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Tuesday 14th September
The early mornings and copious amounts of food were getting tiring. Both of us longed for a line in and light meals, a chance to relax and read a book or listen to some music. We first had a game drive in the Ngorongoro crater before the long trek back to Arusha. As we had breakfast the crater floor was masked again by the low lying fog and we were surprised to see, as we descended, that craters basin was as flat and desolate as the Serengeti. Stark opposite to the lush tropical forests of the craters walls.
The Ngorongoro is famed for the small proximity of all the animals and indeed on our drive we saw everything apart from the leopard and the black rhino. There were prides of lions, cheetahs and even flamingos feeding on the algae of the central lake. Everything seemed a little tame however when compared to the Masai Mara and the Serengeti, the animals never seemed that close to you and most we had to use the binoculars to see them properly. We could tell we'd exhausted the safari when we pulled honest to another tour van. The American couple were hopping from foot to foot, explaining they'd just seen a cheetah, we told then a little less enthusiastically that there was a pride of lions on the horizon. After many gasps and 'gee wizzes' they thanked us and headed in the direction we'd mentioned. If it had been our first day no doubt we would have been the same, but we chuckled to ourselves as we continued our drive. By lunch time all of us decided to call it a day and heading home both of us, this time, drifted off to sleep. On route we stopped off for Tom to get some rice, which was far cheaper in the villages than it was in the towns. Tom and Rama also kindly got us some tamarind to eat, fresh, tangy and already peeled from a market stall, delicious.
We reached Arusha and were dropped back at the jacaranda hotel, were we'd started. Saying our farewells to Tom and Rama we really thanked them for their kindness and hospitality. Tom had taught us so much about the wildlife of east Africa, his knowledge was second to none, he really made the trip a wonderfully rich experience. As they left we settled into our room, the same as before, and had a nice light curry for dinner. It was unfortunately going to be another ridiculously early start for the next leg of our journey, the real start to our travelling. We'd planned to catch a bus across Tanzania to Tanga and then down to the beautiful beaches of Pangani, a 500km long journey.
Mark & Tejal x
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Mum Just checked my emails and was delighted to see that you had just posted another installment of your great adventure. Sorry that I missed your call yesterday - I was very jealous that Dad had spoken to you and have vowed that I won't leave the house again!! Hope that your journey to Singapore goes well and that your rucksacks turn up in the same airport as you both - no doubt Tejal is more than prepared, just in case! Love to you both. xxxxxx