First thing, I go to the bathroom and ask Beth if she left the shower on because I heard what I thought was the shower. She replied, "it's raining, and it's been raining since 3 a.m.!
It's really only the first day we've had pretty steady rain since we left Cape Town, and it was pretty steady but Alfred, our guide, assured us the sun would come out as we got close to the lake and the national park there. He said he emailed to confirm the weather. Alfred has been great - he is very personable, is funny and knowledgeable.
Before beginning our day's journey, we went to the Arusha CBD to get some cash. Our American money is disappearing because there have been some expenses we weren't expecting, like renting walking sticks for $10 at Mount Kilimanjaro and paying for our alcohol consumption because the credit card machine wasn't working this morning at our hotel. Guess we'll tip Alfred in Tanzania shillings since we have very little US dollars.
Then Alfred stopped at a store in which I purchased another memory card for my camera. I bought an extra one but I think I forgot to pack it because I couldn't find it. I got the disk and off we went… however, two hours later when we were going into the Lake Manyara reserve, I loaded the disk and the damn thing would not format. Alfred called his uncle, a taxi driver, whom he directed to the store, and we talked with the store manager on his uncle's cell phone. The only way to get it replaced was to return it to Arusha with the receipt. So Alfred is going to find a colleague tonight or tomorrow who is returning to Arusha and ask them to return it and get another one. I regret having not inserted the card at the store. I trust Alfred will get me another disk before we leave Monday for the Serengeti.
We drove in the rain for about two hours, passing through an entirely different landscape. This landscape was a little flat; lots of dry grass on which the Masai grazed their cattle and goats. We saw several large herds of Braham cattle, which they have chosen because the cattle are resistant to drought and can walk long distances.
At one point, we happened upon five camels - yes, five camels - close to the road who were feeding. Alfred yelled "camels!" and sure enough, there were camels. He said they were imported for the milk, and it was totally surprising to see camels since they don't belong here.
The Masai wear colorful red shawls. However, we passed a trio of young Masai men dressed in black shawls with their faces painted white. Alfred was talking so he didn't stop for me to get a photo (he said he would stop and visit with them next time we saw some but … ). Anywho, he told us yesterday about the Masai rite of passage, and the young men dressed in black with white faces had passed the first stage of their manhood ritual - which is circumcision. They use no anesthetic during the circumcision, and the young man does not blink or certainly cry because he must exhibit manliness. It takes them about one to two months to heal and during that time, the elder men care for them. The second stage used to be killing a lion but for obvious reasons, that's no longer required. He didn't tell us what was required in the second stage but the black shawls and white faces indicated they had passed the first stage and were in the second stage to becoming men.
As we drove across the flat landscape toward the lake, you could see the Great Rift Valley escarpment. It was awesome. The Great Rift Valley wall runs from Mozambique to south of where we're located. Along the way we saw many big safari buses with dozens of people in each. We are so glad we are not in one of those.
We arrived at the lake around 10:30 a.m., Alfred did all the proper paperwork and raised the roof on the truck. We took off our shoes so we could move freely through the vehicle to photograph, and stand of the seats to photograph out the top of it.
We saw blue monkeys, a Cape buffalo with an egret on it waiting for insects (he was three feet from the car), an elephant eating trees, zebras who were not shy like the ones in Selous, wildebeest (didn't get close but I suspect we will get closer in the Serengeti). We saw sleeping giraffes, hippos in mud up to their chins with 0000000000 birds. We saw another kind of eagle flying and these incredible crowned cranes doing a mating dance but they were too far to photograph. They looked to be at least four feet tall with glorious gold colored crowns and multi-colored feathers.
We also saw vultures feeding on what Alfred thought was a wildebeest carcass that he thought was killed the previous night by a lion. Again, too far away to get a photograph.
We ate lunch at a viewpoint that was quite pleasant. Alfred has provided quite the lunch, and he insists we drink a bottle of white wine at every sitting. We do as he says.
After lunch we briefly visited the Tanzanite Experience which was, basically, a jewelry shop with Tanzanite. Tanzanite is a gemstone that is found only in Tanzania, and its color is from deep blue to blue-violet. It's a beautiful stone - and beautiful prices for beautiful people. We were a little stunned because the lowest price we could see was $350 for a pair of earrings (lower-quality stones) to around $17,000. There probably were more expensive ones but we didn't spend a lot of time browsing. We think Albert had an inflated idea of our income.
Next stop was African Galleria that featured hundreds and hundreds of items for sale by local artists. Alfred, knowing everybody, went and found the boss, who came over to visit with us and provide us with a free cup of cappuccino. He is Indian, and his grandfather started the business in 1921. His father expanded it in the 1970s.
We were told the gallery shipped stuff, and it did but the merchandise we chose was going to cost $200, and it was going to be $270 to ship it to the United States so we discarded a beautiful carved bowl with an elephant and kept the table cloth and a few items we can stash in one of our bags.
Then we headed to Tloma Mountain Lodge, where we're staying the next three nights. We drove along the escarpment for about an hour, then turned down another impossible road that was so dusty. We did see a couple of men with Braham cattle pulling a cart, and we saw the water station where people come to get their water, for which Alfred stopped and let us get a photo.
The lodge is absolutely beautiful. We have our own cabin with sitting area, fireplace, bed and bathroom. We were told the electricity stays on all the time, which is good. It's very spacious. Just outside our cabin are coffee trees, a manicured garden and two big vegetable patches.
There's also a swimming pool, to which Beth headed immediately upon arrival.
I think we'll like it here.
Tomorrow - well, up early again and leaving at 5:30 a.m. so we're at the gate of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area at 6 a.m. when it opens. Alfred told us we're more likely to see animals early in the morning, and see more people than animals in the afternoon so we'll probably eat breakfast in the vehicle waiting for the gate to open, explore the rim and the floor, have lunch and come back to the lodge.
But who knows?
PS: I'm just going to post a few photos, as the bandwidth where we're currently staying can't handle all 25 I chose! Ha!
A blue monkey.
A Cape buffalo with an egret atop it.
A silver-cheeked hornbill.
Zebras in unison.
A Masai tending his herd of cattle and goats.
Approaching the Great Rift Valley escarpment.
A portion of the Great Rift Valley escarpment.
A villager tending to her rice fields.
Surprise! One of the camels we encountered on our way to Lake Manyaro.
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