Greg felt very fit the next morning and took full advantage of the excellent breakfast buffet, but Barney was not doing quite so well, having succumbed to the same stomach difficulties that had troubled Greg in Crater Camp.  The Coffee Lodge staff were busy preparing for a lunchtime visit by the President or Prime Minister of Tanzania.  James arrived and we set off for the 1 1/2 hour drive through farm and grazing land to Lake Manyara.  This National Park situated around a soda lake contains a number of habitats, from lush forest, through more open forest, lakeside grassland and wetlands.

We saw a lot of the same animals we had seen already at Sinya, and several new ones, including buffalo, hippos - a large group by the lake and a smaller group wallowing in mud - and hyrax, a little critter that may be the closest existing relative of the elephant.

In this park and again at Ngorongoro, we were in a Land Cruiser with closed sides but an openable roof, with ample room for two standing to view the animals.  Several times we encountered another party guided by a friend of James' (also called James); much jolly banter ensued.  We stopped for a picnic lunch, toured around some more, then set off for the lodge.

A little less than an hour's drive took us to the Ngorongoro Farm House, a very comfortable lodge with cottages with views across open country to the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater.  Dinner at the lodge - the time passed pleasantly, then we retired to our cottage and a wood fire, turning in at the unaccustomed late hour of 9:30pm!

We spent 5 hours in the crater.  There was a lot to see, but there were also a lot of other people seeing it.  When there was something particularly interesting to look at - such as the pair of cheetahs by the roadside - there was usually quite a crowd around enjoying the sight with us.

We almost saw a lion kill.  There was a group of lionesses in tall grass, and one of them got interested in a lone wildebeeste that was wandering away from a nearby herd.  She moved towards it, slow and low, and a second lioness starting working the blind side, away from us and the road.  It looked for a moment as if they would move in, but another vehicle showed up and frightened the prey away.

Lunch was a picnic in a secluded spot near a large hippo pool.  The afternoon passed pleasantly - we searched unsuccessfully for a rhino, then set off out of the crater.  The drive back was very scenic - great views of Ngorongoro as we left the crater and set off for the lodge.

We had a short swim, briefly joined a walking tour of the grounds, had a Pimms on the terrace, then went for our own walk around the property.  We idled a while in the shop and bought a few things, then washed up for dinner.  All very pleasant and comfortable, but in a strange way, we already missed our mess tent, the food for which we had little appetite, and the sleeping bags awaiting us in our little homes on the side of the mountain.

The next morning, we enjoyed bright sunshine and a spectacular sky on the drive to Arusha, with views of Mount Meru (16,000 feet).  We stopped off again at the Cultural Center for more souvenirs and went to a pharmacy to replenish our supply of Cipro.  Thence to Willy's, a lodge surrounded by beautiful walled gardens, where we were due to spend the afternoon resting before our evening flight to Amsterdam.