1st February - Day 1 Safari - Ngorogoro Crater

We had a bit of a lie in today, despite the tropical Bou Bou bird! After he/she had visited, we went back to sleep. We had asked Joice if we could do brunch as we'd be leaving at lunchtime, so we could take our time this morning.

Our safari guide James popped in to see us in the morning, just to introduce himself and make sure all was okay. He returned to pick us up at 2pm and we packed up and said goodbye for the time being to Joice. We hit the road to Arusha, where we stocked up on provisions, including insect repellant! We then set off for Ngorogoro Crater. At the start the journey it was quite dull but then Masai bomas began to appear everywhere.

The familiar red cloaks and sticks could be seen as Maasai men tended herds of their unusual cattle with humped shoulders.  What we did notice was that these men were alone on but could often be seen talking on mobile phones! James informed us that 85% of Tanzanians owned mobile phones, which we found quite staggering.

We passed a bustling Maasai market where a sea of crimson filled the enclosure.

We passed mountains which James informed us were active vents in the earths crust that maintained Kilimanjaro's dormant status. Lake Manyara shimmered in the distance. We arrived at the Ngorogoro Gate, where James completed the usual park gate formalities.

We then headed up to the Ngorogoro Wildlife Lodge where we arrived just in time for some pictures before the sun went down. This lodge is perched on the rim of the crater and offered a great view from all areas, including the rooms. Even with binoculars, I couldn't see any wildlife. This was extrodinary given what we would see in the crater the next day.

We celebrated our achievements in the last 7 days with a couple of bottles of wine, which Simon took an age in choosing! After dinner we sat by the open fire in the lounge and finished the wine and then retired to bed.

Simon left the curtains to the full length windows slightly open as he doesn't like sleeping in darkness. In the middle of the night he got up to use the bathroom and we saw something move at the window. On closer inspection, we found an emormous buffalo grazing within 3 feet of the window! The animal raised his head and just stared in at us.

This was the view through the same window from the bed as we woke up - minus the buffalo!