It's Greater in the Crater!

Photo 1 - Lazy Lions

Photo 2 - Hyena Chilling

Photo 3 - Rare sighting of Two Headed Rhino

Photo 3 - Zebra Family

Well today is the day Trish is trusting me with the blog. I will attempt to be as eloquent as she can be.

We last rode on Tuesday. It was a challenging day as we had a morning of head wind as we rode into what seemed to be an optical illusion all morning. All of the terrain looked flat but it was a gradual uphill to lunch at 70km. After lunch we went over the shoulder of     Mount Meru then down into the city of Arusha Tanzania. Arusha is at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro but we have yet to spot the monster as it is shrouded in clouds most of the time. We have had a three day break  here & have taken the opportunity to visit the Serena Resort Lodge at Ngorongoro crater. This is a sister property to the Serena Tent Camp near Nanyuki Kenya. We have enjoyed our stay here immensely, the rooms are first rate & all perch on the rim of the crater so this morning we watched the sunrise in bed through the wall to wall windows in our room. At 8:00 we ventured out on a safari into the crater. We enjoyed the entire day watching the wildlife our excellent guide found for us. We had a a box lunch at a hippo watering hole that even included hippos, though they are mostly under water it was neat to watch them surface for air as they went about their business in the pond. The crater itself is quite a sight. We are sitting about 600m above the floor but can easily see the entire 260 sq km area from the hotel. The crater is a micro ecosystem of sorts. It is the result of an eruption millions of years ago that levelled the mountain that was estimated to be over 6000m. At that height it would rival Kilimanjaro as the highest mountain in Africa. As a result the depression that remained attracted a variety of wildlife over the years. The animals are not trapped inside the crater but instead choose to live here as all of their needs, other than the small gene pool are accommodated within its confines. In about 1970 the government relocated the Masai people that herded in the area & limited access to the crater to protect the rhino population. It has been a challenge as poachers continue to take animals when they are able. As a result there are not many maybe only 20 left.  The diversity of other animals is staggering. We were treated to 14 lions, 5 rhinos (one two headed as the picture will attest to), hyenas, jackals, a lake full of flamingos, hundreds of cape buffalo & zebras. The list goes on with birds & even a small cat called a serval. All in all a fantastic experience we will treasure for years to come. 

Rainy season is just around the corner, we have had a few practice showers that are amazing to watch. Trish was pretty cold coming in last Monday as she managed to get caught by the deluge. I was in a bit earlier so I managed to get the tent up prior to our first blast. Sandy had a few flats so she came in a little later & somehow missed all of the action. We will be going out for eight days straight of off road so have changed to fatter tires. I imagine our next day off will be well deserved after such along stretch.