The Ngornongoro Crater - a memorable trip inside a mountain!

That's the Ngorongoro Crater!

We have heard of mountains, and volcanoes and also learnt about craters. We have also studied about volcanic eruptions releasing magma, molten lava and such other stuff.  But we were surprised to learn about volcanoes that while exploding, collapse inward and form huge basin-like structures. These are called calderas or cooking pots.  
The Ngorongoro Crater is a fine example of the cooking pot. It must have been a fairly big volcanic mountain 2 or 3 million years ago, but then it exploded and collapsed on itself, thus forming a basin that is around 600m deep and has a floor area of 260 sq.km!

Standing on the rim of the crater

Wildebeest!

Our first sight of this magnificent, natural wonder near Arusha in northern Tanzania, was breath taking!  It was nothing even vaguely similar to what we had imagined it to be.  We stood at the rim of the crater and looked down upon the sprawling open grassland forming the floor of the crater.  We could see tiny black specks dotting the green below.  We trained our binoculars on these black spots and realised, much to our amazement, that they were wildebeests and zebras!   We could also see a lake - called Magadi.  This is the water source to all the animals that live here.

Another view of the crater

We halted at the campsite and pitched our tents.  The camp site has been set up right on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and commands a panoramic 360 * view of the collapsed mountain. It has a wonderful, lush growth of grass.  Our two girls ran around, chasing each other, giggling and laughing and finally collapsing on the ground and rolling around in the grass.    The campsites are equipped with a common kitchen and a dining room apart from separate set of wash rooms for men and women.  Ceneal, (name pronounced as Kenail) our cook on the trip, got busy in the 'kitchen' and set up a wonderful meal for us. His hot soup accompanied by freshly roasted peanuts and popcorn was more than welcome to beat the sudden chill of the evening.  After dinner, while we slept in the tent, we suddenly heard chomping noises. We opened the flap a wee bit to peer out - a few wild bison were feeding on the grass right outside our tent.  We remained quiet within, lest any movement disturb the giants.  Our guide Milkauroy (pronounced as Milcure) informed us the next day that this was a common phenomenon.  The bison could not eat the lush sweet grass growing at the campsite during day time thanks to people like us being around. But at night, they would venture out from around the slopes and enjoy their midnight meal!

Don't mess withe me!

The striped herbivores!

Early next morning, even before sunrise, we drove down towards the crater floor to view the animals that had made this caldera their home.  A chill wind blew and made us all shiver despite our sweaters.  Apart from elephants, wildebeest, zebras ,lions, we got to see the African Black Rhino and the extremely shy cheetah during our 3 hour ride. A family of wart hogs, scampering around and frolicking, made for interesting viewing.  We could also observe several colourful birds like the Crowned Crane - Uganda's national bird, the delicate and gentle flamingos around the lake, the big-framed deer called Eland (this kind of resembles our native sambar deer), dik-diks (the smaller, dainty looking deer), Thomson's gazelles, a family of lions sleeping and totally oblivious to the several pairs of eyes staring at them in rapt attention.  We waited a while, hoping that the lions would move or look up but they continued to doze.. Finally, Milkauroy emitted a loud lion cry - a deep-throated roar.  The lioness, surprised, immediately looked up to see if the lion had indeed come and must have surely been disappointed to see good old Milkauroy instead!.

Enjoying our coffee in the middle of the Crater

We then stopped for a picnic breakfast near the lake and spent some time  exchanging pleasantries with the hippos! And what a royal breakfast it was!  Ceneal had packed sandwiches, cake and fruit for us.  Milkauroy set up the folding table and chairs.  He even spread a table cloth (the typical Masai shawl) and placed the plates and cups on the table!  A flask of hot water ensured that we could have coffee while the girls enjoyed their hot chocolate drink.  It was a truly memorable picnic, out in the open with several birds for company, and watching the hippos immersed in the swamp water with just their heads sticking out!

The girls near the hippo swamp

Our guide Milkauroy with the girls and the picnic table

On the drive back to Arusha, we enjoyed watching the beautiful landscape pass by - we were driving down a straight, ribbon-like road and it seemed like we would go and bump straight into Mount Meru that was sitting right at the end of the road!  That was a truly awesome sight!

