Thursday May 5th, 2011
We left the Serengeti hotel to head to the Ngorongoro Crater hotel. We saw quite a few animals on the drive out, including the tiny ears of our first lion! We stopped at an authentic Maasai village, which was probably a highlight of the trip for me!
We were met by the chief’s son, Noel, to take us around. We paid him $50 (per car) to be able to photograph freely, which is so nice since normally you have to pay each person you photograph one or two thousand shilling. They greeted us with a traditional dance between the men and women. They even put traditional necklaces around our neck and pulled my mom in to dance (jump). I got great photos and video!
After, Noel showed us around the village, including the tiny huts they live in temporarily. They are nomads and are constantly moving locations. They were all very friendly and open. There was this little girl named Nima who was such a personality! She danced with my dad, grabbed me by the hand and led me around…she couldn’t be over 2 years old! I wanted to take her home with me!
After the tour, they made us walk around and look at their jewelry and other crafts to purchase. It was obviously a little commercial but I didn’t mind because they were quite genuine. My mom bought a necklace while the other girls bought some other items. We left there and headed to Old Dupai.
Old Dupai (also known as Old Duvai due to a typo that was publicized internationally) is a plant but also the name of the gorge area where one of the earliest human remains was found! Correct me if I’m wrong but they had items dated back 2 million years! The remains weren’t quite as old as Lucy, who was found in Ethiopia recently but close! They also had skeletons of extinct animals on the wall and a lot of other history. We stayed long enough for a lecture and a quick walk around. Very interesting.
We got to the new lodge by 2pm and had some lunch overlooking the crater. It was an amazing view! My dad remembers eating lunch with the same view from 50 years ago! I bought internet for 24 hours ($25) so I could upload some stuff for clients and actually get some other work done. I spent the rest of the evening playing catch up, save a break for dinner. I got to bed around1am, which was a bummer since our call time the next day was 630am!
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