Ngorongoro, a Paradise for Animals - From a Train Window in Africa: A Tour of the World by Takahiro Ueda, a Buddhist Priest - Tanzania Part 4
March 27, 8:30 a.m. Depart from hotel in Arusha.
I will be driving a safari-spec Toyota Land Cruiser.
The car is high and has good visibility through the windows.
It takes about 3 hours to drive from Arusha to Ngorongoro, 180 km to the west.
Proceed through the streets of Arusha.
There are only African people around.
Along the road, miscellaneous stalls are lined up under large parasols, and bicycles and motorcycles pass right by cars.
Cars are more difficult to navigate in the narrow alleys of this narrow and cluttered city.
But I don't have the courage or energy to walk outside.
This was the first country I had ever been to. I was completely frightened.
This is not Japan. I felt that the people living here are living in a different world from me, who lives in Japan.
The African road just keeps going westward.
Leaving Arusha, the lush green landscape gives way again to the reddish-brown land that is uniquely African.
On both sides of the road, there are many giant aloe-like plants and olive trees. They are of a size that is rarely seen in Japan.
I sense strength and sharpness in African plants. However, the straight leaves and stiff-looking stems do not seem fresh. They look somewhat dry.
When I see plants like this, I feel how Japan is a land of abundant water.
Japanese plants do not fit this image of crispy, yet strong and sharp plants.
There is something soft, supple, and graceful about them.
I have such an image of Japanese plants.
African plants are very tough, aren't they? They are strong or sharp.
It's still in the dry season, but when the rainy season comes, it will be full of greenery. I love the view.
The guide's words make me gasp.
Even in Africa, this weather will not last forever.
But that's OK, because I got a good look at the plants of the season this time.
When we reached the point where we were only an hour away from Ngorongoro, the road split in two.
One of them is the road to Ngorongoro, which was paved 12 years ago with Japanese assistance. It is surprising to learn that Mr. Muneo Suzuki was at the center of this project.
After an hour of driving on this road, we finally arrived at the entrance to Ngorongoro, today's destination.
Incidentally, this entrance gate was also made with Japanese assistance. The diorama of the Ngorongoro area in the exhibition room inside was also made with Japanese assistance.
I had only heard of Japan's aid to developing countries.
But when you actually see it there, you realize that Japan is involved with other countries.
Now, it's time to go to Ngorongoro.
Ngorongoro is a caldera formed by volcanic eruptions.
The outer rim of the volcano completely surrounds the crater created by the volcanic eruption.
To use an analogy, the terrain is bowl-shaped.
The bowl's edge is about 2,400 meters above sea level and the bottom of the bowl is about 1,800 meters above sea level; there is a 600-meter difference in elevation, and the bowl's edge is quite steep. You could say it is a cliff.
And the bowl's edge part extends 16 km from north to south and 19 km from east to west, and the area of the bowl's bottom part is 310 square kilometers.
In other words, it is a bowl of extraordinary size. I wonder how many Tokyo Dome it is.
And because the steep bowl abyss, which is equivalent to a cliff, separates the outside world from the inside of the bowl, the inside of the crater forms a world independent of the outside world. That is why this Ngorongoro is called an animal paradise.
The view of the crater from the outer rim is nothing short of spectacular.
The green gradation spreading out from the foreground and the lake can be seen to the left. The view of the outer rim of the mountain and the sky in the far distance also gives a sense of the depth of the caldera.
A large number of wild animals live on the vast plains surrounded by these outer rim mountains.
be unbroken
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