Safari Part 2b

August 30, 2009 (Ngorongoro Crater)

Continued...

The three of us are antsy from all the driving and decided to take a walk. There is no path at this lodge, so we jump over some railing and start walking. We find the road the Maasai use to move their cattle in and out of the Crater. It is blocked by a makeshift wooden fence and there is a clear sign stating we should not go on it. The sign, in fact, clearly states that we should not go off the lodge property, at all, ever, which is what we’re doing.

We start to debate the pros and cons of heeding the sign. As we do, I notice a shrike on a nearby acacia. I had just been asking Mike yesterday about shrikes and here one is.

In Idaho, there are shrikes, and their habit is to take their prey, usually large bugs, and impale them on the spikes on barbed wire. This holds the prey in place as the birds eat—strong beaks, not so strong feet. I figure with all the thorn trees, Africa would be perfect for them, and Mike assures me they are here and have the same habits. And here one is, with a huge grasshopper impaled on an acacia thorn right in front of me. Ask and ye shall receive, ya’all.

We start to wander down the road into the Crater, but finally our common sense takes over. Mike has only recently told us that Clemens was gored by an elephant very close to here and was hospitalized for two years. And there might actually be lions and tigers and bears, oh my! So we finally, sadly, and in accordance with our better judgement, turn back.

We enjoy a nice dinner with Mike and then turn in. Mike wants to be out the door by 6.30 to beat the other people into the park, and the animals are most active early and late. No arguments from us—after hippo sex, we’re ready for active.

Photos: Sunset over the Crater. Shrike with grasshopper in the mouth. Shrike with grasshopper on spike in front of him. Young Maasai herder with a day old goat. Maasai warrior in shuka.