We were fortunate to see a cheetah sunning himself about fifty feet from the road. He just lie there, occasionally changing positions. We saw multiple prides of lions throughout our time in the crater, though we never saw a male with a full mane. Our driver informed us that the dominant male often waits in the brush for the females of the pride to make a kill. We did see one pride of females slowly making their way toward a herd of zebra. They would camoflauge themselves by ling in the tall grass of the plains and then move about 30 feet each time they rose and moved. Successive females would follow in the footsteps of the leader, taking over the position she had just occupied. We were informed that the lions hunt in the opposite direction of the wind, ensuring their prey won't be able to smell them on their steathly approach. We would have loved to see them spring into action, but were told they can take anywhere from three to six hours to sneak up on and strike their victim. The lions patience would far putweigh our own.
We saw hippos in a small lake as we ate lunch. It was day time and they rarely did more than raise their heads from the center of the small pond we ate next to. We missed our chance to see them graze at night when we were at the Fisherman's Camp at Lake Naivasha. We were advised to eat our packed lunches in the car because of the Kite birds that swarmed over head. One unlucky safari participant either didn't follow or wasn't given the same advice and had their lunch time bread snatched from their hand.
After lunch we convinced our driver to head off on a tangential road towards a herd of five elephants walking across the plains. We were able to see one of them pass about twenty feet in front of the car. This extremely well endowed male must have been excited by our presence or otherwise. It was exciting to see the elephant that clsoely but I prefer them from afar, their wrinkled skin masked by silhoutte.
From there we rushed to follow a few safari vehicles we presumed were watching the pride of lions attack an unsuspecting victim. However, it turned out it was a large group who was headed up the two-way road now that we were on the opposite side of the crater.
The bird life was fantastic in the crater. There were wild ostrich, nearly endless numbers of pink flamongo on the lake inside the crater, pelican, crown topped birds and quite a few others I can't remember the names of.
Robert had been ribbing our driver just a bit because he didn't have a CB radio like many of the other drivers. They all use that to let one another know when they happen upon a big cat or something equally as cool. Tae casually implied he used his cell phone, whose ringtone would set off Bob Marley's "One Love" every time he was receiving a call, to communicate. We hardly believed him but as we rounded a bend he chuckled to himself and then said "I can see one, two, three black rhino.". We couldn't hone in on them but then scanned the horizon to see a couple of other vehicles stopped a hundred yards away. By the time we joined them we could focus on them with our binocculars.
Though we'd seen Rhino in South Africa these three and an additional one who'd joined them were on the open plains. It was easy to get a good look at them. They were striking and very large. What amazed me was after I'd watched them a few minutes I handed the binocculars to Robert and gazed out the other directions from our open-top safari mobile. There were still hundreds of wildebeasts, zebras and gazelles around us, as they had been all day. We really were amidst an impressive number of animals, not to mention the variety of rare species.
Having spent the past four plus hours in the crater we were growing a tad tired of everything. It's not that it wasn't impressive, still, but there really is a threshold to the amount of time either Robert or myself is interested in staying in the car. We passed a few wart hogs and their imcredibly cute offspring. The four or five babies were small enough to be held in the palms of our hands and their overgrown fur looked so soft and cuddly. They are only rivaled by baby zebras, monkeys and the very cute porter from our Kilimanjaro climb.
As we connected with the road that would take us to the one way ascent road we began to talk about leopards. They are called jaguar in Central America, live in trees, are predominantly nocturnal and very hard to spot. This road had a number of trees flanking it and I said to Robert "there's so many trees, you know a leopard is in at least one of them.". Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of something moving in a tree off to me left. I shouted "stop, there's a leopard" to the driver and he and Robert immediately wanted to be shown where. I pointed at a group of five or six adjoined trees off to our left. The sly cat was sitting in a V formed by two branches diverting from the trunk on the second tree to the left. It sat there long enough for each of us to get a good look before jumping down to the grass below and out of sight.
Our driver was excited for the first time all day. We'd asked him the previous day at dinner if seeing animals still excited him or if it was merely a job at this point. He confessed that the excitement of his contry's remarkable big game diversity was no longer a part of his job which he looked forward to. At this point it was a means to an end and he enjoyed the company of new people more than the animals.
We were about to leave when Tae caught sight of him once again. He'd moved further to the right amongst the trees there. We continued to watch him and noticed another safari vehicle approaching from a considerable distance behind us. Tae informed us he'd like to wait and point out the leopard's presence to the driver of the vehicle. I chided that since I sighted the animal I'd like the tip and continued to watch it move from one part of the trees to the next. I felt the most invigorated watching the leopard, especially since it was quite rare to spot one.
After the driver of the other vehicle pulled up and we explained where they could spot the leopard they, too, were excited having sighted their fourth big cat of the day. In addition to the lion and cheetah we'd seen they named another cat we weren't even familiar with. Indeed, it had been a great day in the crater. We passed through a forest consisting of acacia trees with yellow branches. Tae imformed us the Maasai people called them fever trees as they are beneficial in fighting high temperatures in the body. We were granted a few more views of elephants amidst the trees, topping off a marvelous day.
The ascent road was insanely steep and horrendously bumpy. Many of the vehicles within the park were making their way to the road, as the gates were set to close in less than an hour at 6pm. The drivers of the vehicles would incurr huge fines if they weren't out on time.
