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At midday on Saturday, 07 April 2001, my wife Linda and I were standing on the balcony of the room in our lodge gazing in awe upon a most spectacular scene. The lodge is perched inconspicuously on the top of the west wall of Ngorongoro Crater, which is often referred to as the 'Original Garden of Eden'. With our naked eye we could see a huge almost circular depression with a large lake, acacia forest and rich green grassland surrounded by a wall of lush forest. With binoculars, we could enlarge hundreds of tiny dots and determine the species of animal that they represented. Ngorongoro Crater has an area of 265 square kilometres and measures 16 to 19 kilometres in diameter.

We had departed Arusha in the morning on the three and a half-hour journey to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We transited along the Rift Valley, and passed through a few interesting villages and a lush greenbelt where bananas and curio shops seemed to be the main source of income.

Shortly after entry to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, we commenced the ascent up the outside wall of the crater, which climaxed at approximately 7,500 feet above sea level. We then transited along the top of the crater wall and were treated to glimpses of its floor 2000 feet below, but no view was as spectacular as the one from the lodge that was our home for the night¹.

After lunch we were on our decent to the crater floor for wildlife viewing with binoculars and camera at the ready. Our first encounter was with zebra and Thompson's gazelle, but we passed them by after a few snaps, because a herd of buffalo in the distance beckoned. On our way to the buffalo, we stopped near the shore of the lake a view dozens of pink flamingos feeding. Other birds included stork, heron and a few smaller species.

There must have been sixty buffalo in the herd, some of which were wallowing in the mud of a water hole. The mud-wallowers seemed perturbed by our intrusion as they scrambled up the bank. Others just stared as if we were the attraction and they were people viewing. Buffaloes of Africa bear a similarity in appearance to their docile cousins on the Indian sub-continent, but don't be mistaken. They are the most unpredictable and dangerous of the African Big Five - Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo and Rhino.

After the buffalo, we snaked along the roadway stopping on occasion to view such animals such as heartebeest, hippo, wildebeest and crowned crane. Then Joseph our guide stopped, raised his binoculars and pointed out two black rhinos in the distance. Black rhinos are 'endangered' and very scarce. They were making their way in our direction, so we waited patiently. Three other vehicles pulled up and soon the rhinos passed within 10 metres of the lot.

With the 18:00 curfew approaching we made our way through the acacia forest towards the exit road, to discover that the largest elephant we had ever seen was standing in the road blocking our way. For some strange reason, only male elephants inhabit the crater. He eventually cooperated by allowing the vehicle to pass and we exited the park gate with only 5 minutes to spare. In the evening before bedding down, we ticked off the animals and birds that we had seen in our guidebook, noting that the most popular - lions, cheetahs and leopards - still remained elusive to our eyes and lens.

By 9AM on Sunday morning we were back on the crater floor, and within 10 minutes were waiting patiently for a sleeping leopard to at least stand up and give a nice profile for the shutter-bugs in the five vehicles parked 100 metres from his (or her) resting spot. All that could be seen was her back through the tall grass. We gave up after about half an hour and drove off in search of other animals. We could now check off the leopard, but I must say that the sighting could have been better. Being nocturnal however, it was lucky that we saw one in the first place. It wasn't long before we spotted a resting cheetah, a little too far off for a good photo, but easily seen with Joseph's powerful field glasses.

After a couple of hours of transiting the roadways viewing wildlife, nature was applying pressure on our bladders. We stopped and went behind the vehicle to relieve the pressure. When we got back into the vehicle and slammed the door, the sound caused a female lion to pop her head up from the grass only a few metres away. It was a close call, but the adrenalin rush in this avid wildlife photographer overshadowed the sense of relief about not being eaten alive. The female was part of a family of six lounging under the shade of an acacia tree. As the vehicle inched closer, they were aware of our presence but must have been used to similar intrusions on their privacy, because they just ignored us. In the course of the ten minutes that we remained with them, two stood up and strolled to a more comfortable sleeping spot. We've seen lions in other parts of Africa, but at only five metres this was the closest that we ever got.

We sadly said goodbye to Ngorongoro Crater around lunchtime, because we had to make it to Kusini Camp in Serengeti National Park by nightfall and there were a few interesting stops along the way. The first was a Maasai village. The Maasai are a proud tribe of East African herdsmen. Their warriors are recognised by bright red blankets that they wear.

