Destination Africa: Tanzania

[Birdjaguar]

Africa is not flat. the land along the rift valley is rugged and mountainous; the altitude changes can be dramatic.

Meters above sea level:
Karatu: 1558
Lake Manyara: 954
Arusha: 1051
Ngorongoro Crater rim: 1600+

Flying to Lake Manyara

Spoiler :

Its a bit blurry, but....

 

[Birdjaguar]

Lake Manyara

It is an alkaline lake that is slowly killing much of the shoreline that used to be jungle. The next sets of pictures are from driving around the very rough roads that run through the park area.

 

[Birdjaguar]

IIRC correctly game drives used to be events where beaters lined up and made noises to drive wild animals in specific directions towards waiting hunters who could then shoot them more easily. Nowadays, it means that one drives around in a vehicle looking for wild animals to take pictures of. In most places in Africa you never leave to vehicle nor do the vehicles stray far from the dirt paths (that may be road-like ) they are permitted to drive on.

On the drive down to the the lake there were several baobab trees.

Spoiler :

 

[banzay13]

I was not allowed inside any

You should say "la illallah" and so on, and that would open doors, I guess)

 

[Birdjaguar]

I doubt that would work. I just asked if I could step inside and look around since it was not a prayer time.

 

[Zardnaar]

I doubt that would work. I just asked if I could step inside and look around since it was not a prayer time.

Mosques, churches etc are private property. Some let you in others don't. Been to both.

 

[Birdjaguar]

A few words on safari vehicles.
Most are custom built (to a similar design) based on a Toyota Land Cruiser base. The work is mostly done in Arusha and finished vehicles cost in excess of $100,000. In some pictures that follow you will see open sided vehicles without any sidewalls. Too much dust and sun for my liking. In many places dust was an issue if your vehicle was following another, passed another vehicle going the other way, or if it was very windy. Vehicle details:

• Seat 6 passengers plus one in shotgun if needed.
• Pop top roof for passengers
• Separate pop top roof for driver
• Heavy duty suspension for hard driving on nasty dirt roads
• 4 wheel drive
• Snorkel equipped (black device on the front edge of windshield)
• Water tight to the top of the snorkel
• Can cross 4-5 feet of water
• Multiple plugs for charging devices
• Lots of various sized pockets and holders everywhere
• The area behind the last seat held a folding table, chairs and assorted accessories for pleasant picnicking situations.
• Mine had a refrigerated cooler to keep drinks cold as needed (held 8 1.5 liter bottles of water)
• Internet equipped (not always available given the remoteness of many places)
• Over powered engines for pushing, pulling, and getting out of difficult situations
• Extra fuel tanks
• Two spare tires
• Radio equipped

 

[Birdjaguar]

The lake area is a mix of jungle and open areas. Dirt roads of varying degrees of repair run throughout. Since I had landed that mid morning and the park was in a different direction than my lodging (down the mountain versus up the mountain), we did the Lake first.

Entering the Park

First elephants of the day and the trip.

Spoiler :

 

[Birdjaguar]

By the way, feel free to ask any questions that come to mind.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Lake Manyara was just a half day event to whet one's appetite for what was to come, acclimatize to the altitude (not a problem for me), get to know the guide, and understand the basics of how a game drive works.

Spoiler :

 

[Birdjaguar]

There were lots of baboons about. Here is a rather large troop with a "spicy" ending.

Spoiler :

Blue Monkey

 

[Birdjaguar]

A landscape overview and more elephants. These are taking a dust bath. There is a teeny one in the mix.

 

[Birdjaguar]

End of the road.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Watching baboons

 

[Birdjaguar]

By 3:30 it was time to find our way out of the park and climb the escarpment to Karatu and the night. It was well over an hour's drive. I checked into my lodge, had dinner and went to bed. No Wifi or charging in my little cottage. I had to go up the main lounge/bar area for both. I slept well after a long day. Tomorrow would a long day in the Ngorongoro Crater.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Ngorongoro Crater​

The main feature of the Ngorongoro Conservation Authority is the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera. The crater, which formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago, is 610 metres (2,000 feet) deep and its floor covers 260 square kilometres (100 square miles). Estimates of the height of the original volcano range from 4,500 to 5,800 metres (14,800 to 19,000 feet) high. The crater floor is 1,800 metres (5,900 feet) above sea level. The Ngorongoro volcano was active from about 2.45 to 2 million years ago. [Wiki]

The whole region has two seasons: wet and dry. July is in the dry season when there is little to no rain. There is a barely wide, enough "two lane" dirt road around about half of the crater rim and three steep and twisty roads into or out of the crater. The rim road is the main highway that connects Arusha to the entire Serengeti. Busy traffic and no margin for error. Busses, trucks and tourist vehicles fill it.

Dry season map:

 

[Birdjaguar]

On the above map you'll see the crater viewpoint at the bottom center. The video below was taken from there looking into the crater. The red road leading off the bottom edge is the road that connects the crater to Karatu and my lodge. We followed the rim road to the left (west) all the way to the end where it goes either to the Serengeti or down into the crater. We entered the crater on that road. All day we moved in a clockwise direction through the crater and finally exited up the ascent road located at about 7 o'clock on the map near Wildlife Lodge.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Driving the rim road.

Park Entrance

Spoiler :

Giraffes

The Masai are permitted to live along the rim, but not permitted to engage in their activities on the crater floor.
The background noise is the wind.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Crater Game Drive

Spoiler :

Warthogs

First lion

 

[Birdjaguar]

But wait! There's more....
We were in a line of 4 or 5 vehicles that slowly moved to the left. As we moved, we had better view.

Spoiler :

Three more lions appeared once we could see over the hill crest.

And then a fourth