With 2 days to go before the luxury of Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, we head off the tourist route in search of Flamingo’s and Africa’s only active volcano, Ol Doinyo L’Engai. The road traces the eastern boundary of the Ngorongoro/Serengeti parks, the sky is hazy & dust fills the morning air.

Euphorbia form forests on the hot western hill faces and a lush green band of trees runs along the junction between the vertical crater walls and the harsh dry valley. We start our descent from the escarpment into this stronghold of the Maasai. These tall, statuesque pastoralists drive their vast herds of cattle, goats & donkeys in search of grazing & water, behind the animals the wind whips up plumes of dust, which rises like smoke. Both the woman and men cut holes into their ears, creating long dangling lobes, into which they insert white and brass ear rings. The tribe seems to prefer white jewelry which stands out against their dark blue, purple and red blankets. Unfortunately trying to photograph them elicits demands of a hefty payment and we are not interested in contrived shots so we will have to be content with the memory of these tall, long legged people striding across the dry plains.
Conical relics of volcano’s dot the landscape, the sun rises high in the bleak sky as the temperature, often well above 40 degrees C, soars.

Finally, L’Engai’s classic shape rises up, white ash covers the upper levels, one cannot help comparing it to Kilimanjaro’s icy cap. We continue, crossing black volcanic larva flows and fields of ash, which has spewed out over this valley continuously since 1883. Its most impressive eruption was in 1966, when ash fall was reported more than 100km away. It is easy to see why the Maasai revere Ol Doinyo L’Engai and call it ‘The Mountain of God’
We make our final descent into the rift valley, away in the distance we catch the first glint of Lake Natron.
When the sun starts to cool, we head out to the Lakes edge in search of Flamingo’s, however Uli decides to give us some impromptu, and we soon found out, much needed mud recovery practice. The black mud holds Konstantine in a vice like grip, necessitating plenty of digging, jacking & then stuffing course grass under the wheels before we are finally free. We were given this tip by an “experienced Maasai women’ whose only English word was hello, yet she managed to communicate with us easily.At dawn the following day we return, the warm glow of the sun reflecting golden off the water.

We gaze out at thousands of Lesser Flamingo, using their upturned beaks to filter the water in search of algae which flourishes in the alkaline water which drains off L’Engai. A saline content of up to 8% creates an ideal habitat for between 1.5 & 2 million birds. The ever present wind dries a thin layer of mud, which cracks like All Bran flakes beneath our feet as we head back to our cars. We decide to follow a fast flowing river into the Ngare Sero gorge.

It seems impossible that so much water flows from such a dry land. Our sure footed guide, a local Maasai, leads us along the steep path which crosses the river regularly. The route rises as quickly as the temperature and the wind roars in the canyon that has been cut over the eons by the water. We pass by a first set of water falls, but continue up to what appears to be a palm fringed oasis high on the mountain.

From here we wade through waist deep water and enter an overhanging rock cave. Water cascades all around us, we take a cooling shower in this breathtaking oasis before heading back……..a truly awe inspiring place.

A Maasai goat condom!