A lot has happened since the last post. We shopped at the Maasai market in Arusha and saw the tourist economy there – not my favorite part. Then we went on a safari in Ngorongoro crater. Kudos to our drivers – nothing like African back roads. We saw 4 of the ‘big 5’ – no leopard this time. The lions were very entertaining – sleep was their number one concern. National Geographic has nothing on this one.
We also hike up to Engare Sare river gorge and waterfall. It was amazing. Apparently, Dr. Koti finds pirates wherever he goes – well ok, this time it was just bandits. It was ok this time because there were no broken bones. After a short break we decided to learn more about volcanoes; so we took a night hike of Ol Donyo Lengai. All I can really say about this hike was that we survived!! I don’t think anyone in the group will ever forget this. Make sure when you see one of us to ask about all the ash. I think it will take a week to get it all washed off, but following the Southern Cross and seeing the sunrise was well worth all the effort.
Big Time Safaris – Big Time LiarsWe are no first – timers in Africa, we did a lot of saafris before but this safari- company won the price …First we asked for a 4 4 – answer: yes we are doing this safari with a 4 4. As we found out is is not a 4 4 they told us: no need for a 4 4 because there is no rein in MaisaiMara ( only in the rest of East-Africa) and there will be no mud( different soil then in the rest of East-Afrika). In reality there was a lot of mud because there was a lot of rain the last 10 days and we’ve got stuck several times.There was a written time table for the trip. No need for that: Several changes in time and order made this piece of paper useless.Our Hotel at Lake Nakuro was of course fully booked at arrival and of course the cheap Hotel nearby was the “same” standard. (Lie again)They told us: you are lucky; there will be only 2 more people in your car – the same people the whole trip. Lie again: there were 4 more people in this car plus our “driver guide”.The driver guide was as they told us an experienced guide. Lie again: he was a bad driver and a useless guide. He didn’t knew anything about the park, didn’t knew anything about the animals – instead he told us lies about the animals, didn’t fount any animals at all by him self. Tom talked instead constantly in his phone. He talked of course in his phone “just for our best” and was unable to stop for different animal for security reasons. ( More lies…)At the end he threw our luggage in the mud as we ended our disappointing safari.
Posted by Toka | February 18, 2016, 1:00 am