Shortly after the camp tarmac begins again, we are surprised. Today, we make it to the Ngorongoro Crater. Behind a smelly bus, it goes up a mountain, we stop and enjoy the view of the Manyara National Park.

The National Park was established in 1960, two thirds of the area are occupied by the lake. The area was also the setting for the classic film “Hatari” with John Wayne and Hardy Kruger.

We stay on the camp on the hill, where we also have a great view of the Manyara National Park.

We decide before go to the crater, to make a side trip to Lake Eyasi, there should be Bushmen. First, it goes well on the tar, then gravel. The gravel is getting worse and we are skeptical about whether we make it because our car is in no good condition.

Then a section comes that looks too bad. On foot, we inspect it. We decide to turn around, probably we are having more damage on this route. so we go back.

We drive closer to Ngorongoro Crater and make camp very near the gate to the road up to the crater.

The next morning I go alone to the Ngorongoro Crater. Alexandra remains with Tara back at the campground. Admission is horrendous. 100 U.S. dollars for one person plus car per day. I grudgingly pay and go up.

The scenery is beautiful, but from the view into the crater I’m disappointed, I do not pay the extra 100 U.S. dollars into the crater. The crater is 16 by 20 kilometers and is home to many animals. All animals except giraffes and impalas are represented in the crater.The landscape on the floor of the crater is a microcosm of its own. The heart is Lake Magadi which is the lowest point, depending on the rainy season, sometimes filled,.

The track leads along the crater rim, passing the Grzimek monument. The professor had campaigned for the wild animals. He gave everything for nature conservation. Here he also lost his son Michael in a plane crash.

From the crater rim you have a good view of the Serengeti.

When I return an elephant is on the track, the only animal that I’ve seen in the national park.

Previous

Next

On overland roads for another day. We start again early, now we should make it to Arusha, if everything goes smoothly. But in Africa you can not plan ahead, so many things can happen that can not be calculated. But nothing went smoothly.

Just a quick refuel and we’re back on the road. Worst gravel. This was not expected, our goal for today to get to Arusha, disappears. It is dusty like hell, sometimes thick air inside the car. We see the Mount Hanang, we have not yet come far.

The long-distance bus rush over the gravel, it is a wonder that the vehicles do not break down. We need to slow down, because our chassis makes strange noises.

And then it happens, the lock of our back door broke, the door flies open, what we did not notice immediately because of the noise. And within seconds, everything in the car was covered with red dust. A 1 cm thick layer of red soil was everywhere, even Tara was completely red. Shit happens, but now how to repair.

With a strap, I tie the back door to the bench, which, although not seals, but at least we do not lose the back door. Everything is filthy. This will now become a mega cleaning.

Stop in a guest house in Babati. We look at the mess. It is clear in the morning the door must be welded, but now needs to be cleaned.

Luckily we find a locksmith. The boys go to work immediately. There are a lot of advice – let’s see how long it works.

We continue to fine tarmac, but the joy does not last long, and already we are on a gravel road. Parallel to the gravel there is already a new tar road, but unfortunately it can not be used. On this day again we do not get a far distance, just a few kilometers, turn to a campsite in a small palm grove. We find a good spot, nice in the shade, no electricity, everything simple, but not bad.

We discovered an abandoned vehicle, a Land Rover Forward Control, which would be a vehicle for us, for Africa. We fantasize about it, we could weld a box for sleeping, recondition the vehicle, we are excited about the idea.

But it is not for sale, after the problems we had we would have immediately changed.

Shortly after the camp tarmac begins again, we are surprised. Today, we make it to the Ngorongoro Crater.

Previous

Next

The next morning we are back on the road into rural Tanzania. We want into the Ngorongoro Crater, but must make a detour of several hundred kilometers because of Tara, as we do not dare to smuggle her into the national park again.

We expect three to five days time for the detour. The first day we make it to Mwanza. We hear that one can camp at the Yacht Club.

