NgorongoroConservationArea

Certainly I had no idea what the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) or the Crater would look like and I don’t think that the humans knew either at least their surprise seemed as great as mine when we arrived here. The Conservation Area comprises the highlands area which is mixed use, for wildlife and people, the Crater itself, and Olduvai Gorge (more on that later) The whole area is 3200 square miles in size, about the same as the Greek island of Crete. No Europeans are known to have entered the area before 1892 when Germany established a protectorate in this part of East Africa. There is fossil evidence as well as rock pictographs to prove that indigenous peoples visited and lived in the area for centuries Masai peoples are permitted to live in the Conservation Area, to farm in subsistence fashion and to graze their cattle, but they cannot use the Crater itself for any of these purposes.

The Crater is the central part of the NCA and the real reason for its existence. The Crater is the largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera in the world. It was formed by the explosion and collapse of an enormous volcano (estimated at between 15000 and 19000 ft high) about 2-3 million years ago. The walls of the caldera completely enclose the 102 square mile floor. The steepest wall is 2000 ft high and sits facing easterly trade winds where the 25 inches of annual rainfall supports montane forest. The lower western wall (about 1000 ft. high) receives around 13 inches of rain annually and nourishes the grasslands which cover the floor of the crater, punctuated only occasionally by a strange tree (acacia xanthophloea) which is one of the few in the world which conducts photosynthesis through its bark rather than its tiny leaves. This is also the same tree the British labeled “fever tree” because they believed that something exuded by the tree caused a disease characterized by high fevers. The truth actually turned out to be that the trees grow where there is water and the tsetse fly enjoyed living in that environment among those trees.

Besides good yearly rainfall, the crater is supplied with water through various streams and many springs. In the center of the crater is Lake Magadi, a salt lake, which is used by flamingoes and other birds who eat the salt shrimp and algae living in the saline waters.

Because of the abundant water and plant life, most animals in the Crater do not migrate out of their paradisiacal bowl. The predators have plenty of ungulates to make their meals upon, the grass-eating animals can dine on nutritious grasses all year long with no need to follow the rains which renew the grasslands in others parts of East Africa. For the hoofed animals, this is really paradise seemingly without end. For the predators and other animals with naturally small populations (like the black rhino), the “forever” part may not hold. Why? Because the genetic pool is so small when the populations are limited in numbers. When there is too much interbreeding, diseases, structural abnormalities, genetic disorders and other liabilities begin to enter the population causing them to become unhealthy. That can lead only to extinction finally unless a way to enrich the gene pool is discovered. At present, lions, cheetahs, rhinos, leopards living in the park will eventually face the dire consequences of this easy living now.

Our accommodations were very comfortable. The Tloma Mountain Lodge raises most of its fruits and vegetables on site. Meals were excellent and nutritious.

OlduvaiGorge

This famous site where Drs. Richard and Mary Leakey discovered the fossils of the earliest ancestors of human beings is also part of the NCA, protected like the Crater and the highlands. The Gorge is an area that closely resembles the American Southwest. It is brutally dry and hot and massive natural erosion has revealed layers of soil, clay, rock that outline the geologic history of the area. Those erosional layers are what attracted the Leakeys here for their archeological digs bones of animals could be seen in the layers and later tools and bones of early ancestors of Homo sapiens were discovered too. The native guide in the Olduvai Museum wanted us to understand that the name which has become famous is actually incorrect. The real name of the gorge is Oldupai, for a desert plant the sisal, which can survive in this area. A German translator misheard the name the local people called the gorge and that is how the misnomer entered the history books. I also learned that the true story of how the Leakeys decided on their digs at the Gorge is connected with one of my ancestors rather than those of smug and self-important human beings As the story was told to us, the Leakeys met a native man who was carrying around a saber-toothed tiger incisor showing it to anyone interested. It immediately caught the attention of the Leakeys who eagerly asked where he had found it. He took them to the Gorge! Hah take that Homo sapiens! See who was there first?

