Previous: March 4	Journal Contents	Next: March 6

March 5

Ngorogoro Crater

I got up at 6:30 to watch the sun rise. Eric showed me a path down the hill to an open spot with a nice view of the crater. The sun rose bright orange across the rim. Breakfast was served at 7:30. Richard took the vehicle to get fuel, and did not get back until 8:30. We were getting rather impatient, since we were getting a late start for the morning game drive in the crater. Finally, we got on the road, and drove steeply down into the crater. First, we saw a lot of buffalo, wildebeast and zebras. These animals were everywhere, especially the wildebeast and zebras. We saw some crested cranes and a silver-backed jackal, and came apon two female and two male lions. The males were a bit restless, so we didn't stay close too long. We drove down to the water and saw some geese and flamingos, and plenty of animal bones.

Zebras in Ngorogoro Crater

We drove further across the crater and had a distant view of a rhino - a black rhino, the only kind here. We saw more lions in the distance, and another near a hyena and some elephants. We drove to a spring where there is always water, and stopped for lunch. Here, we found both elephants and hippos. Lots of land rovers stop here. An elephant walked up to a group of them, sending everyone running for cover. Then it headed toward us, and we got in our vehicle as well. An elephant is big enough to tip a land rover if it would decide to. The elephant walked over the hill, and we got out for lunch: beef and cheese sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, pancakes, bananas, and chocolate crunch bars with reasonably cold soda. (Lunch had been in a cooler today.) We couldn't stay out long, because some hawks came and dive-bombed us.

After lunch, we drove back on another road to the rim, and saw several rhinos in the distance. The vehicle stopped several times. Any time the engine stopped, it had to be push-started or drift-started. We saw another rhino, a couple jackals, and more elephants just before starting out of the crater. It was slow going, with the vehicle stopping several times on the way up the hill. Shortly after we got out of the crater, at about 3 PM, it stopped on the main road and could not be started. Several other land rovers stopped to help, including one from Abercrombie and Kent. It appeared to be an electrical problem. Some mechanics came and fixed it.

We drove back to camp and loaded the vehicle, getting on the road after 4 PM. We broke down once again in a village on the way back to Twiga Campground, where those of us going to Tangarire National Park would spend the night. Some water fixed the problem this time. The Canadian and I unloaded our stuff, and the others went back to Arusha. I shared the room with the Canadian, who was of Indian origin, and came from Dar Es Salaam originally. I found out that he was actually A.J.'s nephew. I showered, and then we changed rooms because the drain was plugged.

Dinner was served at 7:30 - chicken in a tomato-vegetable sauce over rice, with tomato soup. There was fruit for dessert. We both did some laundry in the sink before going to bed tonight. It was hot here, but I slept well anyway.

Previous: March 4	Journal Contents	Next: March 6