Thursday 27 August 2009

Tanzania part 2

It took a gruelling 5 hours to get to the Ngronogoro crater, mainly on dirt roads that were heavily covered with what felt like huge amounts of rocks and stones.







On the way we saw several Maasai villages, and having stopped to take pictures of one about half a mile away the children came running up the hill immediately they saw us, hoping for pens, sweets or money. Our guide said not to give them anything as it would encourage them for other clients he would bring there. It was heart rending though as it would have cost nothing and we'd bought sweets and pens especially.



On arriving at our safari Lodge we were rewarded with this amazing view. All the rooms faced the crater so we not only had this view from the balocony bar , but we woke up to it on the misty mornings too and were able to watch it appear as the mist dispersed.



The boys (my DH and my BIL) were champing at the bit to get down into the crater for the first game drive on the following day after our arrival but they had to wait for us girls to sample the local culture first, much to my extreme delight.

We were treated to the ceremonial dances of both the women and the men at a nearby village.



Even the little ones practice doing just what Mum does



At the time of writing my journal I had no way of printing any pics that I took so on this occasion I decided to use local PC's of the Massai, for the purpose.







This is a pic of our host who was keen to show us the beautiful beadwork his wife made to sell on these tourist visits. Needless to say I couldn't resist and shall treasure the boxes and bowls I bought, having met the maker. My DH also succumbed and bought our host's ceremonial club, well it's a 'man thing'.



Next post I really will get into the animal part of the holiday.

3 comments:

Julie said...

Amazing view across the crater and a fascinating account of your trip so far. I wonder how many ceremonial clubs he parts with? lol Wonderful to have the beaded boxes to remember your experience by.

Françoise said...

Amazing. Thanks for sharing!

Heather said...

That looks like a pretty uncomfortable journey but overall an amazing trip. It's a very harsh environment for anyone, especially for small children. Your journal is going to be a wonderful record and I love your thumbnail sketches. The dancers are very colourful and those beaded collars and neckpieces are fantastic. So much inspiration.