The Ngorongoro trip was a wonderful experience  - the memories of which we will all cherish in our hearts. Did someone say, "Wanna go again? You bet! I am ready for it anytime!

To Arusha - approaching Mount Meru 

KARIBU!

That's welcome in Swahili and that is also the very first word we heard when we flew in to Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania in East Africa.  My daughters and I travelled to DAR from Bangalore via Doha and landed into Julius Nyerere International Airport - named after their first President and Baba wa Taifa (Father of the nation).
My husband was already there and he, along with our friendly driver David, picked us from the airport. It was wonderful to see the husband after nearly a 4-week gap and ofcourse, the girls were overjoyed.  Both of them started speaking at the same time vying for their father's attention!

As we rode into town, DAR looked like any other Indian town; the vegetation is very similar to what we find in India - plenty of bougainvillea trees, neem, gulmohar, frangipani shrubs with lovely, sweet smelling white flowers.  The traffic is a lot better as compared to Bangalore - lane discipline is mostly followed. But ofcourse, we could not escape the omnipresent and omnipotent traffic jam.  While waiting at the signal, a few hawkers rushed in selling their ware - fried cashews, cool drinks, sun-glasses and such other stuff.  We also saw a few carts selling roasted corn and some more carts filled with sweet potato and tapioca.  These happen to be the staple food in Tanzania.

At the Double Tree Hotel

During low tide

We reached our hotel - Hilton's Double Tree situated in the Masaki area - a beautiful locality with broad, clean roads and a lot of green shrubbery.  You will find most of the expats living in this area.  In fact, the High Commissioners of various countries reside here in big, beautiful houses, well manicured lawns and gardens and ofcourse with high walls for security.  The girls thought there would be two prominent trees in the premises - befitting the hotel's name; but we didn't find any.  The hotel offered a wonderful view of the sea.  A walk-in bridge built over the sea and ending with a viewing platform was a great attraction; the view and the experience was wonderful especially during high tide. Small dhows sailing with their sails unfurled looked magical and serene!

The view bridge - during high tide 

The trip from the airport to the hotel cost us 50,000 TZS (Tanzanian shillings).  I was dumb struck at the astronomical price but then got to know from my husband that 1 INR fetches 32 TZS, so roughly that worked out to Rs.1500. 

Places we saw,  things we did / didn't do  in DAR

Enjoying the waves at Coco Beach!

A view of the slightly muddy waters of Coco Beach

Boats adrift adding to the charm.

1.  Coco Beach - Situated about 2 kms from our hotel, we visited the Coco beach one evening.  The breeze was lovely and we watched the waves rise and fall.  The girls enjoyed wetting their feet (and half their clothes too) in the spray while we watched the ships and schooners sail in the distance.    We took a long stroll on the beach with a pleasant breeze blowing. I ensured that we had an even longer walk than we had set out on. I was carrying my shoes in my hand, along with my daughters'; somehow dropped one of them and realised it only much later.  So, we had to walk back the entire stretch of the beach in search of the missing shoe.  My husband finally found it and earned some brownie points! (while I received a lot of brickbats from my dear ones!)

2. Makumbusho (meaning museum) - The concierge in the hotel advised us to visit the Makumbusho in the city.  We wanted to ride the auto and asked him how to call for one.  He very simply said, "Just call out, Hey Bajaji, and he will come." We thus got to know that the autos are called Bajajis - as there are several Bajaj autos plying on the roads of DAR. We hailed a Bajaji and reached the Makumbusho.  At first sight, we were wondering if we had reached the wrong place - there didn't seem to be a proper entrance and the front was packed with small restaurants.  We then approached from the side, bought the tickets at the counter and began exploring the museum.  It was a wonderful experience - the Village Museum is set in the open and has about 20-odd different models of huts and dwellings that the various tribes in Tanzania reside in - thatched huts, clay huts, round ones, conical shaped, etc.  We could enter each hut and and thus got to look at some of the utensils, equipment and weapons used by the tribes men.  The information boards hanging beside each hut gave a fair description of the people and their practices.  Many of the huts and the equipments reminded us of our own Indian villages  - we can definitely find a lot of similarity here - the weapons used, the simple lifestyles, the importance given to animals and cattle,  the peaceful coexistence of man and nature.
Another highlight of our visit was the entertainment provided by the dancers - dressed in their traditional attire, they sang and danced their traditional dance forms to the tune of drum beats.  Even though we did not understand the language, we could appreciate the rhythm and beat of the drums.  The girls enjoyed it immensely!

