Arriving at Kilimanjaro International Airport, we were fast tracked through passport control and customs. Visas are available on arrival for $100 for anyone who’d not obtained them in advance. I was invited to Tanzania to attend the Abercrombie & Kent Advisory Board Meeting for an 8-day safari. It has been 10 years since I was last here and I eagerly looked forward to getting back. The arrivals hall at the airport would have never met code in the USA – the ceiling was completely open with exposed wires and pipes dangling down! I was transferred 90 minutes with other arriving board members to the Arusha Coffee Lodge for overnight.
After an early morning safari briefing from our escort guide Philip (who calls himself “a 21st century African”) , we went to visit the Ilboru Primary School, which is one of seven projects in Tanzania supported by A&K Philanthropy. We met students that were either intellectually or hearing impaired and toured their classrooms. Interestingly, the deaf children were avidly signing and reading with e-readers (like a Kindle device) that have been donated – a hugely important learning tool. Without access to this special needs education, these children would likely have been outcasts in their tribal villages. The school’s biggest challenge is finding qualified teachers. A&K’s guests have the option of visiting this project on their trips.
It was off to the airport for the short 45-minute flight to Lake Manyara, located on the western ridge of the Great Rift Valley. In keeping with A&K’s “ride like a local” strategy, we got into tuk tuks and set off to explore the village of Mto Wa Mbu, (which means “Mosquito Creek” in Swahili), home to 10,000 residents. We drove through rice paddies, banana plantations and walked through the village market. There was a stall selling sandals that had been crafted out of used tires—apparently they last forever!
We arrived at The Manor at Ngorongoro which was home for the next two nights. The Manor is constructed in the Cape Dutch architectural style and is situated on a 100-year old coffee plantation. It has 22 cottages sprinkled amongst beautifully manicured lawns and gardens. The capacious public areas were inviting and had colonial furnishings. It was a tranquil and beautiful setting. We settled into our first Advisory Board Meeting this afternoon.
The next day was our much-anticipated day in the Ngorongoro Crater which lies 90 minutes southwest of the Manor. It is a huge volcanic caldera that collapsed 2-3 million years ago. The floor of the crater hosts an impressive ecosystem ideal for many species of animals.
Compared to my last visit to this magnificent UNESCO World Heritage Site (January 2008), the area was verdantly green, due to the spring rains. Normally, the rains start in April, but this year they had started even before our early March visit. John, our driver, paused the vehicle to pop up the roof hatch and to photograph a Maasai village off in the distance in the foothills leading up to the rim of the crater. The red color of the cloth that the warriors cover themselves appeared as distinctive dots on the landscape. As we started the steep descent of over 2,000 feet into the crater floor, we stopped again to take in the luxuriant carpet of vegetation that stretched on for as far as the eye could see. We spotted two bull elephants on their own in majestic splendor and wildebeest and zebra grazing peacefully. Many of them had recently dropped calves – baby wildebeest are the color of milk chocolate and baby zebras have brown stripes that eventually turn black as they mature.
We made our way to “Hippo Pool” and were treated to a great rare sighting of a mother and baby emerging from the murky waters and changing location. In the national park, one is not permitted to leave the enclosed vehicle and there is no off road driving – you have to stick to the dusty network of park tracks, hoping the animals get close enough for you to see them. A massive thunderstorm was brewing on the horizon and we saw a male lion dozing in the mid-day haze. A&K put on a great barbecue lunch complete with hand washing station, chefs grilling steak and chicken and a full complement of salads and beverages. Two marabou storks, the garbage collectors of the avian world, started approaching our campsite to look for scraps. They stand 4 ft tall and took an adversarial posture so we kept a watchful eye.
Upon our return to The Manor, we gathered over drinks for a talk from our guide, Philip, about Maasai culture which was fascinating, especially as he was speaking from his first hand perspective and from his heart. He described the four age set groups, rights of initiation, arranged marriages and how the exchange of cows is their main form of currency. One’s status within the Maasai culture is definitely determined by the number of cows you own. To give you an idea just how much the cows are valued, marriage vows are usually exchanged in the thorny corral in which the cows are kept!