There had been a recent rain and once we got off the paved road the roads turned to muddy tracks.  Cars and trucks we stuck all along the road and we almost got stuck a couple of times.  Over the next six days, we covered 1,800 miles of mostly unpaved deeply rutted roads and often had to plow through knee deep muddy water. We loved it.

We arrived at the Lake Manyara area at night and stayed at a lodge just outside of the reserve.  The next morning (2/27/98) we toured  the reserve and saw several herds of wild animals.  We watched a wild elephant, just ten feet away, flapping its ears at us. We watched giraffe's heads bob above the treetops munching on the high branches.

Our stay at Lake Manyara was brief, because even more fantasic adventures awaited us.  About 11am we began driving up the Nogorogoro volcano.  Along the way we went through the beautiful Oldeani valley with lush vegetation.  We lunched at a hotel along the southwest rim overlooking the crater.  What a beautiful sight.  There were a couple of lakes in the bottom and lush vegetation.  It was it own little world surrounded by the high walls of the crater.  We would be back later for further exploration.  But now it was on to the Serengeti.

              
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