Life in Africa IX

One Christmas, we took good friends, their daughter and young Nai for a tour of Ngorongoro Crater and Manyara National Park.In those days, it was a bit of a mission travelling across the plain between Makuyuni and Mto wa Mbuu.

We stayed at the Lutheran Hostel at Karatu, which was only partially completed at the time, but none the less it was a pleasant stay and the food supplied was very good. The night guard even washed the car!

While the others slept a little later to recover from the journey, I was out as usual to explore the surroundings and found this local tree nursery. Nobody was there as it was a siku kuu - important day, ie Boxing Day but there were kids fetching water from the standpipe there. It was a very tidy little nursery with a good range of species.



Our friends were working at Dongabesh and knew Karatu much better than we did and they had made friends with the Gibb family who owned a farm and and worked at other enterprises there.
We spent a night there and and I found that they too had a very large tree nursery. The nurseryman showed me what he was doing and the techniques he used. The trees were for planting on the farm and also for sale.



There is a bush area within the precinct of Gibb's Farm farm where elephants frequent to take on certain minerals from the soil. It was a lengthy walk to get there but most interesting. Not only from the point of view of the mineral area, but also because of the bush and insect life we encountered.
Luckily no elephants came for minerals while we were there - it might have been interesting if they did!


I always felt a sense of excitement when I drove down to the floor of Ngorongoro Crater! It is an awesome thing - it was a huge volcano and its innards sunk, leaving a rimmed crater! Better folk tham me know exactly what happened, but I would expect that the ground shook somewhat. It is a caldera that happened 2 - 3 million years ago where the mountain blew apart [upwards] then sank back down into the space where magma had been. This left a crater 610m deep and circular 260 square kilometers.
All part of the Great Rift.

The environs at the time of our visit were experiencing a severe drought and the lake levels were low. Lake Magadi, called after the high levels of salts, hosts flocks of flamingos - but it is hard to get close to them so I took this opportunity to capture some. Some safari drivers illegally try to give patrons a better view - but they leave tracks.



Most of the safari drivers head for the hippo pools. You don't seem to see much of the hippos because they tend to stay submerged in the heat of the day. Of course you hear them grunting and farting and an occasional yawn. The egrets fly around in the hope of a meal.
I would guess that the water is not all that healthy!



Nai had not seen a large body of water before and was very interested. It was a good opportunity to see some of her country's natural heritage that perhaps she may not have the chance to do again. These days schools take kids to important places like Ngorongoro Crater, but very often their parents have to find the funds. Compared to tourists, the fees are low, but sadly many Tanzanians cannot afford to see the riches within their country.


Buffalo seem to survive very well in the crater because of the rough grass cover. Apparently giraffe find it difficult to move down the steep slopes so they do not enter the crater.
In the very early days, German brothers farmed the crater and tried to drive out all the Gnu/wildebeest and shot a number of black rhino - mind you, rhino running around your back paddock might be a bit daunting!




Neat, tidy Thompson's Gazelles are able to move in and out of the crater and while they are a common sight on wild life safaris, they truly are a beautiful animal. Food for the predators as well.







Vulture have a bad reputation and are not generally liked. We spotted these but they were not at a kill, but never the less they seemed to be busy interacting with each other. Looking into the sky for circling vulture is a good sign to look for when trying to locate recent kills and perhaps see big cats.
As a child I saw a movie 'Where no Vultures Fly' and it must have left an impression as I still recall it.


When it is dry, Zebras tend so show the dust n their coats. But normally they appear very clean and smooth coated.The contrast of their stripes probably contributes to their clean appearance. Though common and even seen outside conservation areas, they are a remarkable sight.




We had to rush to reach Olduvai Gorge and then be back before they closed the gate into the conservation area, but the trip was well worth it! This is the area on the Great Rift where some 3 million years ago hominid life developed. Bet they had a fright when the Ngorongoro crater was formed!
The Leakeys found a lot of fossil and archeological material - and they still work there, well the family. They found evidence of Homo habilis as well.
A fascinating place and maybe we should have found a way to stay longer. The small museum there is very well presented.