The Biggest Elephant I Ever Saw

Saturday, September 3, 2005


In the Ngorongoro Crater, there are no elephant herds to be seen--no females and no young ones. But there are elephants.

Old bull elephants, massive and heavy-tusked descend the steep crater hills and roam the fertile plain alone.

They are HUGE.

We spotted one enormous old fellow in the distance and stopped our vehicles to watch him. He swayed over the savannah, at first a small grey shape in the distance, but looming ever closer. He could have avoided us, but instead he walked directly in front of us, passing within feet of the trucks.

Was he curious? He was certainly beautiful.

We watched him for a long time as he walked away from us, toward the cloud-crowned hills. That sight was one of the most majestic I saw in Africa.

Wildebeest in Ngorongoro Crater

Saturday, September 3, 2005

Photographs can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Hippos in Ngorongoro Crater

Saturday, September 3, 2005

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Down Into Ngorongoro Crater

Saturday, September 3, 2005

I woke up in a cloud this morning. Water droplets swirled past my face as I peered through the thick fog, trying to find my way from my tent to the bathroom buildings.

It was dark still and it was cold too. We huddled over an early morning breakfast of porridge and coffee.

I learned that our camp had had some animal visitors as I slept unawares: Lizzie had come out of her tent last night and seen a hyena that was fortunately feeling too shy to confront a human. And someone else spotted a bush- pig rooting around near the toilets. Wayne said that one night on another camping trip a bush -pig had wandered into someone's tent and become panicked--the big left the tent in a hurry, ripping a new back door for the tent in the process.

Hired land-rover vehicles arrived to take us down to the bottom of the Ngorongoro Crater; it was a road that a big overland truck like George could not possibly navigate.

There were five or six passengers in each vehicle: in ours there were we four Canadians plus Phil (from Norfolk) and Simon, our local driver.

Simon proved to be the slowest and most cautious driver of the bunch for which I was glad:the road was pitted, narrow, and full of switch-back curves over high drops. It was about 600 metres (2000 feet) down to the crater floor. There was also very, very poor visibility this morning. The thick cloud layer followed us as we descended. At one point our jeep pulled up by another of the vehicles and our driver Simon had a brief but heated conversation with another driver as they gestured at the road and the weather

I wondered if they were discussing the other's insane driving habits.

It turns out that heavy fog is actually pretty typical in the mornings here. It was predicted that by afternoon it would be blazing hot, and I fervently hoped so as I huddled in my fleece.

The Ngorongoro Crater (named for the melodic sound of Masaii cow-bells tinkling) is a vast conservation area. The diameter of the volcanic crater is about twelve miles across and between twenty and thirty thousand animals populate the caldera floor. It is a conservation area and the animals are protected by law as long as they stay within the boundaries of the collapsed volcano.

On the Rim of a Crater

Friday, September 3, 2005

We stopped at a place overlooking a vast white soda lake called Lake Magadi.

It seemed to shimmer from the middle of a great dust plain under the harsh afternoon light. We are quite high on the rim of a volcanic caldera.

As we stepped down for the truck to photograph the view, we were greeted by two tall young Masaii warriors in traditional clothing and bright beaded jewelry. They were from a nearby village down the hillside.

They grasped our hands with a hearty "Jambo". They were hoping that we would like to take their picture but our guide had told us to please not encourage them. They were charging five dollars for the privilege.

We did decline, but I would have been tempted if I hadn't known we would soon be visiting a Masaii village where we'd be allowed to take pictures. I love to take pictures of people.

Tonight we camped at Simba Campsite, a flat grassy area on the edge of the famousNgorongoro Crater. Unfortunately the surrounding trees made it impossible to see down into the crater's interior.

No, up here we had a view of tents, tents, and more tents. There were overland trucks and safari vehicles everywheretoo. One had to negotiate a sea of laundry lines and cook-fires to get to the bathroom buildings. As I walked through the camp I heard French, German, English and Spanish spoken. It was a busy place.

I took some time to do some laundry and hair-washing in the sinks available, but the showers were horrendously busy and the floor flooded so I tried to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Around the campfire tonight it became horrendously chilly and I was very glad to be wearing my fleece. Who knew a warm fleece would be one of the best things I brought to Africa? I've used it every day for at least a little while in the mornings or evenings. However, it was here, in the cold mountain air, that I became most grateful I'd brought something cozy along.

I noticed Simon was wearing mittens around the fire tonight! Now that's being prepared.

The group stayed up quite late around the fire telling gross and unlikely medical stories and dissecting urban legends, but I was quite tired and retired to our tent before most people had left the fire. I wore my fleece over my night-clothes and snuggled down into my warm sleeping-bag. My nose felt frosty.

The wind flapped at the tent all night, so I did not hear any animal sounds. Although apparently there was wildlife around as we were to discover the next morning....