From the lodge patio, we watch the harvest moon rise over the Tarangire plains and the Tarangire mound. We sleep, waking during the night to the sound of lions roaring outside our tents; I count five times tonight.
In the morning we leave after breakfast with a last view of the baobab trees. Along the way, our driver explains that you can tell how many wives a man has by counting the huts in his compound- one for hmself and one for each wife. We pass a huge compound of the local “famous” witch doctor. Going through town we see street stalls and 3 wheeled taxis, then make a stop at the local gift shop, owned by people from India. Seeing the number of safari vehicles in front leads us to believe there may be some collusion going on and we feel sorry for the local residents trying to sell their souvenirs to tourists.
Lake Manyara is the northernmost end of Tarangire migration path as animals are unable to cross the rift. This is the edge of the Rift Valkey before the Maasai Steppe. At Mosquito River Town which is extremely lush with many “Yellow Fever Trees”, water table is high and rice, sugar cane, and bananas are grown here. This area belongs to an alternate tribe from Ethiopia.
At this point, the road climbs over the rift and toward Ngorongoro Crater. Ngorongoro mens “bell” and refers to the Maasai herders whose cattle have bells on their necks. N. Crater is a conservation area and not a national park. The Maasai were moved there from the Serengeti in the 1950’s through a land exchange in order to create Serengeti NP. Ngorongoro was set up ss a conservation area, protected ftom development but allowing the Maasai to live and graze there.
We officially enter the park and are forced to wait as there is some unexplained issue with our permits. Finally we are permitted entrance and drive for another hour on an extremely bumpy and dusty road arriving at Sanctuary Safari Lodge.
At first sight the “lodge” appears somewhat sketchy as it is a tented lodge in a jungle-like clearing. No guests are here and there are several male hosts. However, our impression of the place improves after we are served a lovely lunch under the trees and then shown to our tents, which have wood floors, furniture and ensuite bathroom. The bucket showers are an adventure! An attendant stands outside hoisting a bucket of water up which flows through a tube for your shower. It is ingenious though we don’t quite get the hang of it and end up with a cold trickle shower! This lodge turns out to be wonderful experience. We were told to expect zebra and leopards outside our tents at night but hear nothing. We are excited about tomorriw when we will travel down to the crater floor and view the animals there. Stay tuned..
