If someone said to me "Okay An, here is unlimited resources and money - now go build a magical paradise", this is how I would do it:
1. Dig a giant circular hole. (No, make it bigger than what you just imagined. How about I give you a number of 264 square kilometres to give you a better idea of what I mean). 2. Lay down vast grasslands, pour in some lakes, rivers and salt fields. At the edges put blobs of enchanted forest, murky swamps with lush marshes, giant cactus and some jungle. If you were to try and climb out of the hole you would be faced with thick jungle-like vegetation and might have fun swinging on vines or climbing miniature waterfalls. If you get lost you might want to climb one of the numerous knobby snot yellow bark trees to try and orient yourself. 3. Add elephants, hippos, rhinos, buffalo, zebras, monkeys, wildebeest, gazelles, warthogs and pink flamingos (for colour) and let them call this home. Of course, there are also a million more birds in all sizes, shapes and colours (but no crocs because they don't get along with anyone and lets let the odd lion, cheetah or leopard wander in so that the population stays in check). 4. Do not let humans destroy it.
Okay okay, so likely nobody is ever going to give me money so I can build it - but it's okay because what I have just described is a place in Tanzania called Ngorongoro Crater. It already exists. What it used to be was a giant volcano until it erupted 2 million years ago. Then it did a funny thing and collapsed. (This is otherwise known as a Caldera). Sound amazing? Well, it is. The perfect African snowglobe comes to mind, minus the chocking plastic roof and oh yeah, the snow.. ;) In fact, it's the type of place you half expect to see the odd Dodo bird or Wolly Mammoth..
Don't hate me. We just spoiled ourselves with a four day camping safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro area. It was beyond words and worth every single penny - and it cost a lot of pennies but I could have happily done it for another month.
Rainy season is just ending and the Serengeti is much more lush than I ever imagined it would be. *As an aside, the rainy season ended early and then started again and now it is sporadically raining so the wildebeest have stopped in mid-migration and are standing around a bit confused as to what is supposed to happen next.. all one million of them*. But, I will get back to them shortly. So the Serengeti isn't a large flat dry plain of yellow grass with one tree like I had imagined.. it's stunningly beautiful and green and there are mountains. We saw every animal I mentioned above (except for the Rhino) and I'm sure there are a few I've forgotten. Like Impala and numerous types of buck. And we did see a crocodile.. in fact one almost ate me.
Tenting is frigging scary (but fun and soooo unexpectedly cosy). Getting out to go to the washroom at night is not recommended. One of the girls in my tent (she will remain nameless) was in tears at about 3am because she had to go number 1.. and so I held out the flashlight and played the brave night watchman while she crouched in front of the tent..she was literally in mid steam when she flew back in to the tent due to a giant animal coming around the side of the tent. We didn't keep the flap open to see what it was but it was big and snarly. Did I mention we had seen the leopard a 3 minute drive from the camp dining on a fresh kill? Eek!!
Every moment really was incredible but the highlights were a cheetah who was not camera shy (Denise has the most amazing video of her contemplating going after some wildebeest for a mid day snack) and a pride of 7 lions who were lazily sleeping on a giant rock (rare for them to be out in the open like that during the day).
Wildebeest and Zebra appear to be the best of friends and migrate together (it's sort of cute - they actually form a single file zig-zag line at times - it's very organized of them). I also have a whole new respect for wildebeest.. not only are they damn ugly (yet super cool looking) but they are also incredibly brave. We watched the cheetah watch them for hours.. and they formed a long defiant line as if to say "hi we know you're there and if you want one of us you are in for a serious fight". Incredible. She still had them at a standstill hours later when we were returning to the camp..but this time she was sitting like a queen on a giant rock over looking the field of them.
Ngorongoro is the area that the Maasia are from (I think I've mentioned the dude who protects us at night in Buswelu - the one who is damn good with a bow and arrow. He is Maasia and incidentally he could get you between the eyes with the arrow, even after a few beers so I wouldn't mess with him). So this is where he comes from. Traditionally the Maasia are cattle herders and were booted from the Serengeti but still have grazing rights in Ngoro.. I don't know that much about them except that they drink blood. Ew.
Ngorongoro is so dramatically different than the Serengeti..it's as if someone drew a line and said okay one stops here and the other starts here so the landscape must be totally different so we know for sure. With that said, if you ever get the chance to visit Tanzania you should - it is the most amazing country and I highly recommend it. The people are friendly, it's safe, the food is decent, the scenery is breathtaking and I can't recommend it enough. I might feel differently in about 7 days when I descend from Kili..gulp. We are being picked up tomorrow morning at 8 am and just paid a $1000US to climb a mountain for 6 days. Apparently it's worth it.. I guess we will see. And yes, this month is proving to be the most expensive of my entire life.. :) Just wait till I buy my new camera...
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