Christmas in the crater (Dec. 25/08 - Arusha, Tanzania)

Merry Christmas! It's strange to think that today is Christmas Day, but as we ate our cereal by the campfire as the sun rose over the eastern rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, we had a feeling that this would be a Christmas that we would never forget. The air was cool and misty as we packed up camp and drove to the descent road that would take us down into the crater. It was a steep descent, but soon we were leveling off on the crater floor, surrounded by zebras and wildebeest. The crater is about 20km across, and it is surprisingly diverse in the little ecosystems scattered across it. Wide grass plains, salt flats and Magadi Lake, a lush forest on the west side, swampy hippo pools, and sloping green fields on the edge of the crater walls. There were lots of young zebra foals running around, some of which were still fuzzy, with brown stripes and wobbly legs. A long line of zebras came walking towards the road, and as the first one reached a dusty spot in the grass, he got down to roll and kept on walking. The second one in line did the same, and every one copied! The road wound through the vine-draped trees of the Lerai Forest, where big families of baboons played in the trees and elephants grazed on the tall grasses. On the other side, we had stopped to look at some buffalo when somebody noticed two lions lying in the grass right behind them! It was kind of odd that they were lying there rather than sleeping like they usually do, until we noticed two more females approaching the buffalo herd from behind us, and then two more - a female and a large male with a dark, full mane - were spotted approaching from the other side. These lions were stalking the buffalo! The eight buffalo continued to graze, oblivious to the six lions that were surrounding them. Our hearts were pounding as the possibility of witnessing an attack was suddenly very real. Then, as one buffalo had unknowingly grazed to within about 50 feet of the two lying lions, it suddenly picked up their scent and sent the rest of the herd running out onto the plains to the safety of a larger herd. Damn! That was close - and exciting! Ironically, we later came across the carcass of a not-so-lucky buffalo that had likely been killed by lions and was being picked clean by vultures. We were so close that you could hear their beaks knocking the bare ribs together as they noshed. Also on the side of the road was another dead but fully intact buffalo who showed no signs of being attacked except for the gruesomely twisted position of its head. Our guide suggested that his death may have been a result of a fight with another male buffalo, who can ram eachother with their heads hard enough to be fatal.

In the distance, we saw three female lions walking across the plains with six rambunctious little cubs running amongst them. Later on, we found out that one of the trucks from our group was lucky enough to find this group within a few feet of the road, and watched them play and try to roar - their photos were adorable! Other animals we saw included lots of hyenas and wart hogs, some crown-headed cranes, a pool full of about 75 hippos rolling around in the mud, thousands of flamingos dotting Magadi Lake, several elephants grazing in the distance, jackals, ostriches, and even a black rhino. For being such a limited (albeit diverse) area, we were amazed at the variety and quantity of wildlife we saw. There were times when you could look out in one direction and see ten or more types of animals at once! It was like a fenceless zoo, and it made for an awesome Christmas Day. Just as we were heading back toward the ascent road, our never ending string of good luck struck again, and we spotted another cheetah sitting in the grass a few hundred feet from the road! An elephant flapped its ears at us as we turned up the ascent road as we left the crater floor behind. The steep climb took us up the crater wall and along the ridge of its rim, back through the park gates and onto paved roads bound for Karatu. Our three days in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro reserves were incredible - beautiful, exciting, memorable, and even better than the brochures! It was also far too short - we would need another week or more to see all of it!


Raymond was waiting for us in Karatu, and we were surprised to see that he had not only cleaned the truck from top to bottom, but a "Merry Christmas" banner hung in the windshield of the truck, and the inside was totally decked out with Christmas decorations! Garland lined the windows, ornaments dangled from the ceiling, a "Merry Christmas" sign hung in the front windows, and a musical Christmas card was stuck to the wall inside. Good job Raymond!

As we drove back toward Arusha, we realized that we'd had our last taste of the African wilderness, and our last chance to see its animals - or so we thought! On the side of the highway, out stepped a giraffe, then two, then three, all insisting on crossing the road right in front of us! Only in Africa :)

We celebrated Christmas back at camp in Arusha by enjoying a barbecue hosted by the campground, which featured rotisserie impala, wildebeest, and buffalo stew. It certainly was no replacement for good old turkey dinner, but it was a fitting end to our Tanzanian Christmas! We whipped up a potent pot of rum punch in one of our giant cooking pots, which we enjoyed in plastic mugs while festive tunes blared from the truck. We couldn't help but think about what everyone at home is doing to celebrate today, and yet we're happy to now have a special memory of that year we spent Christmas in Africa.