Our journey from Nairobi to the border town of Namanga ended up taking longer than expected so we pulled into a small camp 20km from town. It was a quaint little camp and provided the lads with the opportunity to have a decent meal a good night’s sleep before the long drive to Serengeti. Dan decided to do some work on the car finally and fixed the battery management system. By fix, I mean cover the whole thing with two rolls of electrical tape to bypass a relay.
The Kenya-Tanzania border crossing was really no different to the other previous seven we had gone through, simply give Jimbo our passports and all the money, then sit back and make sure the car doesn’t get stolen. I assume Jimbo can recount our entire passport numbers, date of births, and mother’s maiden names by now.
The journey to Serengeti was going to be a 5 hour drive at best and we were all very excited about being in a new country. In our itinerary we had only factored in enough time to see the Serengeti and therefore miss the Ngorongoro Crater. Our plan was to drive around the crater and from the planned route on our GPS it was going to take us very close. However, the track that we would need to take to get to the Serengeti was actually in the Ngorongoro Conservancy, which meant paying just to drive through the entrance or back tracking about 10 hours around the conservancy. We heard that the crater was spectacular and a must see for anyone traveling in Tanzania. However, the fees for the vehicle, camping permit, individual entry, and then the actual fee for driving into the crater were going to be $560US. That was only for one night camping and entrance into the crater! The thought of driving another 10 hours was something we were not keen on so we decided to go through with it, although this meant a quick trip back into town to withdrawn just over 1,000,000 Tanzanian Shillings. Finally we knew what it was like to hold 1 million in our hands, even though it was only shillings.
The next 30km to the Simba-A campsite would be some of the most spectacular driving we would do thus far on the tour. When you finally get to the edge of crater the view is unbelievable. We quickly pulled over and took some happy snaps with a park guard and of course the crater in the background. This first sighting of the crater wouldn’t be the first time we would be amazed by the beauty of this amazing place. Driving past a few lodges on the way to our campsite we heard they were expensive, and at over $1000US a night we would be definitely camping.
We set up camp right in the middle of the camp site where every other camper was watching our every move, with keen interest to how our roof tents set up. To more amazement to the campers was how much stuff we had and how on earth we ever fitted it into the car.
We made ourselves at home and took some more photos, talked to some other campers and started to prepare dinner and ready ourselves for another fines meeting. This week’s fines meeting would be no exception and being in such a spectacular place it was going to be a pleasure to camp under the stars.
It didn’t take long for the fines meeting to take effect, with me deciding that I needed to urinate and the bush about 200m in front of the car seemed like a great idea. However, the campsite is still right in the middle of Africa and therefore Buffalo, bush pigs, and Hyenas were roaming everywhere. Of course at this stage in the night I was unaware of basically all my surroundings. It took Jimbo a good 10 minutes with a very stubborn drunk to realize what sort of danger I had put myself in, this was put straight into the fines book the next day. So was the fact that I pushed Dan out of the tent when he tried to get into it.
Morning broke early for the team as we needed to meet our guide at the main office at 7am, the breakdown of the tents was probably the worst one yet. The guide is compulsory and cost $20US for the whole day. In the major game conservancies there isn’t really much problem with paying baksheesh (tips).
There are two separate roads into the crater, one descent and another ascent. The drive into the crater is slow but it really does allow you to see just how massive it really is. From north to south the crater spans 23km and from east to west it spans 16.5km and it is 675m deep. The rest of the story is best told by Jase, as I’m going to drink a beer. Cory out.
Jase here. The Ngorongoro Crater is simply breathtaking. All of the big 5 are in the crater, and almost in abundance. We entered the crater through a pack of zebra, glided through a hoard of buffalo, and stumbled across lion. We were lucky enough to watch a pair of lions mating – they mate every 15 minutes for 5 of 7 days straight. The lions were sitting in a thicket, and eventually wandered across to where our vehicle and 4 others were parked on the game road watching. The female sidled along the side of our car, feline and graceful in every way, and the male gruffly followed obvious in his intentions. She crept along and stood at the back of the car, leaning against the spare wheel carriers, the male slowly prowled along my side of the car, then also stopped and stared – and he stared straight through me. I had heard the stare of a lion is paralyzing, and now I understand. All I could do was look back, at a male lion two meters away, through an open window. An experience that will be remembered for life.
