Safari Update #7

We left the Serengeti today, and made our way to the Ngorongoro highlands. Along the way we stopped at Lake Masek to photograph sparring giraffes, as well as a larger family group that was walking along the water’s edge. After a half an hour, we continued on our journey to the Ngorongoro Crater, which took much of the morning and into the early afternoon.

We stopped at the Oldupai Gorge (not the incorrect spelling of Olduvai), for fuel at the top of the crater rim, as well as for a picnic lunch. We ate underneath one of the largest fig trees I have ever seen, which provided more shade than I had ever seen from one. Truly marvelous. My guests commented on how green the crater is, as well as how much they liked the cool weather. It was probably 65F this afternoon, and I watched the crater floor as the passing clouds created shadows that looked like the spots of a dairy cow.

We arrived at camp around 2pm, and we took a nice rest until the light was good enough to go photograph some local Maasai near our camp. At 4:30 we loaded up and made our way to a boma nearby. Saitoti met us outside, asked us to come in and mingle around for a while. I helped Troy shoot some portraits, as he needed help with the strobe light setup. We used Pocket Wizards with his 580EX flash, with the flash set to manual. We mostly shot at 1/4 power, with the flash around 3 to 4 feet away from our subjects. He had a great time, and I was glad to help. The local ladies really like the Polaroid shots we gave away, and I should bring a small printer with me next time. I think Canon makes a Selphy model, which is battery powered.

I was happy to see that everybody was having a good time, and we went back to camp after 90 minutes of laughing, dancing and chit chatting.

The sunset was beautiful tonight, and I can tell that it will be cbilly tonight. No clouds equals chilly morning temperatures, for sure. The dinner tonight was local fare, with nyama choma (grilled meat), sukuma weike (spinach), maharage (beans), rice and chaati bread. My favorite Tanzanian meal at the end of a long and fruitful day.