Had to get that in, just couldn’t resist! However, the real topic here is where we stayed to explore this marvelous region of Tanzania. It was the lovely Ngorongoro Farmhouse perched on the high side of the crater. The farmhouse with its adjacent duplex motel type rooms for guests was nestled at the center of a real working farm which produces coffee, tea, vegetables, dairy products, fruits and flowers for the guests and employees of the resort. The view from the rooms was spectacular down and across the Crater with mountains falling away in oceanic waves from the hillside farm. Sunsets were amazing and the food here was gourmet good with the “stylings” of the incredible Veronica, a graduate of “cordon bleu” cooking school in Dar Es Salaam (capital of TZ) and Zanzibar as well as her own self teaching. Her meals were really a special treat, with a wonderful fusion of French and African styles, featuring all those fresh carrots, lettuces, eggplants, beans, tomatoes, broccoli, celery and marvelous arugula Just superb! And who would have expected excellent crème brulee in an African farmhouse?

Of course, staying here was not roughing it at all! The only enduring sign that we were in a foreign country was the ubiquitous mosquito netting around our beds. We were able to explore the gardens and also the fields where the corn and wheat were grown in larger plots. We had reliable power and were still in the land of the flushing toilets. The very ambitious and rich Papa Wilson is the owner of this lucrative enterprise as well as others (including the tour company we were using Kibo Travel and the Olasiti Lodge where we stayed in Arusha). He is half Masai and half German and seems to have an unusual extension to his right hand a wine glass which we never saw him without, regardless of time of day or night, nor was it ever empty.

Theserengeti

Ah, the golden dream of any African visitor! The Mecca for those who want to watch animals in the very web of life that Mother Nature created. There is little human interference with the timeless behavior of the creatures the migrators who follow the seasonal rains and tender grasses, the great predators that prey upon them, the wide vistas across which innumerable animals can be seen. Immense skies and magical clouds roof the scene. On display also are the courting and mating rituals, the new babies born to continue the endless cycle. Above, the great birds of prey that wheel overhead and the countless little colorful ones that dart and flicker among the bushes and widely separated trees. Impossible to describe in words or even to capture completely in photographs, but also not possible to forget once you have seen it!

The nomadic Masai named this area with their word “siringet” which means “endless plain.” You have only to stand in the range rover and look all around you and understand the accuracy of their label! But vast as the grassland is, it comprises only 1/3 of the park. The other 2/3 is in woodlands and bush. Again, the tsetse fly protected the Serengeti from human depredation since sleeping sickness was the “gift” of the insect. Therefore the magnificent park was relatively untouched except for the European penchant for hunting.

The Serengeti is the offspring of the great volcanic eruption that formed the Ngorongoro Crater. Ash from the stupendous explosion and collapse was blown over onto the rolling landscape and created a rich soil for the support of grasses and animals. Analysis of the plants here has proven that they are the most nutritious in the world because of this soil base Even early in Colonial times it was recognized that this special environment needed to be protected and a Game Reserve was declared in 1929. In 1951, the reserve became Tanzania’s (then Tanganyika) first National Park. It protects 5700 square miles of this unique ecosystem, while the rest of the area (11,583 square miles) is protected by other parks, games reserves, the NCA and Ngorongoro Crater, and Kenya’s Masai Mara.

The entire Serengeti ecosystem sustains the largest animal migration system on earth. No permanent structures are permitted in the park or its environs. So how did we get to stay in the park for 4 magical nights? In a wonderfully wrought mobile tent campsite. Even mobile tent camps can stay in one place only 30 days (by permit through the park management) and then it must be moved. No changes can be made in the landscape, such as smoothing the land beneath the tent, or the cutting of trees, or removal of bushes. No pit toilets can be dug, no trash buried, no marks upon the land in other words So these clever folks have devised a way to set up the tents without any disturbance to the soil except for tent pole holes. That means the floor of your tent is very lumpy and bumpy. Your bathroom area in the tent is quite ingenious; the shower comes from a bucket hanging over your head with the water discharge controlled by a lever The toilet was a regular “throne,” set upon a raised boxlike affair under which was a tank into which the toilet “flushed.” The waste water was collected and trucked out of the park proper for eventual disposal.

In the mornings, the tent steward came by to awaken us at the appropriate time for breakfast and the day’s activities. He also brought with him a canvas basin of warm water for washing up after the night’s sleep. That was quite a luxury! The “basin” sat on a tripod of metal legs which held it quite steadily unless you leaned on it, like Lois tried to do to put on her shoes. That did not work at all and the water spilled all over the front “porch” of the tent. She only made that mistake once. The porch of the tents was created by an overhang from the fly and a ground cover for the floor.

