Monday, 12 Dec 2011
A long drive of 6 hours awaited us, but we were excited to go to Moshi to meet with the rest of the group. So, we left Sopa Lodge at sharp 10am and arrived at Springlands Hotel at 4.30pm. We will do the climb with Zara Tours which was selected by Chris and his friends. Zara has a good reputation so I was not too worried about that. They are the largest climbing tour operator in Moshi.
We quickly checked in and joined the evening briefing for the climb at 5pm. Met Raymond who is the head guide for our group, a soft spoken guy. He briefed us on the route, various camps, portable toilets (yeah!), gears, minor details and answered to our questions. We also met up with part of our group – Adam from Atlanta (Professional euphonium player), Sarah from Melbourne (Medical trainee, doctor-to-be), Alfredo from Spain (Veterinarian) and Chris (Banker), our friend. The rest were due to arrive that night.
Also, made a quick trip to the rental shop to get some stuffs which we needed (walking poles for 10 USD).
We had dinner at the hotel (9 USD). Food was quite ok, self serving. 3 more of our group members arrived – Michael and Clarissa (Bankers) from Hong Kong, Melanie from Melbourne (another doctor-to-be, yeah!). What a diversity!
We retired early to our rooms to pack and rest for the big day.
Sunday, 11 Dec 2011
Woke up late again! After huffing and puffing to breakfast (effects of higher altitude), we finally set off at 10:30. We were allowed to spend only 6 hours per car in the crater. Congestion control!
After 10mins of driving in the crater, we spotted a lioness strolling towards a tree. Apparently, there were another 5 lions taking a siesta under that tree but we couldn’t spot them so we continued driving on.
We saw again too many wildebeest, zebras and gazelles everyone. Lazing and grazing, Poor guys, but I guess this is how mother nature works – they were plentiful as they are at the bottom for the food chain.
After another short drive, we saw a pack of lions. 2 males and 4 pregnant females. They were walking towards our directly so we stopped the car and waited. They walked right up to our car for a drink in the ditch next to us, barely 1m away. So exciting! Such magnificent animals.
Just minutes before their arrival, Mr Fudge dropped our camera cover outside the car so I panicked a little as he got down to pick the cover up. Phew! The animals do not see us “human” when we are in the jeeps as they think the jeeps are part of the environment like tree etc and are harmless. But if they see a human form, they will recognize danger as human is their predator.
That was quite a show!
We continued driving on and saw a lone elephant crossing our path to get a drink at the lake nearby.
One of my favourite pic!
It rained a bit unfortunately so we stopped when we spotted a pair of black rhinos and had lunch while peering at them from afar. These black rhinos are protected due to the threat of extinction. There are about 18 of them in the crater well taken care of.
We saw more wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, dears, hyenas and many families of Phumbas (warthogs). They are often a family of 4 children. So cute!
We also drove past a salt water lake (mysterious creation of nature!) which was dotted by pink flamingos. Such a pretty sight!
We did a pee stop at another lake nearby, a spring water source and watched lazy hippopotamus floating about in the water and surfacing occasionally. Apparently, hippopotamus are only active in the night where they get out of the water to eat and walk about. They can be dangerous too if they charge at you with all their weights.
The whole crater was so beautiful and scenic. It is like a nature’ Truman show set. There are no external intervention (except preservation of the black rhinos). The whole eco system in the crater sustains all living creatures in there with the cycle of life and death, reproduction and most importantly, a constant supply of water from the spring. It is indeed a nature’s wonder!
Saturday, 10 Dec 2011
Duncan was there, sharp at 7am. We? After some ritual rush and a very quick breakfast where Mr Fudge advised against anything containing local water as our tummies were not used to it (so no juices nor freshly cut fruits), we were ready to go at 8:30am. Late again!
Detoured to meet Achmed, the nice gentleman and owner of Basecamp who arranged the 3 day safari for us at a very last last minute, even with no down payments as it was too late to make any transfers (Yes, one day before our departure. I know, my bad!). A shout out to thank Achmed!
We settled all payments rather quickly and headed off as we had a long journey ahead of us. We did a pee stop at a souvenir shop where I couldn’t resist bargaining for wooden statues of a Masai couple. And a pair of Gazelles before we left. Hard bargaining though. Apparently they were spoilt by American tourists who were known to pay generous prices. Anyway, I still thought I overpaid but at least I paid an amount that I thought was fair.
Along the way, Duncan bought us some red bananas (just red on the skin). They were delicious.
After 4 long and sleepy hours, we arrived at Ngorongoro Conservation Area gate. While Duncan was doing the necessary registrations, we waited outside, watching baboons.
A funny incident occurred. A cheeky baboon sneaked up into an open window of a truck and snatched a bag of bananas from the sleeping driver. The poor guy woke up in shocked in jumped straight out from his truck. Next moment, the entire gang of baboons was heading towards him or more likely the bag of bananas. The poor guy still wanted to save his bananas so there was a little tug-a-war. Many people tried to help him but to no avail. In the end, there were many happy baboons eating bananas around us and an unhappy truck driver.
