We began today with a drive crossing the escarpment to the western side of the Eastern Great Rift Valley mountains to our next stop on the trip, Ngorongoro Crater.
We stopped at a convenience store in the town of Mtowambu, which means River of Mosquitos. This store had everything. I purchased floss because I ran out, along with a chocolate cookie bar, passion fruit juice with basil seeds, Kilimanjaro lager, Savanna cider, and cardamom biscuits. All of this was for only 22,000 shillings, which is less than $9 USD.
We had packed food from our previous lodge, and had lunch when we arrived in the Ngorongoro area. The forest lodge is the most luxurious place we’re staying on this trip. We were greeted with the warm smell of spices and an amazing view of the valley.
Next we embarked on hike to a gorgeous 40 meter waterfall. There was a salt lick where elephants had licked the exposed rock so much that they formed caves. We were actually able to see several elephants and their calves near the salt lick caves! One of the highlights of this trail for me was a wild banana tree with leaves bigger than me.
Interesting note about this hike: there was so much elephant, baboon, and buffalo dung. Our park ranger guides were armed with large rifles in case of attack from buffalos, which are extremely aggressive and dangerous. Luckily we didn’t see any. The elevation is very high, so after a couple steps on the steep trail, I was already out of breath. My heart was beating so fast, and my lungs were just trying to inhale as much oxygen as possible.
Back at the lodge, we had dinner (pumpkin soup!) and I gave my presentation of the Reduncini taxonomic group.
Covered in 98% DEET,
Carina