We drove a majority of the crater in the day, stopped beside a secluded lagoon for lunch and watched hippos watch us. We saw pretty much all that the crater had to offer, except the elusive leopard. We were on a tight itinerary so we left the crater just after lunch, and ventured down the northern side of the crater and into the Serengeti.
The road into the Serengeti was reasonable, and seemed to be well maintained. Average speed was held around 80 km/h, and everyone was lost in their thoughts as we sped into the seemingly barren plains. We passed a gate that loomed on the horizon, welcoming us to the park. After we passed we realized it would be quite a cool photo, so reversed back. Luckily when Wadi took the photos, he realized that our left rear tyre was severely punctured. It would have been an interesting event when the rim eventually grabbed the gravel road – anyway, another new spare off the back, and the torn tyre replaced and we were off. The gash in the tyre turned out to be about 4 cm long, requiring 4 puncture repair sticks just to hold air, so we’ll see how long it lasts.
We cleared the gate, paid our dues, and followed our nose to the public camping sites. A thunderstorm was directly ahead of us, and approaching at full steam. We tried to dash to the camp site before it struck, however we were smashed by rain drops the size of grapes, and had to settle for deep mud driving and small stream crossings. After driving from one to another camp site, all deserted, Dan suggested we inspect just a few more before settling. We rounded the corner and came across the best site, and saw tents pitched and waiting and camp staff waiting for their clients to return. We did our best to unpack in the drizzle, however just as we were settling, the falling grapes returned and we bolted to a close by hut. The rain continued so we stayed undercover, and reviewed videos and photos from the crater and the drive from Kenya.
We were quite keen to get close to Rhino, so the next day we ventured south-west in the park to Moru Kopje. We saw a massive black smudge of Wilderbeest on the horizon the day before, however we rounded a bend in the road to be confronted by thousands, running in torrents and streams, likened by documentaries as The Blood of Africa Coursing Through The Serengeti’s Veins. We visited a Rhino Game Wardens Post, reading up on the spoor and dung of the creature we were photographically hunting. With more information on where the Rhino hold in the area, we set off. Lunch time groaned, so we chose a massive dome of rock to take tea, with Dan on constant lion patrol.
After lunch we continued our looping search for Rhino back in the general direction of our camp, and came across a new born Wilderbeest. An earlier Google search stated that within 2 minutes a newborn Wilderbeest is able to stand, in 20 minutes walk, and within 2 hours is able to run with the herd. So expecting a lion to jump from the bushes, we followed the calf along the road, waiting for it to be smashed. The calf walked and ran for ages, and finally rejoined a large group on its own. No lion kill for us.
Back at camp on dusk, tents established and thankfully the afternoon thunderstorm spared our part of the reserve, and belted elsewhere, and dinner was underway. The long drive in the reserve made us all quite parched, and the talk turned to how good a cold beer would go down. Dan and I finally grew tired of the talk and approached the tour operators working nearby, and they offered to drive to a local lodge and grab us a crate. We were so happy and excited that we hardly tore our eyes from the driveway, waiting for his return.
The other tourists were also becoming more lubricated on their own provided beer and ventured over and sat beside our fire. The Australian accent seems to cut through the air, and our new friends were from Melbourne, Sydney, Cronulla and Newcastle – two on a honeymoon. The drive out of the Serengeti and to Dar Es Salaam starts tomorrow, which is going to be epic. Kwa heri (goodbye), Jason.
After an hour and a half of tense negotiations with customs, championed by Jason, we were finally given our camera free of import duties. I am, to this day, still not sure what changed hand, but lets just say that he emerged from the office with a slightly stiffer walk then when he entered.
