NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA . . . News!
The last full moon
of the year has highlighted the dramatic changes ushered in by the first heavy
rains of the season.
The term "pre-Christmas rush"
takes on a new meaning altogether in The Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Washing off months of accumulated dust,
the early showers refresh and revive
the remaining vegetation. Within days green shoots
from the grass roots up to the
acacia canopies, wash the plains
with colour.
A carol in the dictionary is depicted
as "a song of joy or praise".
This seems the perfect description for the ringing chorus
of various frogs in the marshes
and swamps, the background music for the call of larger birds and animals
as they too seek to prepare the way for future generations.
The wildebeests and zebra calculate
the result of the falls with remarkable exactness and appear in areas when
the grass is just the right height for them to graze.
Very few days of rains will bring
the forerunners of the migration
back to the short grass plains. Within days, sometimes merely hours of these
life-producing showers, the roar
of "the rush" blends
with the furious activity of birds as they also rush to breed while the rains
produce all they need in habitat and food.
Chameleons hatch by the dozen as the moisture
soaks the earth. These fingernail sized replicas
of adults', break the softened surface to scurry up the bushes and begin life
as insect hunters.
The extraordinary insectivore,
the Bat Eared Fox, bring forth
their cubs from dens as insects
suddenly become so numerous. Yet another example of perfect timing in nature.
The lake
on The Crater floor swallows the
white soda encrusted ring demarcating its edge and flamingos
arrive overnight, most often with the full moon
as algae bursts into life.
The first week of the
New Year of 2003 will be remembered in The Conservation Area
as one of tourists and residents mingling in the various lodges and exchanging
tales of safari adventures.The
rains already have been quite considerable with the Ndutu short grass plains
area having received the heaviest December fall
since 1981, good news indeed for the annual migration of wildebeests
and zebra which is already gathering from the foothills of the highlands to
the northern reaches of the NCA.
Guests have been treated to unparalleled views
of the plains literally covered with animals from one horizon to the other.European
Storks have arrived once again in numbers to feast upon the
myriad of life that has hatched with the downpours.
Backlit in the bright, hot sunshine
that follows these falls are the clouds of insects
of uncountable kinds beginning life anew in the changing habitats of this
southern stretch of The Serengeti eco-system.
Terrapins have emerged from dried
pools as they fill and yet another phase is underway. Ever
changing and always fascinating for residents, visitors and of course scientists.
There is much information to be found on Ngorongoro,
many films and photographs have been published but the only
way really, to experience fully this extremely "special"
part of the world, is to simply come.
Make 2003 the year to visit, your life will be enriched and dreams fulfilled.
January 2003
