The Best of Wanderlust (A GeoEx eBook)

The Best of Wanderlust

Stanley Stewar t

WHERE THE WORLD BEGAN: NGORONGORO, TANZANIA

D awn at Entamanu camp, and the world seemed newborn. Mists unfurled from the depths of Ngorongoro Crater. Three giraffes materialized like ghosts from behind acacias. Two golden jackals trotted past, and somewhere a hyena barked as the day, and the world, shed their darkness. From the veranda of the mess tent, nursing a bowl of milky coffee, I watched as a Maasai woman appeared among the long grass, wrapped against the morning chill in her red cloak. She wore the elaborate jewelry of the Ilkisongo clan—long dangling earrings and a white beaded collar gleaming in the early light. On her back, bound in the cloak, was a baby. Only its tiny head showed between her shoulder blades. She approached an ancient fig tree, a few yards from our tents. First, she spat on the trunk, a traditional Maasai greeting or benediction. Then, placing a handful of grass at its base, she began to murmur prayers. Finally she unwrapped a small beaded bracelet, a votive offering, and tied it to a branch. A moment later she was gone as the hornbills started a clattering racket along the crater’s edge. ~~

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