Tanzania – Ngorongoro 坦桑尼亚- 恩戈罗恩格罗 11/2018 Stop 8 站

15-18/11/2018. We spent a night at a campsite near the Ngorongoro Crater, a conservation area. Our four-legged jungle neighbors could come uninvited anytime—they have free roaming rights. The individual tents were pitched in the middle of the site, while the toilets and bathrooms were away in another shed, tucked next to the bush. The salivating hyenas continued to make creepy noises around us. Some guys shone their torch lights into the bush and captured a few pairs of glowing eyes staring back at us. I went a second night without a shower—I just don’t like the thought of hyenas catching me stark naked.

We descended into the crater in the morning. It comprised a separate ecosystem, a super bowl of wildebeests, ostriches, gazelles, zebras, jackals, rhinos, and flamingos, all having their greens—except the bad-boys lions. A few hippos soaked in the bath, barely 10 meters from our prying eyes. A few lions daydreamed in the sun. From here, the driver drove us to a toilet barely 500 meters away. We casually strolled to do our business. Next to it, a sign read “Picnic.” Wait, didn’t we just drive past the lions? The driver said nonchalantly, “This is Africa, hakuna matata. If the lions decide to come a-calling, we just quickly hop onto the jeep. Besides, lions have many other types of meat to choose from; humans are not their favored cut.” What he meant was the lions enjoy an elaborate daily menu, and humans are not the best dish on offer—don’t flatter yourself. To be honest, I can understand their taste. Think about it; we ingest so many artificial flavorings, antibiotics, drugs, alcohol, sugar, fats, etc., that we must really taste disgusting.

We drove back to Arusha to be with our fellow humans again. This was an experience of a lifetime. It’s not just about seeing the animals but experiencing their world.

15-18/11/2018 在火山口附近营地帐篷过了一晚。林中的邻居可不敲门随时上门探访。十多个帐篷都集中驻扎在草地中央，而厕所浴室则是在靠着密林。鬣狗整晚就是像无赖般叫，我连续两晚没洗澡，不想万一赤裸裸跟一群猛兽共浴。一早往火山口猎游。这真是一个自己的世界，一个隔绝的野兽天地，自己的生态环境。 角马，瞪羚，河马，豺，斑马， 鸵鸟， 低头专心吃草， 除了那些吃荤的狮子。几只身躯庞大的河马在湖中裸泳，而我们就在离他们十多米处欣赏。两只狮子无精打采在草上坐着。从这里司机把车驶到大约五百米处开放的厕所让我们方便，厕所旁有个木牌写着 “野餐地点”，我就问导游这是什么概念。 他说这就是非洲，不用大惊喜小怪，如狮子过来打招呼， 我们可以快快爬上车。不过他安慰道，狮子有其他美食，人肉不是他们最爱。意思就是说狮子每天菜单丰富，人肉也不怎样。我们自以为我们色香味都齐，但口感可能不好，且不健康 – 过多添加剂，化妆色素，毒品，酒精，抗生素，糖分高，脂肪多等。

傍晚回到阿鲁沙， 人类的世界，不易适应， 野兽真面目一目了然， 人则真假难辨。这游重点不在看动物，而是人兽共享的自然环境。很喜欢这世界，世界的另一个世界。