Christmas in the Crater

After some years working in Africa, and driving through National Parks it was easy to become blasé about what you are privileged to see. Henry’s a naturalist at heart and even if there were no animals (they don’t perform on cue), there were always fascinating plants or insects to take his interest. He enjoyed taking people who hadn’t been into the parks before because their excitement refreshed and stimulated him. Seeing things through different eyes.

Christmas was not going to be an easy time for the three kids Henry and Mags had taken under their wing. His own work pressure forced him work to take only the statutory days off and Mags was back home so he decided to take the kids to the Ngorongoro Crater for Christmas Day. It is easy to suppose that because kids are born in Africa, they see all the wild animals on a regular basis. Not so, at the time few could afford the cost of transport, let alone the park fees, even though park fees were heavily discounted for locals. Kids have better access nowadays with secondary schools making the trips available, but still, only about thirty percent of kids receive any secondary education.

There was just a bit of organisation for the trip. Henry had booked a couple of rooms at the Karatu Lutheran Hostel, which is perhaps an hour’s drive from the conservation area gate. The hostel was built with funding from Germany and supervised by a stern German woman, she had trained the staff very well, albeit the food was German rather than local cuisine. Henry had stayed there several time over the years and was known to the staff.

It was more than a three hour drive from Arusha to Karatu, the first hour being along the tarred road to Makuyuni, but after the turnoff there was a mixture of dusty, sandy tracks and stoney areas. Nobody stuck to the road and while drivers picked what they thought was the best track, none was any better than the other. Safari vehicles sped and bumped, stirring the dust and causing undue wear on their vehicles. The drivers mistakenly thinking ‘its part of the experience’! Henry had more respect for machinery, but the old Landrover leaked copious amounts of dust! It was along this part of the trip that he pointed out Baobab trees, the first the kids had seen close-up. They knew them as Mbuyu because he had told them a story about the tree.

They stopped at Mto wa Mbuu, River of Mosquitos for a soda and for the kids to see the market where the Maasai women in their stunning deep blue/purple robes strode gracefully to and fro. In other places, Maasai women prefer red but not the women of Mto wa Mbuu. From there the road climbs steeply and bumpily up the escarpment of the Great Rift to a lookout where they could look far below on the famous, salty Lake Manyara. There were dots Henry identified as elephants among the scrub. They were aware of the constant a heat and smoke haze, but still the view of the vastness of what is quintessentially Africa silenced the kids. Who knew it would be so big?

The rest of the journey to Karatu is through fertile cropping land with red soils, the road surface was the same material but happily it was dry. The town of Karatu is always busy because it is a junction town, left to Mbulu and distantly Haydom hospital. All the Karatu buildings are stained red from ground level to perhaps a meter up due to the rain splashing soil particles up the walls. Not so the Lutheran Hostel, which is red brick, surrounded by lawned and gravelled grounds. Henry shared his room with young Eriki. There was no running water so a twenty litre bucket was brought for each room so they could freshen up before dinner. A bucket each of warmed water was promised in the morning.

Henry and the kids were the only guests and they walked to the dining room sharp at seven. The German woman had long-since left, so the place was being run by locals – well-run at that. Asked later, none of them would have a clue what they ate because their concentration was taken away by a prettily decorated Christmas tree with coloured flashing lights that played Jingle Bells over and over and over – non-stop! The same at breakfast! The staff couldn’t do enough for them on Christmas morning, but enough Jingle Bells is enough! As requested a very substantial packed lunch had been pack for them and they were at the gate of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area about the same time as the ranger arrived to open it. After all it was Christmas Day! A late start was probably appropriate.

The climb up to the crater rim is through rainforest, but there were clearings where they saw the odd buffalo. Nobody was over-excited about them because they had seen them in Arusha National Park, through which Henry travelled to work on a regular basis. The kids were amused when Henry suggested they are just bigger than usual cattle! The kids did become excited at the sight of a hyena with his sloped hips, yellow teeth and shifty eyes. However at small clearing on the lip overlooking the crater, they were breathless with awe!

The floor of the crater, six hundred metres below, is almost flat spanning twenty kilometres. Forest cloaks most of the rim, but otherwise, save a few patches of forest and the small lake, the crater is grassed. The rim has a circumference nearly sixty kilometres. Henry had this information at his fingertips and told the kids that there had once was a volcano nearly as big as Kilimanjaro. For some reason it blew, collapsing inwards to form the crater. Most of the wild animals are in there, except giraffe – they are unable to negotiate steep terrain.

They didn’t see any lions or cheetahs, but they saw the other species, and the kids’ excitement was contagious. The hippos were a bit of a let-down, wallowing in their own filth, grunting and farting all the time, but they did have monstrous mouths! The highlight wasn’t what Henry expected, but it’s still talked about among the kids today. There is a picnic site where all the safari vehicles congregate. Henry parked on the far side of the small lake and he pointed out the sign. ‘Beware, do not feed the Kites!’ It said. They ate their packed lunch in the vehicle and then stepped outside to stretch their legs.

The kids chuckled among themselves at the cost of a young German woman because she was overly loud and wore disrespectful clothing. They elbowed each other when she chose to eat her filled roll outside the safari vehicle. Henry spotted and pointed out the Kite taking off from the other side of the lake. Kites have vision seven times more precise than humans. Straight as an arrow he was heading for that hand-held filled roll! The woman was too busy yakking to notice and the first thing she knew was this huge, brown bird had swooped in and neatly plucked roll from her hand! The look on her face was memorable and the kids, in unison, pointed out the sign to her and laughed shyly!