Tanzania

Wild Camp, side road T5

Monday, March 25 I left Arusha and Masai Camp to go full south by the road T5 from Arusha to Dodoma, capital of Tanzania, to visit Kondoa Rock-Art sites listed on UNESCO, here. The roadway is splendid but alas the obstacles, speed calming, to slow down speed make it tiresome. I stopped at approximately 5 km away from my target to have rest on an old longitudinal track of T5 away from the main road and safe. Altitude is of 1748 m guaranteeing one fresh and peaceful night .

Wild Camp, Kondoa Rock-Art Sites

Tuesday morning as of 8:30 I was at the Office of Kondoa Rock Paintings in Kolo along the road from Arusha to Dodoma to organize my day of visit of three of the sites of murals dating back to approximately 7000 years. Well, a guide is not obligatory it proved that he was essential, because there is no signpost as well for the track of access in the vehicle as for the track of excursion to go to the caves where they were carried out. If I can publish the traces of the tracks of access with my 4x4 vehicle, it is not the same traces of the three excursions between 1500 and 1700 meters of altitude because I had forgotten to take my GPS eTrek. On the way my guide did make a whole speech to dissuade me to go to Thawi asserting the rocky track; but it was in our tariff negotiation. As it shows the GPS trace, the way from Kolo to Thawi the track that he made me take was longer than the track of the return to the main roads. I had been misled; I passed it the remark to him who he answered by incomprehensible quibbles. The visit from beginning to end lasted 8:00 including four hours of painful walking by 30°C. When I paid him I omitted to give him a tip, he turned me the back without to greet me. At the back I returned to my bivouac of the day before, harassed but very satisfied with my visits I was to sleep very early to have rest. Once more I noticed in my tour around the world that the first hominids of all the areas of the globe carried out murals according to similar techniques. Moreover I cannot not recall that the first human appeared in this part of the world, the Rift valley in the East Africa, then they have immigrant in particular northwards, their aspect having adapted to changing climatic the skin becoming white, the blue eyes and fair hair amongst other things! Do not displease any to the racists, to xenophobes, and to other ideologists of any obedience propagating of fake news. While discussing with the guide, I learned that he is Moslem with two women and eight children, potential candidates to immigration, it is in genes! Yes but, immigration in Europe is required very prosaically to finance the pensions of retirees up sharply from 2030 due to low fertility women with 2.1 children do not allow renewal generational.

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My guide

Tarangire NP

Wednesday, March 27 I arrived at Tarangire National Park, here, around 9:30 to carry out the formalities of entry. This park all in length is famous to be the paradise of the elephants. Indeed along the river and on the shade under the trees they are legion. In search of “Big Five” I did not meet them. Around 16:30 I established my bivouac at the entrance of park into Zion Campsite by a temperature of +38°C inside the cell of my motor home.

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Arusha, Masai Camp

I left Zion Campsite as of 6:00 to be very early in Arusha to do supply in food and in diesel fuel by avoiding the congestions at rush hours. I returned to Masai Camp where I had my habits knowing that there was no tourist.

Arusha, Clock Tower

Ngorongoro Crater, Simba A Campsite

Friday, March 29 I crossed the gate of Masai Camp as of 6:00 to arrive in the morning at the entrance of Ngorongoro Crater, here. There still being alone the formalities of entry were promptly carried out by presenting the documents of Tarangire NP. The track which uses the edge of wall caldera is often of good quality with sometimes parts out of corrugated. The descent in the crater is carried out by Seneto descent road. To describe Ngorongoro Crater I will use the image of a basin whose bottom is at 1750 meters high and the edges on average at 2350 meters of altitude. Of course the basin is not exactly cylindrical; nature is not a geometrician. The surface of the bottom of caldera is estimated at 264 square kilometers. There are only three ways to reach the bottom, two in descent and one in rise. Thus the bottom of the crater is an immense enclosure of pasture where the wild animals evolve of which the predatory ones. The presence of water, lakes, rivers and marshes ensure pasture and beverage of the herbivorous animals usefully which can be devoured by the carnivores. I spent 6 long hours to explore it by being lucky to see a lion and 6 lionesses fed after having feasted and, wallowed close to the track sometimes the legs in the air! As the gallery shows it below I saw many other animals and birds. I established my bivouac in Simba A campsite where I have the visit of a French couple as alone with a tour operator. The night was peaceful at 2320 meters of altitude with despite everything a storm around 2:00 am in the night.

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Serengeti National Park

On Saturday morning as of early dawn I left for Serengeti National Park, here, where I very often arrived at the end of the morning after having traversed the corrugated track making the progression tiresome and painful. After having selected a camp-site to be alone during two nights, Tumbili at 1525 meters of altitude, I decided to have rest by completing the page layout of my visit in Ngorongoro Crater and by preparing the trip of the following day. A violent storm burst around 16:00.

Sunday, March 31 I traversed the vast Serengeti National Park during more 10:00 at low speed on often muddy tracks to track the wild animals. The herbivores are in great numbers to be fed in these rich pastures. On the other hand the predatory ones are difficult to unearth sometimes on the shade under the trees as the couple nonchalantly to sleep tenderly before coupling itself. Although announced the rain did not appear. I returned to the bivouac to put to me at work at the page layout of my website.

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