In this episode, I recap my incredible journey to Ngorongoro Crater, on the edge of the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. I could not afford to pay for a safari as none went just to the crater but added at least two days in the Serengeti and charged hundreds of dollars. So I decided to catch buses and hitchhike. I must admit I did not put much thought into the planning, just the direction. I spent two days first in Arusha, where I went into the hills to see the Tanzanian Maasai. The reception was a bit frosty so I retreated and continued on my way. 

I had to change buses at Karatu. I remember being told the bus had already been for the day and I had to find a hotel until tomorrow. I did not feel safe, so I stayed at the bus stop and the bus showed 30 minutes later. The bus trip was a memorable experience from the initial experience climbing over all the seats of a packed bus to my bought seat for the price of a beer, and finding the window covered in dried blood and the two Maasai sitting next to me staring with clubs in their hands, to a wonderful feeling of comradeship while they sang songs around me. When the bus broke down at the park gate, I had another stroke of luck and was offered a seat with a private safari company. I spent a day and two nights with them exploring the crater and camping on the rim, then they left me on the side of the road when they headed off to the Serengeti. 

After waiting for awhile with about ten other people, a matatu showed up. There was a mad scramble and the matatu was full and I was left alone on the side of the road. I started to get a bit concerned as here I was standing in a national park with no fences and there were lions, elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, and lots more. I had no protection, no weapon and was completely vulnerable. I was pondering what to do for quite awhile, including whether I should climb a tree, when a tip truck turned up and offered me a ride. I gratefully scrambled into the back and was whisked out of the park and out of danger to where I could catch the buses back to Nairobi.

The lessons here are that I would not have had any of these experiences if I had meticulously planned my trip to the last detail, or if I had allowed a limiting beliefs that I could not afford the trip to stop me going to this amazing place. I had the will to see the area and to just do it, and things just seemed to come together and worked for me. Sometimes just going with the flow with no plans is so rewarding. Certainly there were huge risks with what I did. There are risks with everything in life. But I still listened to my intuition, including staying at the bus stop when I was told I had missed the bus and accepting the seats I were offered in the bus and the land rover without hesitation as they felt right. 

It is good to plan, whether you are travelling or just on life's journey, but always leave that wriggle room so you can grab opportunities that show up and just go with the flow. I live by that and it has never seen me wrong.    

Photo: Wildebeest on the crater floor, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Source: Justine Murray using a Pentax z-10 and a Sigma 75 - 200 mm lens.