Lake Natron and Engare Sero - very nearly the cradle of mankind

  From the beautiful Serengeti with its green hues and thousands of wildebeest, we drove into arid country with fantastic erosion, although poor old Marty was feeling a bit ill with strep-throat, the rest of us gawped. Natron was very dry and had receded massively but we crossed over many hot springs feeding into lush grass filled with fat grazing cattle.

The road as we came into Engare Sero

Below is the pic looking down on our campsite which is hidden in the glade of trees to the left of the river.

  When we reached Engare Sero (the town) it was market day and hundreds (literally) Masaai, men and women, in full regalia, swarmed everywhere we looked, including round the car, trying to get us to buy beads and shoes and knives. But all we had our eyes on were 'COLD DRINKS.'

    Drinks in hand we headed out of town to Waterfall Campsite, 'Showers Available!' ...through a grove of massive fig trees through which a clear river ran. Then back into the desert where we forded the main river and drove to the top of a dusty dune to see the perfect volcano Ol Donyo Lengai, still active ... and a six hour climb starting at midnight ... anyone in? NO THANKS!

   The photo below is off the net but shows the volcano erupting as it does frequently ...

   Instead we relaxed in the river and in camp ... we never did go to visit the waterfall that was so fabled .. they wanted 15 usd each to do that!

But here is a sneak peak of what we could have seen had we taken that expensive trip to the waterfall ..

I LOVED Engare Sero and we all would have loved to see Lake Natron closer but really relaxation was the call for the day ... and a trip up 'Airtel Hill,' by Kev, Aimee and Mary (to deal with lost cards) ...