Martin:
All that separates Kenya’s Maasai Mara from Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park is a line on a map. Millions cross the unfenced border every year – but they’re mainly zebra and wildebeest on their annual migrations. Mere humans have to have passports stamped and Carnet de Passage’s for their cars certified. So we headed west to the border post at Isebania and then down along the Tanzanian shore of Lake Victoria.
After so many wonderful close encounters with wildlife in the Mara we had considered skipping the Serengeti and heading straight to Tanzania’s other great wildlife mecca the Ngorongoro Crater. As it turned out though the only viable access road east from the lake to the crater was through the Serengeti and to drive that we would have to pay the park entrance fee anyway. We didn’t regret it. The Mara is smaller and the game perhaps more concentrated but the sheer vastness of the Serengeti landscapes is stunning. Large herds of wildebeest were beginning to congregate and give birth to the young. We watched one newly born struggle to its feet as the mother hovered nearby. Seeing the youngster learn to run within minutes of being born was very special. When the great migrations begin those that can’t keep up will quickly become a meal.
The next day we headed out of the Serengeti and into the Ngorongoro reserve. Passing the Olduvai gorge on the way where the first discoveries of early hominids were found.
We camped on the rim of the crater. It was one of our best campsites so far – an absolutely stunning view. Up early the next morning we wanted to get ahead of the tour groups and make a descent down into the crater as soon as it opened at 0600. We were ready but it appeared Hector wasn’t. He was so short of power he could barely make it out of the campsite. Completely inexplicable seeing he’d been fine the night before.
We stopped and opened up the bonnet. Everything appeared to be in place – the engine was turning but for some reason there was just no power. I got back in and tried again – and out from under the accelerator pedal rolled a toothpaste tube – one of those hard plastic ones. Yes, about only 5% depression of the accelerator pedal does explain the lack of power – it was early !!!
Sans toothpaste we descended into the crater. Many of the same animals we’d seen before – including lion and rhino but the setting of the animals against the sheer crater walls and the huge salt lake at the bottom of the crater was truly stunning.
The photos don’t really do it justice.