The view from the yacht club on Lake Victoria is beautiful. We can not enjoy it long, only quickly drink coffee, because today we must travel a long distance. Outside the club, we buy from street vendors or Mandasi, similar to doughnuts and chapati.

The road is good and we are progressing fast. Again and again, huge baobab trees by the roadside.

Half way we supplement our supplies with bananas. They are smaller here than in Europe, but much sweeter, which I prefer. I could eat tons of it.

Central Tanzania is fairly flat and very dry. The area is also very sparsely populated. Tara is bored and hot, she does not like long car rides. We can find a place where she can get out and do her business.

Peanuts are sold at the roadside. We stop. We are immediately besieged by countless hands. Everyone wants to sell his goods. Tara does not like this and is defending the car.

The peanuts purchased are not peanuts, we have absolutely no idea what this is, we taste, not too bad, but do not really know if you eat it raw, or roasted, or if you have to cook the grains. In any case, we can make it on this day to Singida, where we camp in the parking lot of the guesthouse.

Previous

Next

Later it turned out that Tara is a bit better, but we decided to go back to Kenya as in Eldoret we know the vet which is the brother of Raj the owner of the Lodge in Eldoret.

In Kisumu, Kenya it turned out that Tara was healthy again, so we could continue our trip to Tanzania.

The border crossing was once again without any problems, no one cared about Tara, we have not had the Tanzania shilling yet, so we quickly drove to Musoma to go to the ATM to plunder it.

It was out of service, our Kenyan shillings were not changed by a bank, so again back to the border to the black market and back to Musoma, because there is a camping site. Pure stress.

After we changed a flat tire in the morning, we lost air overnight, we continue to drive towards Serengeti. We are not sure if we can smuggle in Tara, so we spend the night once more near the gates at Lake Victoria, to be first at the gate at dawn. The track to the camp is once again muddy, so we struggle on bravely until this idyllic place.

Now, some good advice is needed, which track to take. We detour, which does not always lead to success, this time at least we do not get stuck.

We reached the place with dry feet and really relax and prepare mentally for the Serengeti National Park. A marabou stork shows its best side, but it is really an ugly birds.

We are inside. Tara was quiet at the gate for a change and thus she was not discovered. We had to pay in U.S. dollars which is not so easy, because after almost a year of Africa, our dollar reserves were used up. But as usual in Africa, there is always a way.

Soon we see the first animals. A hyena on morning game hunt.

Zebras, a whole herd, a lonely giraffe and a couple of elephants, what more could you expect.

The scenery is magnificent. We see a vulture and a secretary bird, it has the name because of its head feathers.

And of course baboons. They are not completely harmless, because they are not shy and come to the car and sometimes long in purely because they want to steal something.The Serengeti is a grass and tree savannah and is known in the western world by Professor Grimek, who campaigned for the preservation of the Serengeti. He aroused the interest that boosted the tourism and contributed to the preservation of the Serengeti.

And then, out of nowhere a lioness appears. Lion like to stay in the Seronera Valley, because they have good coverage, rich wildlife and plenty of water. And then we discover a second lioness under a tree. Lionesses are not loners. They live together with other lionesses and cubs. Only the males are solitary. A third shows up, they seem to be hunting. But soon it disappears in the bush.

Further afield, we discover a herd of Thomson’s gazelle, easily recognizable by the black markings on their belly.

We drive on and see the lions again. They are on the hunt. Nearby is a large herd of zebra which are in the focus of the lionesses. A single elephant bull crosses our path. They are dangerous, especially if they are after cows. Perhaps cows are also nearby. We have lost the lionesses, but we run into a herd of zebra that are extremely worried. Likely lionesses are nearby. And, in fact. The lionesses launch an attack. But the zebras are faster, and still on alert.

In a nearby water we see hippos. They lie close together in the water and enjoy the cool water. But we must return. There are still 100 kilometers to the gate. On the way back, we see an even larger herd of elephants.

We make it to the campsite before sunset, although before the gate we had a puncture. Alexandra has secured the area, it could have been a lion in the bush, I changed the tire. Everything went well.

Previous

Next