Driving to Ngorongoro

We were up at 5am this morning, with instructions to have our tents down and be ready for breakfast at 6. We all complied. Unfortunately, Ibrahim overslept!! When he finally showed up at about ten past six, we all had to rush to get our breakfast and pack our lunches ready for our 6.50am departure. We all mucked in to be ready in time. I was pleased to see there was cooked meat and cheese, as well as salad, to put in our sandwiches.

We had two 4x4 vehicles for the next few days. Nash introduced us to the two drivers, Amos and Mankinga. We chose to go with Mankinga and, boy, did it prove to be the right decision!

We loaded all our personal stuff into the vehicles. Our tents and sleeping mats were being transported with Ibrahim and all the kitchen equipment in a third 4x4. Apart from us, we had Ray, Luke, Juan, and Orly in our car. Nash travelled in the second car with the rest of the group. John stayed behind with the truck. He will drive to our next campsite on Friday, and we will meet him there.

We were ready to go a little later than planned. We stopped in the local town to use the ATM and stock up on drinks and snacks as we would have no opportunities to buy anything else once we entered the park.

We then drove on to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It was a cloudier morning than we have had previously on this trip. As we drove, we chatted to Mankinga and got to know him a bit better. He is the grandson of the local tribal chief and was born and brought up in the area. His grandmother was the first female tour guide in Tanzania! She inspired Mankinga to love wildlife and to follow in her footsteps.

We had to stop at the gate to get our permits to enter Ngorongoro. The name is Masai for ‘bowl’ due to the shape of the Ngorongoro Crater. Once in the conservation area, we climbed a spiral road to reach the rim of the crater. There was dense forest on both sides of the road and thick fog as we ascended, meaning that we could see very little.

We were in a queue of safari vehicles all entering the park at the same time. Most of them stopped at the crater viewpoint. We didn’t. You couldn’t see anything!😊

It takes about an hour to drive around the rim. It’s a very dusty and very bumpy ride! As we approached the entry to the crater itself, the sun started to break through, and we were able to see the thick, lush vegetation all around us. Before starting our descent, we saw a family of warthogs, several giraffes (you don’t find them on the floor of the crater as there are no trees), and two herds of zebra. The cloud and fog lifted enough for us to see into the Malanja Depression, where there are Masai villages. The people make a living by herding cattle and goats.Read more