24th February 2013
We have now moved to the edge of the Rift valley to a hotel called the Bashay Rift Lodge. Finding the lodge was quite difficult, there are no signs and as expected Safari Drive had not loaded it into the sat nav but fortunately we followed a safari truck on the assumption that he must be going to the same place and he was.
The Lodge is fantastic, a beautiful chalet with a huge bathroom with bath and shower and a second separate toilet, a patio which is sheltered and not overlooked (nude sunbathing) and amazing views from the floor to ceiling windows in both the bathroom and bedroom.
The gardens are full of colour and the swimming pool is good.
We were really looking forward to dinner which turned out to be a let down, starter was all right but the main was tough meat with uninteresting rice and pudding was bland. A real shame.
We were the only English, there were two American girls and a lot of French.
Next morning we had a walk round the grounds, loaded up the car and caught up with emails and I downloaded a couple of new books. Lunch was a bit better than last nights dinner but not brilliant. We then drove the 20 miles to the Ngorongoro crater. The paperwork in the gatehouse was horrendous and it seems we have paid $60 too much – I am a bit concerned about this as it may mean we have not paid for something else.
We are camping on the edge of the crater, about 7000ft up, an amazing spot although very much on the tourist trail. Just after we set up camp there was a trumpeting of elephants and four turned up to stick their trunks in the water tank which serves the camp. We got some nice pictures and then cooked dinner. I might look brave in the photo but I was banking on ducking into the hut if the elephant got too close.
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