Today we traveled to Karatu in a different region of Tanzania.  Karatu is outside the Masai lands, and is largely inhabited by other tribes.  They wear bright colors, but different than the red and blue favored by the Masai.  The traditional dress is different.  Open pastures have given way to orderly fields, cultivated in the rich soil of the rift valley.  The farmers live in square brick houses with tin roofs, rather that the round, thatched mud huts that we have become used to.  We see few tall, lean Masai herdsmen. 

We’ve come to Karatu to visit the Ngora Ngora Crater.  The crater is a vast, steep sided bowl formed millions of years ago in a volcanic catastrophe.  The plain at the floor of the crater is home to a staggering array of species.  We counted 18 large mammal species and several more large birds (see below). 

All this serves to remind us that diversity in all things pleases God, and witnesses to his boundless creativity. 

Tomorrow we travel to the Serengeti, along a very long, very unpaved road, so keep us in your prayers.

-Bruce

Mammals species:

            Cape buffalo, zebra, Grant’s gazelle, Thompson’s gazelle, serval cat, wart hog, wildebeest, lion, black rhino, eland, hyena, hippos, elephant, hartebeest, cheetah, waterbuck, and baboons.

The larger birds we saw include the ostrich, Kori Bustard, and  huge flocks or crowned crane.

           

black rhinos, zebra, and wildebeest graze together in the crater.