our first visit of the morning was to a nearby masai village out in the bush. this village has benefited from a gadventures funded project to improve the air inside the mud huts by contributing to the cost of building a special chimney inside to replace the three stone fireplaces. they cost the equivalent of $40 but the difference in air quality was remarkable.unlike the other masai village who burned wood these burnt cow dung,either way fuel is free.
next it was time to climb the side of the rift valley through extensive woodland until we reached the edge of the ngorongoron crater . we peered down into a vast wilderness with a salt lake at one end. using binoculars we spotted a black rhino and hope we find him again when descend into the crater on thursday.we followed the crater round for some time until we descended the mountain,first through countryside like moorland,then down through a very dry plateau with herds of cows meandering around trying to find some grass and then it was through a very arid bush with the trees looking like sticks until at the bottom of the mountain the trees started greening up and we saw more signs of human occupation. the roads hereabouts are very rough stone tracks and due to all the bumping we lost a spare wheel as the bracket just sheared off. when we stopped to buy our pass to the serengeti our driver asked all the following safari vehicles whether they had seen it (sadly not). it took an hour and a half to get our tickets,some people had taken up to three hours. for the number one attraction in tanzania that is a disgrace.
we were now in the serengeti national park which means the masai are not allowed in so only wild animals are present and no cattle/sheep/goats . although we were hurrying to where the cats were likely to be there were plenty of animals for us to see. elephants,a hyena,jackal,antelopes of all kinds,secretary bird,zebras,buffaloes and giraffes. then we found a lioness sleeping by a pile of road menders stones,a cheetah crossed our path and we found a pride of lions,mostly cubs. however the best was to come. we were alerted that a couple of cheetahs were eating their kill. we arrived in time to see a hyena run in and steal their kill whilst laughing.
it was getting dark and we arrived at our campsite. where are tents had been pitched for us and a welcome cup of tea. there is no electricity here and we have to move around by flashlight. during dinner a hyena was spotted marauding around and as we settled down to sleep we could hear the wild animals nearby. first a jackal and secondly a buffalo. the night stars lit up the entire sky as a compensation.