hello, ngorongoro crater

Arusha, like Dar es Salaam, is a full of hustle and bustle and lots of honking. Like in Dar, the women wrap themselves in colorful textiles and the men seem to throw on whatever second hand clothes (mostly from the US) they can get their hands on. Minibuses, taxis, beaten up old cars, and Land Cruisers compete for road space with crowds of pedestrians and men pushing carts of produce or building supplies or newspapers. The shops are filled with home appliances and electronics circa 1990, but they can hardly compete with all the street vendors eager--read:desperate--to make a buck. Fruits and vegetables sit grouped in piles along the roadside dirt, like slabs of color on a easel. And somewhere tucked away behind the bustle sits The African Tulip hotel. I swore the whole time I was going to take pictures of this place, not just for memory's sake, but also so I could emulate the style in my own home one day. But, alas, I was too busy soaking up the taste of luxury that I could hardly function or set my mind to anything but entirely enjoying it. (Rumor has it Jane Goodall was there the same night we were!)

But, as gorgeous and comfortable as the Tulip was, we were all eager to start what we came to Tanzania to do: explore! We woke up early the morning our safari was set to begin and ate as much as we could at the gourmet breakfast spread. After meeting with our "correspondent" from Roy Safari (our safari and Kilimanjaro outfit) at 8:30am, we had ten minutes to pack up and pack out: our guides were ready for us. Half crazy with excitement and half overwhelmed by the rush, we ran up to our rooms to get what we needed and lock up what we didn't. Dressed from aviators to hiking boots in my safari gear, I felt ready to go. I mulled over all the things I would need to make myself as comfortable and happy as possible, and then I saw some bug repellant on the bathroom counter. This place really is a class act, I thought. I won't even have to use any of our overpriced repellant from REI today: better spray myself down.

As I completed my full-body spray and ran over to Gleb to start spraying him enthusiastically, he stopped me. "Whoa, whoa, Hannah, what is that?" he said in a fairly concerned and agitated tone. "Bug spray. We better load up," I assured him. His eyes went straight for the label, then he grabbed the can from my hand, "This stuff is RAID. It's toxic." Immediately, he stripped down and ran into the shower, "Come on, we need to wash this off. Get in the shower." Stunned and feeling stupid, I followed his orders. Apparently our door was still cracked open because Abby walked in looking confused, "What are you guys doing? We need to go."

Thank Allah Gleb didn't develop some bad reaction to the stuff, or I would've never lived it down. Note to self: read labels before use.

Leaving town, the scene changes pretty fast. Within ten minutes the roadside view transitions from chaos to calm, and we seem to transport back in time. Where there were shops and vendors, now we see nothing but monstrous baobab trees and termite mounds on a flat, dry landscape. The stream of pedestrians has vanished and only the odd outside villager walks the streets. Masai men follow their cattle, seemingly aimlessly, leaving a wave of dust behind them. We pass an army base camp, some camels, and we even spot our first giraffes.

After three hours, we're gaining elevation, climbing 800 meters to the rim of the Ngorongoro, entering a lush forest. I already feel so far away. This is awesome. Baboons welcome us at the gate, reminding us that things are about to get wild. Acacia trees line the tops of the hillsides, creating an incredible silhouette with their flat tops. And as soon as we descend down into the base of the crater, it's animal territory. We see a pack of zebras first, and insist that we stop for pictures and videos etc. (By the end of the day we were annoyed at waiting for them to get out of the road.) The crater is a sanctuary. By the end of day, the list stands strong: olive baboons, blue plain zebras, wildebeest, cape buffalo, Thompson gazelle, hartebeest, spotted haenas, black backed jackal, serval, hippo, wart hog, elephant, flamingos, and on and on with the birds!

Day one of safari: the world renown Ngorongoro crater. This is going to be a good week.