Still in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (but not the crater which only makes up 3 percent of its total area,) the next stop was the Olduvai Gorge where it is said, "The history of mankind is written in stone." At the Visitor Centre we were given an explanation of the significant archaeological discoveries found in the area. It is believed that mankind originated in the Rift Valley, and Olduvai is one of the most important areas for archaeologists to study our beginnings. If we had ample time on our hands, guided tours to some of the traces of our ancestors were available. But the plains of Serengeti, visible in the distance, beckoned us onward.

The name 'Serengeti' is derived from a Maasai word - Siringet - meaning Endless Plains and after arriving at its expanse, it is not hard to understand why. We entered the southeast region of the park, which consists of flat open grassland plains interspersed with kopjes (large or small rock formations, with or without vegetation and often to home to families of lion). This is the area where the wildebeest - the most essential animal to the Serengeti survival - grazes during the period between December and May. We were there in early April and without exaggeration, we must have seen over one hundred thousand animals - mostly wildebeest and zebras - as we transited at a good pace to reach the camp before dark. In June, the wildebeest will start their annual 2,000-kilometre migration around the perimeter of the park in search of grass and water. Its been said, "Upon the migration and water, almost all things in Serengeti depend."

We crossed the open plains, so flat that I imagined myself at sea with the vehicle being a boat, the grass being water and the Ngorongoro highland over my shoulder being a distant island. I snapped out of my dream world when a wooded area came into view ahead. Soon after entering the forest, we saw a group of vultures picking the bones of a baby wildebeest. The identity of the victim was only apparent because its sad and lonely mother stood silently watching on at a distance of about 25 metres. We also saw elephants, hyenas, giraffe, zebra, and another sleeping family of lions along the way. We arrived at the camp just before sunset.

Kusini Camp could be described as five star camping at its best. Situated in a wooded area, in the midst of about three kopjes it consists of nine luxury tents with private balconies and a tented dinning area cum lounge cum library with a wooden deck. After settling in, we strolled up to the area in front of the common tent where we sat around a campfire and enjoyed conversation over drinks with other guests and the friendly hosts. Much to the delight of all, a stripped hyena (very rare) stopped by to check out the action, halting only 20 metres from the group. We were told that this is part of his nightly routine. Then we all entered the tent, sat around a large dinning table and enjoyed our gourmet dinner. During the night as we slept, the silence was occasionally broken by the roar of a lion in the distance. How close can one get to nature?

In the morning we transited across a portion of the same grassland as the previous day, and then veered off towards the wildebeest herd near the Moru kopjes. The highlight of the day was a close 10-metre encounter with a mother cheetah and three cubs, lurking in the tall grass on the herd's perimeter. The mother would crawl forward, and then the young ones would follow a few minutes later. She appeared to be teaching them the art of hunting, but like her human teacher counterpart, had to put up with short attention spans of young students, as they sometimes engaged in frolic. Being my first close up encounter with the cheetah, my heart pounded harder with every click of the shutter as I expended a roll of 36 exposures in 15 minutes.

Later we had a picnic lunch in the security of the grounds of Naabi Hill Gate. While we sat on folding chairs around a collapsible table, with a fresh tablecloth eating a first-class meal in style, we watched budget tourism in action. A dilapidated old Volkswagen bus chugged in, seemingly on its last breath. I'd take a wager that it didn't even have air conditioning. There were eight people crammed inside, and there was no viewing access through the roof, as there is with vehicles designed for game viewing. When the occupants got out, they were issued brown paper lunch bags, and they sat on the rocks grumbling as they saw the touch-of-class rendered by other operators. I've read horror stories about people saving up for years for an adventure of a lifetime - a safari in Serengeti or a climb on Mt Kilimanjaro - only to be seriously disappointed by a fly-by-night budget tour operator².

After our late lunch and photography of butterflies, an agama lizard and glossy starlings, we crossed the plains again past thousands (I mean thousands) of wildebeest, zebra, Thompson's gazelle and others on our way back to the camp. We also passed another family of lions lounging very high on the rocks of a kopje, but this sighting was nothing in comparison to our two others.

After another splendid night in similar fashion as the previous, the next morning we were driven to a nearby airstrip for a flight back to Arusha. When the airplane arrived overhead, the pilot had to conduct a low altitude pass over the grassy landing area in order to scare away the hazards - several giraffes.

It was only when we flew across Serengeti National Park that we became aware of its untouched expanse. From our aerial vantage we could see thousands of square kilometres of endless plains that hadn't yet been scared by tire marks. We commend the government of Tanzania for their efforts in maintaining this treasure, and the responsible tour operators who adhere to the strict rules, put in place for conservation of the park's fragile ecosystem.



  

All photos by Author