Day 6 Tarangire National Park to Lake Natron

This morning we checked out of Tarangire Safari Lodge at 7:30 AM and headed on the road for what was essentially a transit day. Camera gear was packed away to make the ride more comfortable, but the net effect of that also discouraged us from making any unnecessary stops today.  As our Kyongozi (leader) Neil said today we were not stopping for viewings unless they are 12 out of 10!

As we left the park we spotted lots of giraffes, ground Hornbill and elephants. We then stopped at a Maasai Boma, or village, where we experienced a real cultural experience.  Maasai are nomadic people of Tanzania that tend to goats and cattle on the land of Tanzania.  They were simple garments of fabric wrapped around their bodies. We paid a $25 US entry fee and spent about an hour at the stop. The men and women performed a welcome dance for us.  They then invited us into their village and demonstrated a jumping contest. Young men want to jump the highest!  We all participated in a dance. 

We then were paired up with a Maasai warrior who toured us through a hut. My guide was Kasiaro, a son of the chief. He said the women actually built the huts out of cow dung and a hut would take about 3 weeks to build. We then were invited to shop at the women’s tables of crafts. We were encouraged to negotiate and barter the prices.  Then we went to the school where children study up to age 6.  After that children aged seven and up walk up to 15 km roundtrip in a day to go to school. A number of people took school supplies or treats to give to the school. I exercised the option to make a cash donation in locked box at the school. One unexpected thrill happened where my two worlds collided here. Neil Zeller was doing a live video of the Maasai Boma visit and he walked up to me and said “Say hello to your sister, she is watching!” So I said hello to my sister snd carried on watching centuries old culture play out in front of me! 

We then stopped at a town called Mto Wa Mbu (on my bingo card!) where we fueled up and a few people withdrew cash.  We had a comfortable rest stop for lunch where Tom and Cornell (our drivers) managed to repair a wheel while we were eating. 

And then came the adventurous part of our drive.  We had a 105 km drive that ended up taking about 3 hours and 15 minutes. Neil had warned us it was a rough road and we might not be that comfortable, but we had an incredible drive. Suzan and I just chatted and laughed with our travel mates Jen and Jeanette while we had Neil and Cornell riding in the front. The scenery was incredible. We passed Mount Lengai, an active volcano. After Cornell told us it erupted in 2014, and that this volcano erupts about every ten years, we laughed when Neil said it is about due to erupt after about eleven years!  Fingers crossed that won’t happen in the next two days. 

We saw loaded donkeys today, which Cornell calls Maasai Land Cruisers.

And then we arrived at Lake Natron - an unbelievably significant valley - but more on that tomorrow. 

We were fortunate enough to be assigned the most beautiful tent site (#5) with an unbelievable view of the lake from our front deck. We can see greater flamingoes, lesser flamingoes, spoonbills, great egrets and yellow billed storks from our front door!

My bed beckons. It was hot here today and will only cool down to 23 C tonight. Air conditioning is a thing of the past on this trip - so we will sleep as soon as it feels comfortable in the tent!

Feeling blessed many times over to be on this trip!