After getting clearance to enter the park, Duncan took us to our first sight of Ngorongoro Crater which we managed after a silent moment to word out, “WOW!”. There is no words nor pictures that can described the wonder we saw. It is indeed a mother nature’s wonder.
After that, we went to a picnic area for lunch. Here, we saw Marabu storks at a close range and they were ugly up close. They are huge birds. At first sight, I had mistaken them for blown up statues of an eagle-like bird.
I also had my first bush toilet experience. It was just a dark hole. Maybe for the better as I can’t see what’s in there…
Duncan handed us our lunch boxes. Although simple (Cheese sandwich, chicken drumstick, egg, banana, peanuts, chips), it was delicious. I guess the ambiance counts -view of the crater, bush toilet behind me and buffalo shit scattered around me. Priceless!
While I was eating, I felt being watched. Next moment, I saw a Kite bird diving towards me from the sky, heading for my chicken drumstick. No way I am sharing, so I leaped into the jeep just in time before the attack. Phew, what an adventurous lunch!
We continued our journey to Ndutu area to watch the great migration of the wildebeests and zebras. There were many breathtaking sceneries along the way.
There are about 1.5mio wildebeests and 300k zebras who make this annual migration together from Kenya. They go together in search of food and water. We saw so many wildebeests and zebras, as far as our eyes can see. They were mostly just grazing the grass or resting. It felt like being in a big big animal farm. Very calm and peaceful. We also saw a pack of wildebeest running in a line. Apparently this is how they migrate. Pretty amazing sight. (The horizon was dotted by them)
Some interesting insights about these travelling friends:
- Wildebeests and zebras eat different part of the grass so when entering a new area, the zebras will mow the lawn for the wildebeest to enjoy the juicy shoots.
- Wildebeests can “smell” water so it’s obviously useful to have friends who know how to sniff out places for a drink.
- Zebras have better eyesight and hearing so they can sense danger from predators quicker. They are also more careful travellers. It is also said that it helps for zebras to mingle with easier prey like the wildebeest.
Hah, that’s what friends are for!
There were also many graceful but shy Thomson gazelles. Lovely things! Couldn’t get any good pictures though as they kept running away. There were also many type of birds which I cannot recall the names anymore. Ah, we also saw some vultures devouring a deceased wildebeest.
Before heading off, we saw a family of giraffes grazing away.
Oh, one of the funniest creature we saw was the Dung beetle. The Dung beetles feed on the shit of the wildebeests. They roll new warm shit about until they find a safe place to bury and feast on it till it dries up. Out of curiosity, I read up later that the dung beetles improve nutrient recycling and soil structure, beside protecting other animals by improving standards of hygiene in nature. So indeed, every living creature has its own mission in life!
After another two hours of bumpy ride (@ African massage), we arrived at Sopa Lodge, our home for the next two nights. I was glad we chose this Lodge. To know why, read my review here.
Friday, 9 Dec 2011
After an entire night of last minute packing (no sleep), we were finally ready to go. Taxi was waiting at the door and guess what, we were locked in. We couldn’t find our house keys! There was a moment of panic and we found a spare key at the final minute. Phew! We arrived exactly an hour before departure. Luckily there was no problem at all for checking in.
The flight was unexpectedly long. 8 hours of tossing and turning. Barely slept!
We arrived at 8:30pm and Mr Fudge had to queue for an hour to buy his visa. As for me, I enjoyed the rare privilege of coming from a fellow commonwealth state. No visa needed for Malaysians. Yeah!
Next, a big relieve from identifying all our bags from the belt. Imagine if one bag didn’t arrive and the hassle of gathering all your climbing gear all over again – no way!
We were greeted by Duncan, our safari guide. A jolly good fella he is. Helped us lugged our heavy luggages while I scringed in embarrassment for having luggages as if we were gonna travel for months to come.
After everything and everyone was tucked and boarded into our safari jeep, it refuses to start. Duncan just chuckled cooly and said, “No worries, I’ll get someone to help”. We sat in the jeep waited and said simultaneously to each other, Welcome to Africa!
Next minute, I had a small bout of panic as I saw a jeep ramming into our jeep although in slow motion. Ah, it was pushing us slowly. Car to car! Our dear jeep sprang into life and off we went!
With the window down and night breeze on my face, I embraced the real African welcome – smell of savanna and greetings of the crickets. Mmm, bliss!
After an hour of ride and another 10 minutes on the bumpiest road ever, we arrived at our lovely and homey lodge for the night – Ilboro Lodge, Arusha.
After checking in and a quick welcome beer (Serengeti and Kilimanjaro, I preferred the former), we tucked in for the night with the full moon shinning, sounds of crickets and endless howling of dogs. Amidst all that, we still slept like babies.
Wow, for the first time, I managed to complete a 30 mins high cardio run without stopping to catch my breath! I am ahead of my targets! (Had I set it too low?)
Am so happy that am blogging directly from the gym 
My right foot was numb in the last 5 mins though. Anyone knows why?
I am reading
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