Even the campfire site had to be returned to its original condition after we left the area. We took our meals in a large mess tent and they were really plentiful and delicious. We all wondered how in the world such variety could be accomplished. We had fresh baked breads, meat dishes, vegetables, rice and/or potatoes, even cakes and puddings for dessert. Before we left camp, we requested a “kitchen” tour and it was really fascinating and ingenious. The “oven” was a large metal box with two shelves within it. The items for baking were placed in side and the box (about 4 ft. long, 2 ft. deep and 3 ft. high) was placed over the charcoal fire. In about an hour, our excellent Chef Joseph opened the oven and the whole camp was filled with smell of fresh bread or a delicious cake. He had big cauldrons for the soups and veggies, and he could prepare the meats in various ways some over the charcoal fire, some on hot plates for sautéing, frying, and steaming. There was a generator to power the refrigerator and that explained the variety of foods.

The power in the camp was supplied with solar panels. Even the lights in the tents were powered by small solar panels that lay on the grass outside each tent The whole panel was about a foot long and 6 inches wide. The three lights in the tents were very faint, but sufficient to get dressed and undressed by. However, they were not bright enough for reading! The beds were cots with extra padding on them and plenty of blankets since it got surprisingly cold at night, even after the very hot days under intense sunshine. Our day temps would get into the 80s unless there was overcastness and at night it go to almost freezing.

We did get some of the rains expected during the rainy season while we were in camp, but the tents were quite watertight and we had no drops on our heads. You know I would have really hated to be dripped on.

Kenya

MasaiMara

As I mentioned before, this park is the northern extension of the Serengeti Plain and this was the only one we visited in Kenya It is a beautiful park which demonstrated that the rainy season had started earlier in Kenya. The grasses were greener and taller and the animals were happily staying on the plain rather than following the storm clouds and the smells of rain as they were in Tanzania. At only 583 square miles, Masai Mara is not the largest of Kenya’s national parks, but it is certainly the most famous, chiefly because of the 20+ lion prides living there. Now that’s what I wanted to hear and what I cam to see !

Our home in this park was a permanent tent camp named for the most numerous creature in the Serengeti and the Masai Mara: the wildebeest, Nyumbu in Swahili. And this camp was definitely the most luxurious though it did have a couple of interesting features. It is a large camp with at least 20 tents and all connected with a concrete pathway made to look more authentic by embedded stones from the area. The tents are large and rather similar to those in Maramboi except that these are covered with canvas flies rather than thatching Big bedroom area, a separate shower room, and a most interesting toileting facility. This is the one that really appealed to me since it was rather like home. My humans got to try the sandbox experience. The toilet looked conventional, but rather than having its bowl filled with water, this one sat over a metal bucket which was filled with sand Next to the toilet was a plastic bucket of sand that you used to cover whatever you had added to the toilet “bowl.” Actually it worked very well (as I could have told the skeptical humans) because covering everything with fresh sand prevented any odors or anything else unpleasant.

Nyumbu was fully electrified but showers were the same bucket type arrangement we had experienced in the Serengeti Mobile Camp. Here we were brought the basins of warm water in the morning as well, to get the day off to a good start. The dining area was more “formal” than in the other camps and the kitchen proved to be quite modern: gas refrigerators, real ovens, really big hotplates, and grills Chef Peterson here was every bit as talented as our earlier camp chef had been. The food was simply wonderful.

The meals were served buffet style different from the other camps where we were seated at long tables and the food was brought to us.

The site of this camp was terrific as well because we were situated by a little stream across from which was a rocky rise where a pride of lions often slept the night. That was pretty exhilarating, hearing them roaring and “coughing” so close they seemed to be right outside that thin canvas wall, only separating us from their big teeth. I really loved hearing them and I wasn’t scared at all because I figured if one of the females actually came into the tent, she would go for one of the humans rather than me I’d be such a skimpy meal I wouldn’t be worth the effort!

Whowemet

This chapter will be limited to the human beings we encountered because we did not actually “meet” any of the animals we observed. As always, humans are amusing to observe since they are so various in their behaviors, their cultures, their individual appearances not to mention their traditions. So unlike us felines who are so admirably consistent (even predictable), stable and equable in our temperaments, and so readily identifiable in our outward presentations. In other words, one lion looks pretty much like another, except to another lion perhaps. And he has a range of readily perceived and easily observed behavioral patterns.

Personally, I think that this consistency is a mark of higher evolutionary development. But, I digress; I want to get on with my people observations.

