Woken up by the alarm at 7.00am, not the best sleep as I think the beef curry didn’t 100% agree with me last night. Got ready and had a nice breakfast and then we’re off again at 8.30am for our last day. We’re going back to descend into the crater which should be good.
I’ve opted not to sit at the back of the cruiser today!!
We drove back through Karatu which had market day setting up and was busy with so many motorcycles and tuk tuks zipping around carrying passengers. Will have to look it up in google maps street view to show people and remember myself.
90mins to get to the crater and a bit of a wait to get in, stretched our legs and got congratulated for climbing Kili
Lion walking amongst the cruisers using them for shade. I could have reached out and touched it! Then another walked by us and there were four in total!
And then really heart in mouth excitement as we watched a zebra come away from the pack and a female stalk it. Complete silence as we watched and waited, gripping. Then the lion was on the run but what anyone hadn’t noticed is that she was hunting a warthog instead. A brief chase and then pumba was safe.
And the zebra realising its perilous position made its escape too in a very circuitous route back to the herd!! That was good.
Onwards and we went to the lake where there were flocks of flamingos and then a bit further on we saw a mother and baby hippo swimming to rejoin a load of others.
We then made it to the picnic area which was lovely. We did see a rhino from a very long distance. Enjoyed the picnic, we were warned of eagles swooping down for food and stayed in the cruiser but Peter sat outside so I thought “why not!” and that was good. Loads of birds visiting me but none brave enough to swipe my food.
Leaving there we started our way back and then spend 10-15mins working out how to get through a really tricky bit of road that was deeply mud. But he worked it out in the end having watched a couple of young lads get through in different ways.
Carried on for a bit and saw other things including a group of warthogs and larger gazelle and water buffalo. Getting nearer the end we came across another watering hole that clearly is used by the elephants as we counted at least 12 and there was also a rhino in the distance although clearer this time so we were happy.
One last bit of excitement was waiting and watching a Land Cruiser being towed out of mud it had got stuck in! Didn’t take too long and then we were able to pass it on a safer footing.
And that was it. We made our way to the ascent route and by now I was really struggling to stay awake and nodded off for most of the route back to the main gate. A bit disappointed by that because it was the last part of the safari and I slept through it, I can sleep any time!! But I wouldn’t have seen any more than I’d already seen, it’s just the principle, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open for trying.
So we’re on our way home now, stopped in Karatu again and this time I got some money out and we now have about 130km drive back to Arusha and get our bags from the Mount Meru hotel and then get dropped off at the new one for tonight. Hopefully that’ll be okay. But it’s an early leave in the morning.
The safari has been excellent, I mentioned comparison with Kenya and Tash reminded me or the tree tops hotel, the lake and boat trip etc but the quantity of animals here topped Kenya so we’ve had the best of both worlds with our two safaris!! How lucky are we??
Now to get flights to Zanzibar and relax and eat and drink as much as possible before returning to the sad reality of normal life.
Taking ages to get back. T5. Kisongo was a busy place at 6.30pm. 13km to Arusha. Everyone is tired. No sure what we’re doing about dinner!
We arrived back at Mount Meru hotel to collect our bags and had a slight concern when he couldn’t find mine but averted when I got involved, there was a lot all over the place.
Then on to our Njiro Legacy hotel that felt like in the middle of nowhere and a rough part because of the turn into the road it was on and it was all dark and we tooted at the gate and it was behind a gated area and was perfectly fine.
Said our thankyous and goodbyes to Peter, who’s been great.
Chucked our bags into our rooms and straight down the bar area for a few drinks and a pizza each. That took an age to appear and the girls took the opportunity to get cleaned up. We stayed and had a few beers and cleaned our their supply of 660ml beers!! The fridge and electric kept turning off which made it all authentic.
Decided to go to bed and get our bags sorted for the flight tomorrow. Another long but brilliant day.
I have really enjoyed the safaris, now for some proper R&R in Zanzibar
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