Day 37, 2011/06/07 Arusha to Seronera in the Serengeti

Day 37, 2011/06/07 Arusha to Seronera in the Serengeti

Day 37, 2011/06/07

I am up early. Need to pack tent and find place to leave my bike. Dixon, our safari driver and guide, is there to pick my up from Masai camp at 9.30 am.
Then it is off to pickup David and Heather, and Lizzie. Lizzie is from the UK, she is having a bit of gap year after finishing studying and has been in South Tanzania volunteering for three months as a maths teacher. She is very impressive with the amount os Shwahili she has managed to learn in that time. 
The drive to Seronera is about 300 km so a long day awaits us. The vehicle we are traveling in is a Land Rover Defender 110, so I am feeling right at home with the engine noises, the top heavy handling at speed etc. 
The scenery driving out of Arusha in a westerly direction is very interesting. One is made immediately aware of the dryness. Yes, one would think one is in the Northern Cape province. The bushes, trees and shrubs are very similar to those found in the arid Noether Cape. What is also apparent is the over grazing that is taking place. This, together with what appears to be poor farming techniques has resulted in some very bad soil erosion in places. Not a nice sight to see.
About 2 hours into our trip, we pass the Lake Manyara, and it's national park. A stunning sight. Then we start our ascent to the Ngorongoro crater. What I did not know was that, the rim of the crater sits at an altitude of 2600 m above sea level, that is about double the height of the surrounding planes. 
After doing all the formalities at the gate to the conservation area, it is a short drive to the lookout point, and what a sight. Below one is the entire Ngorongoro crater. It's sizable and magnitude is immediately made aware to us. 
However, this is going to be our last day not our first, so we need to make tracks to the Serengeti, still a further 2 and 1/2 hours from here.
As one then descends to the Serengeti,the terrain becomes even more dry and barren. We come across a number of Masai bomas. Life must be tough in this landscape, and one sees all across the landscape, these cattle highway tracks left behind from the Masai herding their cattle across the planes. Another sign of over grassing and poor farming. 
Anyway, the road really then turns nasty! It becomes this dusty, dry, never been graded road from hell! One begins to wonder, with all the US dollars that pay in terms of park fees, why this road is not at least graded, let alone tarred by now! 
Another sign of corruption at it's best. Anyway, we eventually arrive at the entrance to the park, and then its main gate. After the formalities are done, it is off to Seronera, the main, central campsite, where we arrive just in time to setup tent and enjoy a beautiful sunset.