Habari Wa Safari?

How was my safari, you may ask (in Swahili)? It was amazing. I had the driver all to myself, so he went anywhere I told him to and we stayed there until I was sick of it and left. We went to Lake Manyara, where the old John Wayne flick Hatari! was filmed, and then on to Ngorongoro Crater.
Manyara was the part I wasn't that excited about, but for an extra hundred bucks I got a day there and an overnight, so I figured why the heck not? Turns out it was an awesome decision. First off, those of you who know me know how much I love things that smell nice, and the whole jungle smelled of jasmine. The driver insists the white flowers that were in bloom all over were not real jasmine, but if it looks like it and smells like it...I'll just call it jungle jasmine, and it was heavenly. Just as we arrived, there was a family of baboons hanging out, babies and all (so cute). Shortly after we arrived, we ran into a giraffe grazing on a tree right off the road. We were really close, but the animals there are pretty used to crazy people in Land Rovers driving by to stare at them, so he just sat there and munched away, so close I could hear him crunching. We saw a few more over the course of the day, and one of my favorite images of Africa so far, which I was sadly too slow to catch on film, was a group of giraffes in the distance shillouetted against the lake in the background, walking toward better grazing.
We also saw zebras and wildebeest, a lot of birds (including flamingoes from a distance), and a pond full of hippos. The higlight of the day, though, was the elephants. We saw a bunch of them over the course of the day. Some lone males and a few groups of females with calves. The thing about elephants is that you know you're going to see them before you actually spot them - they do not smell like jasmine. They are actually quite smelly. But what they lack in olfactory appeal they make up in general awesomeness. My favorite part of the day by far was the moment when one elephant crossed the road so close to the car that I could almost have reached out and touched it. I have it on video and can't wait to put it up here. That was just about the point where I paused to think "I can't believe this is my life..."
The next day was Ngorongoro Crater. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was way cooler than anything I had in mind. To get there, we drove 2500 meters up the side of a mountain through jungles shrouded in fast-moving mist. Very strange, the mist moved up the mountain, coming out of nowhere, as if it was trying to discourage the discovery of the crater. Suddenly, though, you arrive at a ledge and below you is the crater, all 250 square kilometers of it. Ringed by what remains of the mountain, it spreads out below you in a Jurrasic Park kind of way. Even from hundreds of meters above, you can see the herds moving across the land. It's one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and I know the photos just will not do it justice.
Descending into the crater we passed traditional Masai villages and herdsmen moving their cattle to new pastures. The Masai and the wildlife share the park and live pretty much harmoniously as they have for centuries. With so many Masai being pushed off their land for development, it's good to know there's a place where they can still do their thing.
Once inside the crater, saw huge herds of zebra, gazelle, buffalo, and wildebeest. We also saw a really big bull elephant (from a distance) and an endangered black rhino with a calf (also from a distance, but still a once-in-a-lifetime sighting. We also ran into a pride of lions hanging out and trying to stay out of the sun...by hiding under our parked Land Rover. We had to stick around until they decided to get out again!
I have so many photos to show you guys, and I wish the internet cafe here recognized my camera, but hopefully when I arrive in Egypt tomorrow I'll have access to a good connection to upload some pics.
Lots of love to everyone, wish you were here!