Ngorongoro Crater

I don't know if it's the pressure from everyone around us asking if we would do a safari while in Tanzania, or if it was our own wishes, but here we are, sitting comfortably in a 8 seat land rover with oversized sliding windows and a pop top. Leaving at "8am" means leaving the hotel around 830am then going to the parking lot of a supermarket and waiting there another 45 minutes. Once everyone was on board - 2 Swedish girls, one Germain and one American, on we went to Tarangire National Park. We park of course is gorgeous, beautiful dry planes and awesome baobab trees a little everywhere. I particularly enjoyed the baobabs because they made me think of my awesome niece who's first birthday theme was Le Petit Prince. We saw plenty of elephants doing what elephants do, tons of wilderbeast and Thomson gazelles and ostriches which I peeticularily enjoy. Huge fluffy flightless birds who think hiding their heads makes them invisible. I love the simplicity.
We did see a few lions - some lions under a tree, some in the middle of open grass. To be honest, the scenery, the trees, the way the animals coexist in what seems like perfect balance, it's was magical, but it wasn't about the animals themselves.
The next day seemed to leave the same impression. The Ngorongoro National Park is inside an massive crater of a sunken volcano said to have been as tall as Kilimanjaro when it was still standing. In this crater where animals do not escape, again the coexistence of wilderbeast, gazelles, buffalos, and others was amazing to watch. The nature was gorgeous - mostly dry with patches of green lands, different ecosystems existing in one crater.

Jack and I both felt similarly - did we enjoy the experience? Of course! Would we do another safari? I don't think so. At least not soon. As I said - I loved both parks, but not for its animal spotting, and I feel no need to sit all day in a vehicle looking for whatever animal is around and then parking along side 5-6 other vehicles, sometimes more, to stare from a distance. I'm glad I was glad. I'm happy to have done it. It was worth the 320$USD, but I think I'm done with safaris. Let the animals be, and exist as they should - not bothered by a hundred vehicles driving slowly by them as even more tourists snap photos of what has already been photographed in thousands of ways. Just my thoughts.

Our night between the two days was spent in a "safari lodge". As usual, east Africans (and many others) have difficulty saying no to tourists. They clearly over sold their grounds and were trying to figure out where to put who and were scrambling to find extra tents and rolled up mattresses. When we suggested putting us in their last set up tent, the one employee was saying it was too small for us. Jack and I looked - a double bed, one blanket. Perfect! So we subtly said something along the lines of "oh don't worry, we are small, we travel together all the time, the one bed is no problem". To which the staff was only happy to not have to find another tent for us. It was absolute luxury! A set military tent, high ceiling, light switch over us, two comfy pillows. Perfection.

Also - this random accommodation had a local dance and acrobatic group come perform for tips at the end. They were ridiculously entertaining, and both Jack and I kept cringing at how close the ceiling was to their heads when they were in the air, held up with sheer balance... We could picture all the injuries that could come from this happening on cement flooring... Thankfully we did not have to enter nurse mode - we simply enjoyed the entertainment!Read more