We pulled into camp and informed our cook we'd love to be fed in about an hour. Anticipating our arrival he'd already set out a plate of saran-wrapped popcorn for us. We really liked him. The campsite was set on a ridge above the crater. The tree line at the top of the crater was just thick and high enough that it took a real effort to get a glimpse of the crater bottom we'd explored all afternoon. I was content with what I'd seen and enjoyed watching the sky change from afternoon to evening to dusk and on to night.
The campsite was as lively as any we've been to yet. The one covered area they had for dining was where everyone congregated to eat their separate meals and then swap stories and experiences from Africa and the world over. We gravitated towards people in our age range, most of whom were over for some sort of safari combo with Kilimanjaro or skipping that in favor of a week-long stay on Zanzibar. After having done everything that we've done we were the resident experts, offering advice on dive sights and explaining the finer points of obtaining the gorilla trekking permits in Rwanda. One thing we noticed is that very few people had diverted from the tourist track in Africa. One guy from California was eager to hear about our Christmas experience in a small village, but most others were content on spending a week on safari and heading right into another isolated adventure.
The night didn't carry on too long, as there wasn't a bar able to cater to everyone's desire for a Safari or Kilimanjaro lager, two of Kenya's most well known beers. Those who'd been at this a while knew to either pack some in or send their driver to the kiosk a few kilometers away, but by 10pm the rationed supplies had all but run out.
We awoke to another majestic sunrise the following morning. Our cook, who truly seemed to have his hand in everything happening in camp, day or night, was instructing a Japanese tourist how to capture the moment. Robert and I chuckled about him, and realized he's one of those guys who really means well but is probably helpful on forty percent of the time. Eventually he was helpful enough to serve breakfast. By 8am we were on the road again. We had a mission to get exit the park by 9am. Robert and I were convinced that we would be able to receive a refund for the second day in Ngorongoro that we'd already pre-paid. However, our keen negotiating and manipulation skills were far outweighed by the apathy and paperwork excuses held by the office manager at the gate.
It was a shame to waste $30 per person on the second day that we didn't use. However, I was content with having packed two days worth (or a day and the following morning) of animal sightings into one day. I didn't particularly want to go on another game drive. They are relatively boring for someone who would rather walk, run or bike. in the end it didn't surprise me that we'd turned our safari into another condensed, whirlwind mini-trip. That's been our entire stay in Africa. And, I've enjoyed every minute of this trip.
We stopped to negotiate a few gifts on the ride back to Arusha. There we stopped to take a photo at the "center of Africa" (North/South not East/West nor the four cardinal directions combined). It was marked by a clock tower in the middle of a traffic circle. Like almost everything else in Africa there was a Coca-cola advertisement on it.
The Kilimanjaro airport was only forty five minutes away, so we opted to head there a wee bit early for our 4pm flight to Rwanda. By and large the small airport was dead, aside from the few flights to Nairobi and Zanzibar. We negotiated a few last minute purchases at the curio shop beyond the exit immigration. It was strange to still be able to haggle out a deal. Eventually we boarded the flight. Along with two other passengers we relaxed into our seats and took off fifteen minutes early from Kilimanjaro International Airport.
The mountain which lends its name to the airport was completely covered by clouds, as was typical of the afternoon weather patterns we'd experienced in our ten days in and around it. Nevertheless we were able to see the fully exposed tip of Mt. Meru a mid-4000m peak in close proximity. The kind Air Rwanda Express flight attendant fed us multiple sandwhich boxes and refreshments as we recounted our trip to him. It was a relief to relax in the confines of the 30 seat dual propeller plane, as opposed to thinking of the buses, matatus and motor bike taxis the trip could have been.
Still, as we flew over Mwanza on the southern edge of Lake Victoria in Tanzania Robert and I both expressed our desire to see the city on the ground. If we'd just had a bit more time to figure it out, we could have saved a few dollars and experienced a few more truly African moments.
Though we have one more day in Rwanda, the trip is all but come to an end. It's been like four or five separate, mini-trips: South Africa being the first, the ex-pat and day time adventure in Kigali, Rwanda, being the second, the real deal travel nd adventures in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania being the third and the Mount Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro Crater safari being the fourth or fourth and fifth respectively. Each has been amazing in its own right and it's been a pleasure to be able to account for my experiences in writing.
It will be hard to return to the US. It always is. However, that's not to say that I am not looking forward to it. I've done two previous one month trips (Guatemala and Egypt) that were not related to my touring life in the music industry (which has seen plenty of multi-month trips over the past twelve years). Each time one month has hardly seemed like enough at the outset. There's always more to do and more to see. But, life at home, no matter how tumultous it can be, grounds me and makes these adventures what they are. My father, a huge supporter of my writing, and many others have thanked me for going into such detail of my accounts. He's encouraged me to pursue some form of writing as a profession, or at least as a way to supplement my current income. Robert and I have discussed our various careers and lifestyles and I am unsure if I would want to do something like this full time. I am not bitter nor jaded about travel and the writing I do while going about it. There are times when I get behind on accounting for all I've done, but there's no deadline and no pressure to ensure it gets completed. I am my own motivator out here, and that is how I like it.
Nevertheless, thanks to everyone who has read, commented and supported me during this travel. I know a lot of my writing is long and bogged down with details. All of you are probably reading books far shorter than the combined sum of what I've written while away. I look forward to sharing these stories in person or on the phone with many of you. Photos to boot will be available at some point. In the end this experience is just one more thing to shape me and my life. Hopefully for the better as most of you are concerned ;)
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