At one of the shops in Mwnege market

3. Mwnege Market - This is the famous wood carvers market in Dar -  a must see place.  It has several rows of shops that sell various pieces of art  and curio items made from wood - intricate work displaying the Masai tribesmen and women in their attire, holding their spears and shields; the beautifully carved and coloured giraffes, hippos and other native animals, necklaces and earrings.  We also got to see the exotically named Tinga Tinga paintings - bright, oil paintings on canvas depicting rural life.   As you

This board game is similar to the Pallankuzhi of Tamilnadu

enter the market, you will be invited by the shop owners to visit their store - calls of KARIBU (welcome) and ASANTHE (thank you) reverberate loudly.  The sellers are warm people and are willing to bargain and drop prices; they don't mind even if we start at 50% of the quoted price. In fact, one of the sellers cheerfully said "Mama, please go high.  Ask a better price."   We finally settled for a slightly higher amount - satisfactory to both of us!  We picked up quite a few pieces to give as mementos to friends back home.  One particular curio is called the kalabash, made from dried gourd - ash gourd or bottle gourd.  Intricate designs are etched on the exterior of the gourd and painted with bright colours. It looks big but is weightless. 

Airtel's building in DAR enroute to Mlimani

4. Mlimani City Shopping Mall - This is one of the biggest malls of DAR.  Anything and everything that you may need, you can get it here in the South African shop called Shoprite.  Built on a huge, sprawling area, this mall also houses some good Indian restaurants and a movie theatre. In fact, this being close to my husband's office,  he would order food from the Indian restaurants here  - even Kerala's koththu parota, and aapams were available. Hence, he did not miss Indian food much during his month long stay.  He missed his wife's cooking, though! 

The street scene at Slipway

Right at the eastern edge of the land! 

On the embankment - enjoying popcorn

5. Slipway - Situated right next to the Double Tree Hotel, this is a seafront facing shopping arcade.  We took a leisurely stroll on a Sunday evening - it was filled with the locals, enjoying their Sunday, eating at food stalls or having dinner at the restaurant by the sea.  The children's amusement park was completely full and much to my younger daughter's disappointment, we did not go in.  We mollified her with a packet of popcorn from the road-side stall.  We then walked down the slipway towards the water edge.  It was literally the Land's end - walking up a small paved pathway that directly led into the ocean! A truly wonderful experience.

6. Upanga Club - We visited this Club set up by Gujaratis in the late 1800s.  It gets its name from its location in East Upanga. A non-member can also visit this club and thus we had excellent Gujarati food.  We ate some heavenly samosas, lip-smacking kachoris, methi bhujias and other delicious stuff.  Looking at us eat, I am sure any onlooker would have thought that we had been starving for several days!  During the weekends, this place gets filled up with Indians and Tanzanians of Indian origin - eating to their hearts' content and playing Housie.  We missed the Housie session, though.

the Dala-Dala

7. Dala Dala - The city bus is called Dala Dala and is generally packed with people.  Some of them are very old mini-buses and I guess only the bravehearts board the bus.  There are T-shirts with slogans such as "I rode the DALA DALA and survived to tell the tale."  This was one thrill ride that we dared not try, especially after reading the T-shirt slogan.

8. Local food -  We found that Tanzanians love to eat beef.  Tapioca, sweet potatoes, corn are also their favourites.  We tried some of the local vegetarian dishes served in the restaurant in Double Tree and enjoyed them.  We tried this slightly sweet dish called mandazi that was served at breakfast.  It reminded me of our very own Mangalore Buns - made from flour, mixed with mashed bananas and curd and fried in oil.  Another dish that we liked was the Ugali, a cooked cake of maize flour - again, similar to our Ragi mudde / kepai kali that we prepare back home.  This was served with a vegetable gravy that was very tasty!