Our Tanzanian Guides

Ronald, Eric, and Morgan were all personable and interested in making us feel comfortable and happy with our experiences. One of fascinating things about them as a group was their identification with their personal tribes, but their tolerance and liking for each other despite that difference More on that point later because it seems to be a big reason why Tanzanians have not fallen into factional squabbling and murderous hatred even though there are more than 120 separate tribes in the country, with different languages and cultures.

Ronald, the tour leader, was fairly new at the game of leadership and had a few problems with his management style, but he also made everything happen as planned and without visible effort on his part. He was a little wordy at times

(probably due to the influence of the Africa storytelling tradition which champions long, drawn-out shaggy dog stories), but his good will shone through and his determination to please his boss in Arusha was usually the cause of his hesitations and lack of originality. He had thoroughly learned the OAT philosophy and what was expected of him and he was not confident enough to deviate from the “OAT way.” Withal, he had a good sense of humor and clearly liked his guiding job, was proud of his guiding skills, and enjoyed being around people. He liked to tease but could also take teasing aimed at him. Our little group believes that he will make a go of this promotion, given a bit of time to gain confidence.

Eric was the most outgoing of the three Tanzanians and he smiled broadly and often. He could be moody, however, and most of his more sulky periods could be attributed to his impatience with Ronald’s leadership style. Sometimes, he would retreat and refuse to participate in campfire discussions, but we understood his frustrations because Ronald so rarely left either Eric or Morgan much to say. In the range rovers, though, he was always pleasant and proud of his knowledge of the environment and the animals. We travelers often “needled” him about his heavy foot on the gas pedal but he rarely slowed down. However, he did not speed through game drives and animal watching. He was patient and methodical in those situations. Eric seems to enjoy being a guide and does work to make the visitors have an enjoyable experience.

Morgan was the newest member of the OAT team and he was probably the most knowledgeable about the ecosystems we visited He was quiet and reserved but forthcoming and generous in sharing his knowledge and experience in the bush (with other companies actually). He too seemed to chafe under Ronald’s management style but he did not sulk in the same way that Eric would. He did not often participate in campfire discussions either, but that was mostly due to Ronald’s conversational style rambling and longwinded, leaving nothing further to add.

Observing Morgan at the Masai village visit where we were to be shown the traditional bloodletting procedure the Masai have been following for centuries to obtain the blood from their cows was quite fascinating. Most of our group went readily into the kraal (corral) where the cows were penned, but a few of us stayed outside not really wanting to see the custom. Morgan stayed outside with us, but he was obviously disturbed and maybe even a little piqued at what he perceived to be our disapproval of the practice. Judy, a child psychologist, observed his manner and responded to his confrontive questioning about our motives He posed the questions, “What would you do if you were the only survivor of a plane crash and were starving? How would you feed yourself? Would you starve rather than kill something.” Judy immediately understood that he believed we were condemning the Masai practice of drawing blood from their cows.

She told us directly (and Morgan indirectly) about work she had done with seriously ill children who had to undergo numerous blood-draws and treatments. The group had discovered that the children exhibited behaviors in response to the unpleasantness which could be separated into two approaches. Some children were “attenders” (the word the psychologists applied to their behavior) and wanted to be told as much as possible about the impending procedure and then wanted to watch the whole thing. The other group was labeled the “distractors.” They wanted to know as little as possible about what was going to happen and they wanted to be told stories or engaged in little games while the injection proceeded. They always looked away from the puncture site. Children as young as 18 months exhibited one of these behaviors and after several years of observation rarely ever changed their approach. She smiled and said she guessed that those of us standing outside the kraal were the “distractors.” Morgan had listened thoughtfully throughout her story and then asked her to define the two terms more explicitly for him. She did so and a cautious small smile of understanding clearly showed that he was thinking about it and had never thought of it that way before. Judy then clenched the explanation by saying that we “outsiders” did not condemn the Masai for their method of gaining protein, we just didn’t want to watch it Morgan seemed to understand us a little better (& we understood our own reluctance better too). I think he forgave us our cultural faux pas afterwards.

Of course, the irony of the whole situation lies in the fact that the bloodletting procedure the Masai utilize does not seem to hurt the cow at all. The cow whose jugular was penetrated by the arrow never bellowed or whimpered. It barely even flinched. Cows are treasured animals in the Masai culture and their prestige in their own society is measured by the number and health of their herds. They care for the cattle diligently and little Masai boys from about three years and up learn to tend the herd, protect it from predators, and from other dangers. Of course, they do eat the meat of the cattle but not as often as we slaughter cattle for our food.