Summary

The author recounts a memorable African safari experience in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater, highlighting an encounter with baboons and reflections on African tourism.

Abstract

The author, an African visiting Tanzania, shares their first safari experience in the Ngorongoro Crater, emphasizing the unique wildlife and cultural encounters. Despite living in Africa, the author notes the rarity of such trips for Africans living abroad, often due to economic and cultural reasons. The safari's highlight includes spotting the "Big Five" and a humorous altercation with baboons stealing pizza from their jeep. The trip concludes with shopping for souvenirs and close interactions with Maasai people, leaving the author with a profound appreciation for the continent's beauty and a desire to explore more of Africa.

Opinions

The author finds it intriguing that Africans living in Western countries do not go on safaris as frequently as tourists from other continents, attributing this to economic and cultural factors.
The author challenges the mystical expectations of the "Big Five" explanation, expressing slight disappointment with the practical rather than mystical significance of seeing these animals.
The author expresses a sense of humor and resilience in the face of the baboon incident, laughing off the unexpected wildlife interaction.
The author shows a deep love for travel and sharing experiences, despite the limitations of their basic camera at the time.
The author is inspired by other travelers' stories and photographs, expressing a wish to return with better equipment to capture the beauty of Africa.

TRAVELING

An Altercation with Baboons in the Ngorongoro Crater

My trip to one of Africa’s beloved safaris in Tanzania

Entrance — Ngorongoro Conservation Area — Arusha, Tanzania, photo by author

Even though I am African, the first time I went on an African Safari was in 2019, while visiting my best friend whom I hadn’t seen in 27 years. She lived in Arusha, Tanzania where she had been working for a few years.

I find it intriguing that even Africans who live in Western countries don’t go on African safaris as much as tourists from other continents. There may be various reasons for that, and some are economic and others simply cultural.

For most Africans who live on other continents, when they go to Africa, it’s to visit their families and not as tourists. That presents its challenges because many have to provide not only for themselves but also for their extended families that they are visiting. This doesn’t leave much budget for tourism in their continent.

Another aspect is that culturally, it makes more sense to enjoy family togetherness because of the collectivistic culture.

So, when I visited my friend, I wanted to challenge myself and go on a safari on my continent. While in Arusha, we visited the Ngorongoro Crater — a three-hour drive from where my friend lived.

I didn’t know about the Ngorongoro Crater before I went to Tanzania. I knew Serengeti was one of the famous parks, but I had never heard about Ngorongoro Crater until I Googled the city of Arusha to see what things I could do while there.

The Ngorongoro Crater is shaped like a bowl, and as you descend to the floor of the crater, it’s like descending from the top to the bottom of the bowl.

We rented a Jeep and the driver/ our tour guide who was very experienced in eco-tourism took us past Maasai farms and villages, where we saw some Maasai people tending to their cattle far in the fields. He told us a story of a Maasai man who lived on a nearby farm and had 100 wives.

I was like, Wow!

View from the top

The view from the top of the crater is spectacular, and you can spot some of the wildlife before making a descent to the crater floor.

The first spotted wildlife

Before descending to the crater, as we approached the park, I saw a giraffe with a neck that stretched for miles. It was as if it were posing for us to take pictures and knew how badly we wanted to show off on our Instagram feeds or something.

Driving around the park

As we drove in the park, I kept hearing our driver say that we needed to find the Big Five, and I was like: what is the Big Five?

So, he explained that there is a myth that you are considered lucky if you see a lion, a leopard, a buffalo, an elephant, and a rhino — thus the Big Five on the same day.

“Why do people think you’re lucky if you see all five types of animals?”

I asked our driver.

He said: “Because those are the biggest and most difficult to hunt.”

I was like, Wow!

I was a little disappointed because I was expecting a more mystical explanation. But hey, we saw all five — it was a good day!

The rhino was the most challenging to see, as it stayed far away from the tourist path. I had to use the binoculars to see its head. But the lions were easy to spot because we found a male and a female taking a nap in the afternoon by a water stream — not far from the tourist path.

Some of the park’s inhabitants — All photos by author

We ran into some monkey business

One of my memorable events on that day was when we were returning from the crater, we stopped at the gate toward the exit to use the bathrooms. As we were about to leave, I saw not one, not two, but three young baboons enter through a window of the jeep that my friend’s youngest daughter had left open.

Before I could close it, the baboons grabbed the leftover pizza that we had for lunch, which prompted a high-pitched scream from my friend’s kids, and I grabbed my jacket and covered my head. Don’t ask me why. It was the only thing I could think of doing at that moment.

Our driver tried to chase them away as now my friend and I joined her daughters in the screaming.

The baboons took the pizza and ran out of the window just as quickly as they had entered. There was a sign asking tourists not to feed the baboons, but since we weren’t feeding them, we thought we were okay to stop there. But the baboons took their feeding into their own hands. We laughed so hard at the whole scene, and we were grateful no one was hurt in this monkey business.

Before I left Arusha, my friend took me shopping for souvenirs on Ngorongoro Street, and it was the first time I saw the Maasai people up close and personal.

I love traveling and sharing my travel stories. Unfortunately, during this visit, my cell phone camera was very basic and didn’t do justice to what I saw but my memory of the trip has remained.

For some amazing pictures of African Safari’s wildlife, read Anne Bonfert’s The Ultimate Safari Destination in Africa. Her photos will take you right there in the action. I wish I had such a camera. Oh well, maybe when I visit again, I will have a better one.

Or read Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages’s Listening To Mother Nature Through the Trees of Life on her journey of crossing the continent of Africa by train. When I read this, I was like: Can you do that?

There is so much I need to learn about my continent.

Until next time, please enjoy these other travel stories I have shared here on Medium. For the love of travel — welcome to the journey!