Claim to fame: Who’s been bit by a Tsetse fly?

I have, I have!  Don’t worry, you only get the “sleeping sickness” (Tryptanosomiasis) if you’ve been bit over and over with lots of exposure.  My one little bite won’t make it happen, but that being said, it was a bugger.

Yeah, that’s my blood in his belly!  Just kidding. My fly flew away too fast.  But he looked like this.  I met this little fellow on our incredible weekend.  We have our weekends free, and Genie and Mary Ann talked me into a safari to Ngorogoro Crater.  I must say one of the most fantastic places I have ever been.

If there is anyone interested in Geology, Tanzania is the place for you.  I can’t believe the diversity of this country, what it keeps giving!  Not only the interesting cities, people, and history, it has the biggest National Game Reserves in the world.  And Ngorogoro, IMHO now, takes them all.

But first of all, Tanzania is part of the Rift Valley.  I was an ignoramus, and didn’t know anything about it.  It is the biggest valley in the world, starting in Turkey, going all the way to Madagascar.  It was created when two gigantic tetonic plates crashed against each other.    I guess it is amazing seen from space.  Or even google maps for us non-astronaut type people.

But the best part is the Ngorogoro Crater.

 See the crater wall?

The biggest Crater in the world.  A volcano which blew it’s top millennium ago, and left behind this most fertile savannah land.  It is home to the best place to see wild African animals in the world.

And just getting there is part of the fun.  It’s only 2 hours out of Arushu, but getting there you pass Masai village after village, and then you start to climb up to the craters rim.

At first it’s coffee plantations.  Then it turns into wild Tarzan Jungle.  Monkeys swinging through the trees!  You finally get to the top and lo and behold!!!  You are on the rim!  You’ve found what God must have felt when he created the Garden of Eden.  All God’s African animals live here.   You do have to descend down into the crater, again passing Masai village after village, (and in our case, several baboon troops)  But you immediately see animals after animals.  And they all seem to be co-existing in peaceful harmony.

 

 

In what appears to be the peaceable kingdom, you see zebras, hyenas, lions, wildebeast, buffalo, Ostrich, elephant, and even many many more critters grazing and walking about side by side.  You may see a zebra’s ears and eyes turn towards the hyena as it walks by, but them it goes bak to peacefully grazing.  Amazing!      I will let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elephants on parade.  See the little baby.

 

 

 

Isn’t this lioness beautiful?

There were beautiful yellow and purple wildflowers in the crater, and this is what she would hide in to approach her prey so stealthily.

And yes!  I’m sure the peaceable kingdom image dissolve when she gets hungry.

 

 

And the female must have his mate. Isn’t his mane gorgeous?

 

 

 

 

The other predator in the park:  The hyena.  Our guide told us the hyena is much maligned.

They are really very smart, have a matriarchal society, and really care for their young.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But this is my favorite.  

 

 

You’d think I’d get enough of babies at the hospital, but nope!  I love animal babies too!

 

 

I really loved the hippos too.  You’d think the lion is the most dangerous animal in the crater.  

But, no, the not-so-innocent hippo is.  Not that he is a carnivore, but when disturbed he has a very short temper and can gore a man to death in minutes.   That sweet face doesn’t look like it can do any harm, does it?

 

 

I have many more beautiful pictures, but these are my favorites.  We saw everything in this incredible crater.  If anyone want to see a living zoo, that isn’t a zoo, but real African animals living in the wild, this is it!

Our day was long and beautiful, but it had to come to an end.  We headed back into town, and reality hit once more.  I have to say, it again re-awakened my eyes coming back into town.  The poverty.  The dirt.  The mass of humanity trying to survive.  It was dark and the town was humming.  I haven’t been out at night before, and won’t again.  We were safe with our guide, but it is striking the dichotomy of this fascinating country.  On one hand the most beautiful conservation in the world.  On the other hand, people struggling in a very compromised city.   When we came into town, sirens were blasting everywhere too.  I guess a political rally was under way.  We have been warned to stay far away from them.  Our guide quickly took us around it, and the literally teem hoards of people.

A provoking thought:  I found it interesting as we went into the park how things changed.  It became clean, organized, well maintained.  But – as I took pictures climbing up the mountain and passing a Masai village, there were some handsome Masai youths walking along the road.  I asked if I could take their picture.  They smilingly agreed.  But before I got back into the van, their hands were out, asking for money.  They were very disgruntled when I just gave them the change I happened to have in my pocket.  They kept asking for more.

The full week I’ve been living in Arusha I’ve never been approached by a beggar, or even someone wanting to be paid for a picture.   I wonder if a study could be done by the influence of “Westernization”, and the increase of tourism, how it actually influences the indigenous people.  And can one be had without the other.  Could be a really interesting study.

My Tsetse fly bite hurts.  Left a big welt.  MaryAnn, my co-volunteer, tells me it will hurt and ache for the next couple weeks.  It’s right in the tender underarm triceps area.  Owww!  But, I just laugh and say it is my “badge of honor” for visiting Ngorogoro and I can say I have really left my life’s blood in this country.  This amazing, amazing, incredibly diverse country.  But, truthfully, as I will head back to my work, tomorrow and all my mamas and watato, I think I know where my heart will Kweli Kweli (really really) be.    Right here in Arusha.  In this troubled, difficult, dirty, but loving and truly hopeful place.    “Tutamiani bodo lipo.”   There is always hope.