Day two of Safari (morning)

Thursday, January 9

After a delicious breakfast, we left the lodge around 8:00 to begin another long, eventful day.
There are just so many sites to see along the road so I tried to take some shots through the window. This area is still part of the Rift Valley so we saw the dark rich soil and people farming.

This man was carting water ~




Oops, missed the man with the push plow but this is the fruits of his labor ~
some people do have tractors.









We entered the Ngorongoro Conservation Area early in our drive. David explained that the Maasai are the only people allowed to live in this area and therefore it is a "conservation area" rather than a park because it is combining people and wildlife. The Maasai live in the same ways they have for centuries respecting the animals, having no vehicles, or modern means. They use their own animals for food, milk and blood (a main component of their diet). They never kill a wild animal.







We were met at the gate by more of our little friends. We had to keep the windows closed when we got out because the baboons are famous for getting into your belongs.



Today we will be driving along the rim of the crater on our way to the Serengeti. The crater highlands consists of an elevated range of volcanoes running along the Great Rift Valley. "Amazing, incredible, breathtaking, these all apply to the stunning ethereal blue-green vistas of the Ngorongoro Crater"

Driving through this area we saw rich green forests and the pilar tree which is the tallest tree in the area.





















"But as wonderful as the views are from above, the real magic happens when you get down inside" ~ an experience we will be saving for our return trip.


We continued our drive around the rim





The Maasai were everywhere and we were excited to see them. When people see the safari jeeps they know there are tourists inside and they don't like you taking pictures. They prefer you would pay them for the pictures.

The Maasai walk miles and miles with their herds each day. The bright blue and red are the colors for the Maasai. After they are married they must wear some red to show they are taken. It is easy to spot them across the landscape.




Children walking to school in their uniforms ~



The country side as we drive around ~







Maasai village ~






Another Maasai village~



You see nothing for miles and then there is a Maasai village ~



having some kind of meeting~ love all the colors ~



And right next door are the wildebeests and ~





zebras






with the Maasai walking through the middle with their livestock.



Next, a few giraffe ~ this place is surreal


The Maasai are often at the roadside wanting you to buy something or take their picture for money. They don't want the money for material things just items like water or another cow. The amount of cattle a Maasai has is a status symbol and it is the source of their survival. One Maasai we were told of has 20 wives, over 80 children and 3000 head of cattle. Needless to say he has his own village.






More giraffe ~ we think it is most surreal to see these graceful creatures spotting the country side ~ just driving along ~ "oh look, there is a giraffe!" What??


Well, hello there ~






Mom and the kids ~


and dad ~



Next we stopped at a Maasai village. There are several designated villages that allow tourists to visit. While these are prearranged it is still educational and interesting to see how these intriguing people live.


First the villagers came out to meet us ~



Then they readied for the "welcome dance" ~


men all have sticks and women wear beads around their neck









After watching them, they wanted us to join them ~ (we actually have videos of this but they wouldn't post in the blog.)



me with the women and ~



John with the men ~








Love,those babies ~






The village consists of small cow dung huts, one for each woman and her small children, the men live in a separate building. When the boys and girls reach a certain age (maybe eight or nine) they move to their own smaller hut.



The school house ~



the children sang us a song ~



the teacher ~



Next we entered a hut ~ we sent John in first ~





VERY tight quarters



This is the woman whose hut we visited ~ so now she wanted us to buy some jewelry (John ended up with a bracelet! ha!)





All of this and we haven't even had lunch yet!

Since we have included so many pictures in these blogs, we are having trouble posting them whenever we do have wifi so we are going to stop here and post the afternoon in another entry.