{"id":23515,"date":"2022-09-20T20:00:02","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T00:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=23515"},"modified":"2022-12-21T23:50:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T04:50:55","slug":"double-cross-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=23515","title":{"rendered":"Double Cross Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Lou Burton posting from Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania<\/em>\u2013 It was 4:15 when we left Tloma school, all smiles and warm-glowy feelings. Such a good visit, such a happy buzz of conversation in the 4×4 as we headed down the road, stirring up a trail of red dust. I was calculating in my head: 25 miles to the rim of the Crater, we\u2019d be checked into our Lodge and sitting on our balconies in time to see the sun set, oh yeah! (Sunset 6:30, keep in mind.) “But lo”, my scrappy angel said, “your 4×4 seems to be pulling into the drive of a small building just minutes from the school. And lo! Stopping.” Elephants and zebras and acacia trees captured on canvas, hanging on a line. Sailboats even! \"\"<\/a>\u201cWe\u2019re stopping here,\u201d Ben said, \u201cso you can browse around and find some nice paintings to buy. Some memories of Tanzania.\u201d I looked at the scrappy angel sitting on my shoulder and vowed not to complain. Everyone else hustled out of the 4×4 and began browsing. Ben stayed with me. \u201cLet\u2019s talk about tomorrow,\u201d he said. “We have decisions to make.\u201d \u201cOkay,\u201d I responded, aiming for pleasant, \u201clet\u2019s talk.\u201d Our schedule for tomorrow was \u201dAll Day Game Drive in the Crater with Picnic Lunch.\u201d Since the Crater was one of my main reasons for coming to Africa, I\u2019d resolved since making my February trip deposit to go on THAT Game Drive if no other. Karen Blixen\u2019s House<\/em> and the Ngorongoro Crater<\/em>, my two objectives.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I told Ben of my enthusiasm for the day ahead, a full day in the Crater, with picnic lunch. \u201cWe could do that,\u201d he said. \u201cOr, we could leave at 4:30 and be in the Crater before daylight. We could have BREAKFAST in the Crater and be back at the Lodge for lunch.\u201d My scrappy angel shook a finger at me; warned me to stay cool. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a really busy day today,\u201d I said to Ben, in my most diplomatic tone. \u201cA 4:30 departure in the morning would be a tight timeline. People would be more rested if we stuck to the original plan and departed at 6:30.\u201d Ben nodded pleasantly and agreed. \u201cYou\u2019re right, 4:30 is pushing it. We\u2019ll stick to the plan.\u201d We chatted more; he told about his studies; a Masters Program in Tourism (that school in Arusha I mentioned earlier); he told about his areas of interest; his goals after that.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>The browsers returned (no purchases); our journey continued, dusty road to tarred road; at 5:30 we reached the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Visitor Center. \u201cWe’re going in,\u201d Ben motioned to the other 4×4,\u00a0 \u201cso I can explain the Crater to you.\u201d Inside we gathered around the giant relief map; Ben talked about the geology of the Crater; the Conservation Area today; the Great Migration; the wildebeests. “The wildebeests live in Kenya part of the year,” he said, “but they belong to Tanzania.” (Wildebeests have citizenship?) We fidgeted. My scrappy angel nodded off.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cOh, about tomorrow,\u201d Ben said, concluding his wildebeest claim, \u201cif we leave the hotel at 4:30 in the morning we\u2019ll be down in the Crater before daylight, in position to see the animals as they become active. We can have the hotel pack a box breakfast, and be back at the Lodge in time for lunch. You\u2019ll have a free afternoon. Sound OK?\u201d Like lemmings led to the sea, the gang nodded, \u201cYeah, sounds great.” I stood up. \u201cWait! The original plan was LUNCH in the Crater, leaving at 6:30 in the morning, not 4:30. And that’s what you agreed we’d do.”<\/p>\n

All eyes back to Ben. \u201cWho wants to see the most animals?\u201d he questioned. Eight hands rose. \u201cWho wants to sleep in and see fewer animals?\u201d he asked then, looking at me. Ah, well, my scrappy angel was dialing up KARMA at that very moment.<\/p>\n

Next Post: Notes From The Balcony of Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge https:\/\/www.serenahotels.com\/ngorongoro<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Lou Burton posting from Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania\u2013 It was 4:15 when we left Tloma school, all smiles and warm-glowy feelings. Such a good visit, such a happy buzz of conversation in the 4×4 as we headed down the road, stirring up a trail of red dust. I was calculating in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4318,4319],"tags":[4323,4324,4344,4523],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23515"}],"version-history":[{"count":76,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23947,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23515\/revisions\/23947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}