TANZANIA: REMNANT OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN
by Winnie Graham



A Maasai youth, draped in the traditional red cloak, drives a herd of cattle up the steep slopes of the crater. Not far away flamingos wade in the shallow waters of the soda lake where the animals have slaked their thirst ..... and just beyond that, three lions watch idly.

This is Ngorongoro in Tanzania, a crater just 19 miles in diameter, home to 20,000 large animals in an area some describe as "the remnant of the Garden of Eden". Here the Maasai live side by side, unperturbed, with herdboys daily chasing their cattle into the crater to drink, and out to safety again before nightfall.

I am overwhelmed by the sheer majesty of the place. We have driven over potholed roads of red clay from a lodge at Lake Manyara National Park to the Ngorongoro sanctuary. Now, after winding up the forested side of the extinct volcano, we stop at a lookout point and can see across the crater. We are too high to spot any of the animals far below, but there is Lake Magadi (a shallow soda lake) and the flat plain, and a cluster of trees on the crater floor.

"There are elephants in the bush," our guide tells us. "The females and their calves stay up here. The males make their way down to the crater floor to feed on the giant sedges. But, when the mating season arrives, the females sound the trumpet – and the males scurry back to them up the steep side of the crater."

It is one of many animal stories we will hear this day. We look around hoping to catch a glimpse of these matriarchal females but there is no sign of them. Instead, the party uses the opportunity to take pictures. After we have called at a small African village nearby, we will head down into the crater. It is a warm day and everyone wants to buy cold drinks.

The village square is surrounded on three sides by a collection of ramshackled shops. One is a restaurant of sorts which offers indigenous fare cooked in seemingly primitive conditions. The owner addresses us in Swahili. He speaks just a smattering of English but he understands what we want. Surprisingly, there is refrigeration and the bottled drinks are refreshingly cold.

On the veranda of a shop, across the square, a tailor, at work on a sewing machine, is making a woman's skirt with the same red cloth the Maasai use as cloaks. It is 1pm on Saturday and the shop is closed for business. If we are curious about the local inhabitants, so are they of us. A cluster of children stand around to stare at us.

There is a group of Maasai women in traditional dress in front of a shop and we ask if we may photograph them. They are willing to pose for a small fee.

Maasai cultural villages are a feature of the wildlife areas of Tanzania and while visitors from all parts of the world love nothing more than to stay with them – this is quite possible – there is no doubt that this over-exposure to tourism is affecting the essence of their culture. Still, Ngorongoro would not be the same without these long-limbed red-coated people striding fearlessly through the countryside.

The driver summons us. We are about to start our descent into the crater. As the Land Rover winds its way down the steep sides of Ngorongoro, we see a herdboy driving up cattle. There are lions nearby and I ask rather nervously: "Is it safe for him to be walking there?"

The driver is amused. We learn that walking in the Ngorongoro Crater is now possible for anyone. Adventure lovers keen on either long walking safaris or short hikes can arrange either. Tanzania is keen to encourage tourism and sees these excursions as ecologically friendly.

Now that we were finally in the Crater, one exciting wildlife scene after the other unfolds. We watch flamingos wade in the lake ..... birds fish in a swiftly flowing stream ..... ducks flying by in formation across the plains ..... kites soaring above.

Along with buffalo, wildebeest and zebra are the gazelle – Thompson's and Grant's. Elephants graze knee-deep in water ..... hyena slink through the grass, silverbacked jackals close by.

But what is that? Two small creatures emerged through the long grass and our guide tells us they are golden jackals. We train our binoculars on them.

But the scene is changing again. Is that hyena on the prowl or simply out for a run? In less than half an hour we see at least three or four wandering through the grass, undeterred by our vehicle. Now there's another large herd of wildebeest, and dozens of calves all roughly the same age. All are in fine shape.

Again our driver provides the background. "All wildebeest babies are born within the same three-week period," he says. "It's nature's way of protecting the migrating herds." Bushbuck, waterbuck, baboons, monkeys ..... we see them all. Even a cluster of lazy lions dozing beneath a bush. They provide the thrill – the pulse of Africa.

Ngorongoro, of course, must be one of the most filmed sanctuaries in the world – and rightly so. Confined in a relatively small space, visitors are certain to see a wide range of animals, but this is not the only appeal of the crater. The mountains in the region are said to be more than 500-million years old.

Nearby is the Olduvai Gorge which, research has shown, was occupied by hunter/gatherers until a few thousand years ago when the pastoralists moved in.

It was Louis Leakey who, in the thirties, found evidence of human occupation here, and his wife, Mary, who uncovered a 1,75-million-year-old australopithecus jawbone – conclusive evidence that hominids existed here more than a million years ago and evolved in Africa. A visit to the site museum is a must for anyone interested in early man.

At sundown we make our way to one of the four lodges overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater. Earlier in the day we passed by the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge – but we are booked into the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge where the accommodation is in large semi-detached rooms resembling rondavels from the outside.

Huge picture windows face the crater so that it is possible for visitors to look across – should they so wish – while having cocktails or enjoying dinner. Our meal is excellent, but we are disappointed that the weather has turned misty. We could be in Scotland. The crater below has disappeared from view.

James Drysdale, the general manager of the lodge, tells us that the weather on the crater rim is, indeed, reminiscent of the Scottish highlands and much cooler than the plains below.

We spend a wonderful day at the lodge and move on reluctantly. On our way to Sopa we had spent a night at Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge, another attractive stop on the edge of Tanzania's wild life reserves. What the country may lack in infrastructure, it certainly makes up for in fine lodges.


Photo courtesy Tanzania Tourist Board
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