Toyota, Tarangire, Toyota

The owner of Dik Dik allows us to camp on his lawns under huge exotic trees and to use his famed garage to inspect the underside of Konstantine. On the way down from Mt Meru the bellows that help to support the suspension had deflated, we feared that one had been pierced. We were unable to establish the cause so decided to head to Arusha Toyota first thing in the morning. Konstantine had spent 4 days in Toyota Dar for a blown turbo gasket and a broken aircon pipe, both problems had reappeared within a couple of hundred kilometers of leaving Toyota, so this was an ideal opportunity to see if they could sort these out while we repaired the suspension.

The day did not start well, first they managed to break off the shock absorber bolt, we then discovered that the one heavy duty rear coil spring had snapped along time ago and a crack had formed in the chassis. Our luck soon changed, first we managed to find the leak in the bellow system and repair it, we then located a new set of the correct coils and Toyota had a replacement pipe for the aircon. Things were looking up, but only for a while, we had our external mirror nicked while parked in an area recommended by the garage, apparently very common in Tanzania forcing owners to have the registration number engraved onto the mirror. We soon found out that driving without one is impossible, so were relieved to track a replacement down. The price fluctuated from Tsh 100 000 (about R750) for a second hand, I assume previously stolen one to finally Tsh 51 000 for an apparently 'unobtainable' brand new one from Toyota. One could not help getting the impression there was a scam going down.

Our luck continued, Kelli our daughter who manages Leadwood Lodge in the Sabi Sands for And Beyond, arranged accommodation for Lorna & myself at the And Beyond Ngorogoro Crater & Serengeti Lodges for 5 nights at staff rates. Ngorogoro Crater Lodge was awarded third place by Conde' Naste in their world ranking. We cannot wait for this once in a lifetime experience, at US$ 1400 per person per night, this type of luxury is normally only for the rich & famous. Thanks Kel bell.

We overnight at the beautiful crater Lake Duluti, unfortunately the bathrooms and barking dogs spoilt the place for us, but as we always say "when its dark all campsites are great"

The 100 odd km's to Tarangire National Park pass through a vast dry dust bowl and scrubby acacia. Here Maasai herders each with a herd of 50 or more cattle trek towards the few water points. Its amazing to see that their traditions are still intact this far into the 21^st century.

These scenes would make wonderful photos, the mixed coloured herds churning up the dust being led by 1 or 2 Maasai dressed in flowing bright red, purple & black cloth, but unfortunately tourism has spoilt them so they demand money if you take photos. We turn off the main road, the final 7k's to the park is the worst corrugated road I can remember. We stop to check out a private campsite, ever hopeful that we will be able to save the park fee for the night, no luck and Konstantine's repairs to the aircon have not held. So, Uli & Anka head back to Toyota for the third time & we head into the park.

We soon forget the cost of entry, the huge herds of Buffalo, Zebra, Wildebeest (Gnu) & Elephant are worth it. Tarangire apparently has the largest number of Zebra & Wildebeest outside of Serengeti. We add Cokes Hartebeest, Olive Baboon & Grants Gazelle, which look like very long horned Springbok with out the black stripe. Our list of bird lifers rises by another 13.

Toyota pulls out all the stops working late into the night to repair the aircon. Uli also decides to replace the rear shocks as a precaution. We had heard really bad stories about the dirty, overcrowded, non functioning toilets at the National Park public campsites, we found them empty, clean & aside from the cold showers absolutely perfect, cost excepted obviously.

Uli's misfortunes continue, it appears the alternator is overcharging causing the one battery to explode spewing acid all over the engine bay, how Uli remains upbeat I do not know!

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