Day 3

We were woken at 6 am and after quick ablutions we were sitting round the breakfast table. Fruit, toast and eggs and sausage for some! 7.30 saw us setting off on our climb; Alex and Christiana with their Maasai guide and Alan and I with Kitemi who is ours. We also had to have a ranger with us as we could encounter lion and buffalo as we climb. For me it was tough from the outset. I just couldn't settle to a rhythm and had to stop quite often. Eventually, Kitembi carried my camera bag and I managed a lot better, especially as we slowed the pace a bit – Christiana was also relieved! We saw a little Dikdik bounding across ahead of us; and then several eland crossed the track ahead of us. It took us three and a half hours to get up the first peak. The views were fabulous, right down into the Serengeti and Lake Eyosi where the special bushmen, the Wahadzabe, live. Soon we were on our way again, dropping a little way down into the montaigne forest. Here we saw wild pig, buffalo, bushbuck and Eland. We had spotted buffs and eland on the way up, along with a Martial eagle. The path wound round and before long we had reached the second and higher peak - Mt Makarot summit (3130m). Now we could see so much - looking into the depression. Panorama pics were taken so I hope that works. There were two kites flying around below us. Now we had to hurry down as we were behind schedule. Alan managed very well and we stopped a few times before reaching the Maasai Bomas. Here the women had gathered to sell us their traditional beadwork. We already have some at home, but bought a crude carving of an elephant. Christiana chose some bracelets for her sister (12). Off again across the little plateau and into the gorge. At the end were tantalising views of the Serengeti. We, at last, stopped for lunch around 1pm, under some trees just a bit above the path. At the end of lunch, a herd of Maasai cattle came by and I thought we would have to follow them all the way down. They were kicking up lots of dust. Wrong again, as we set off then took a slightly up hill path to the left. The leader told us that it was another 4hrs to meet the cars, which was a huge surprise. We quickly calculated that it would be nearly 6pm before we stopped. They hurried us on as we could see a storm blowing in. The temperature dropped as the wind got up and as we reached the top of the climb and turned the corner to come down, it started to thunder. As we walked we watched a storm sweep across the plain, but well away from us. On this route down we saw Gazelle, Guinea Fowl, Baboon, Zebra as well as Maasai goats. Suddenly we could see dust trails coming across the plain - our vans racing to meet us, but it was only just after 3pm. It dawned on us that 4hrs meant four o'clock! On we plodded and all at once, there were the vans, just below us and it was only 3.35. Everyone was very happy to be down -handshakes and hugs all round, and we piled into the vans for the drive up to Oldavai Lodge. On the way, we spotted Grants and Thompson gazelle, a Kori bustard, a bat eared fox and some ostrich. The female ostrich was sitting on her nest, looking just like a rock or large anthill.She ran off as the van approached - poor thing! But we got to see her nest and the ten eggs she was incubating. Then we raced on and managed the hairy four wheel drive up to our beautiful tented camp. We have showered and shaved and sorted out a bit. Dinner at 7.30 was with Alex and Christiana, a couple from Cheshire and Becky, an American anthropologist. We also had the company of rock hyrax just outside, and some people saw a genet. We had Kilimanjaro beer with dinner, which included some local beef – a rather tough variety, but some good veggies – although too many carrots for Alan’s liking! Another starry night.