a large herd in among the bare acacias – and I can’t believe how far they have travelled (judging by the trail of fresh droppings!)

It is getting close to lunch when we reach the central Seronera valley, the hub of tourist activity in the Serengeti and where, we indeed see, far more jeeps than we have seen on the whole trip so far. Elias has a few things to show us before our picnic break and we turn off onto a lesser track and almost immediately run into a lone female hyena. As Elias applies the brakes, she casually walks towards and past the jeep, as if we weren’t even there, and then disappears into the tall grass. I am not a big fan of hyenas but this one captures my heart. She is battle scarred with sagging teats that suggest recent babies and, what I feel is, a look of exhaustion – like she has simply had enough.

We turn off again onto a thin track that leads to the river and another hippo pool. We see two hippos sparing, their enormous mouths locked in play or combat … it’s hard to tell. Further along the pool are many hippo bodies, almost indistinguishable from the rocks lining the shore. It is eerily beautiful here (though the smell is rank) … a little like Jurassic Park without the raptors. As we linger by the river, Elias gets a call on his mobile and we are on our way again. He will not say but he is definitely on a mission and we whisper the “L” word to each other.

Ahead we see a traffic jam of about ten or so stopped jeeps and as we approach a very large “sausage” tree (yes, the fruit of this tree looks exactly like hanging sausages) comes into view. Elias jostles for a better position, but the track is extremely muddy from all the traffic, and the best he can do is nose the front end between two other jeeps without getting stuck. Our binoculars are instantly to our eyes and we scan the tree. Within the concealment of leaves, branches, and sausages … there … just to the left of one sausage … a tail hangs down like a lower case “j”.

We feel sure this must be the same leopard the young couple at the Mbalageti told us about. But it’s a day later and, perhaps, it has one antelope more in its tummy …  its body stretched along a branch with five descenders: four legs and a tail! Its head rests on another branch. Once again I am reminded of Minou, sleeping along the back of our couch. We watch it for a while, hoping for a little more activity, but this leopard is one content kitty and not moving a muscle. The thrill is not lost on us however, and we move off with big smiles on our faces and many photos of this well disguised, naturally camouflaged cat.

I have no idea what is in our picnic today but I am beginning to fantasize about it, I am so hungry. Still, we must circle back passed the hippo pool, and pick up the main park road south again before travelling a short distance to the Visitors’ Centre. This proves to be a busy spot with about fifty jeeps in the parking lot and the picnic tables and benches teaming with hungry, dusty, people just like us. David and I find two plastic lawn chairs and sit under an enormous candelabra tree (which Elias later tells us is highly poisonous and that if the sap comes in contact with one’s eyes, blindness can occur!) and devour the contents of our box lunches. Fortunately, we survive the candelabra as well as the small mongooses and hyraxes (both rodent-like animals – the mongoose like a weasel and the hyrax like a large guinea pig) that are mooching for handouts.

It is early afternoon and something tells us that we have barely begun the day’s drive. The five to six hour guideline for the day’s drive is now already behind us and we are wondering if we are on yet another incredible (or impossible) journey. Elias, does not lie to us but is quite vague with his answer to our question, “Just how much longer, Elias?” He purses together his lips and tips his head side to side, as if this question requires great thought. What he is really doing is trying to figure out a way to tell us it will be another five to six hours, and the fun (aka: the rutted road) has just begun.

But we are soon driving through grasslands again, and here the vegetation is much shorter. The migration has passed this way recently and tromped upon or eaten everything in its path. Strange outcroppings of rocks are dispersed along the plains, as if a bulldozer has pushed large boulders into piles. These are kopjes and are often great places to find wildlife. Elias is constantly scanning for wildlife. But David has noted that I am pretty good to at spotting things too. I see the large ears and backs of a pair of silver backed jackels and quickly snap a shot before they are gone.

Elias abruptly turns off onto another track and we make our way towards a kopje we see off in the distance. There are jeeps there already and the passengers are in the pop-ups gazing through binoculars. High up on one of the rock outcroppings a beautiful male lion is dozing. He shifts his position so that we can now see his face, but he does not open an eye to acknowledge us. We drive around the kopje once, and then the second time around, on the opposite side, we see the female. She is far more willing to pose and gives us her regal profile. I can tell Elias is proud of these “viewings’ and he should be – we are delighted!

Late in the afternoon we finally get to the eastern Naabi Hill Gate. Elias warns us we could be an hour here as he gets the paperwork approved to continue on through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There are a good forty or fifty jeeps parked on this side of the gate but on the other side there must be at least a hundred – all waiting to get into the Serengeti – the exasperated travelers with nothing to do but wait. David and I stretch our legs a little and find a shady spot to sit but it is not long before we are on our way again …with just a brief stop on the other side of the gate to show the required paperwork again. It has proven to be a very valuable time saver that our tour company has prepared all the park entry forms and fees.

We still have about forty miles ahead of us before we reach the crater and judging by the speed we are going, we’ll be on the road for several more hours. The road (described as atrocious in one guide book) is extremely rough and rocky and the jeep drives like a jackhammer. Almost all jeeps carry two spare tires (and two main gas tanks and two spare gas cans) and it’s no wonder, as we pass more than one jeep pulled over with a blown out tire. Elias stops to help one fellow pull the wheel off and we notice the replacement spare being rolled along is as bald as a baby. Yikes … just how long will it last. (We casually check out our tires and spares – by comparison, they are all like new.)

We stop at an archway over the road bearing a sign to the Serengeti National Park, World Heritage Sight (looking back from where we came) and Tanzania National Parks (in the direction we are going). At one time the Ngorongoro Conservation Area was part of the Serengeti National Park but a conflict, in the late fifties, between park authorities and the Maasai (primarily over land usage and herding rights) resulted in the the Maasai leaving the Serengeti and resettling in the newly designated conservation area. At the same time, using miles of barbed wire, steps were taken to keep the migration out of Ngorongoro, but the millions of wildebeest ignored this intrusion and simply trampled the fence. Today the Ngorongoro is the only conservation area in Africa that provides full protection status for its wildlife as well as the interests of its indigenous people.

The open plains are breathtaking and, as far as the eye can see, there are thousands of wildebeests, interspersed with large herds of zebras and gazelles, grazing on the short, nutrient-rich grass. This is where most of these animals will have their young before their long trek back westwards across the Serengeti and north to the Masai Mara.

We risk asking Elias, again, how much longer. Our itinerary has us stopping at the Olduvai Gorge Museum, the spot where Louis and Mary Leakey (actually it was Mary) discovered some fossils that would confirm the existence of hominids two million years ago in East Africa – the “Cradle of Mankind.” Not to our surprise, Elias says it is too late to visit the museum, and eyes us in the rear view mirror. I am sure he is expecting some disappointment but we assure him, at this moment, all we want to do is get to the hotel!

We leave the plains and start the climb to the crater rim, passing a gorgeous gathering of giraffes, and also a large herd of Maasai cattle. Another gate to stop at, more papers to show, and then we are on the crater rim. We are travelling the rim counter-clockwise and pass one of the entry roads down into the crater. Elias catches our eyes in the mirror again and, instantly, David says, “So just how long now, Elias?” At least another hour – our hotel is on the opposite side – but the good news, Elias tells us, is that tomorrow morning, the second route down into the crater is beside out hotel.

We stop once at a scenic view looking over the crater floor. Tomorrow we will descend to it, for our last full safari day. Finally we stop at our hotel, a good twelve hours after leaving the Mbalageti. It is impossible to put into words just how grueling and how long this day has been, but we are ready for dinner, for sleep, and another big day tomorrow.