Honey Badger Camp, Tanzania to Kudu Camp, Tanzania.

Our first stop of the day was the “Cultural Heritage Centre”  (http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g297913-d2305304-Reviews-Cultural_Heritage_Centre-Arusha.html) in Arusha. It turned out to be a huge craft emporium with hardwood carvings, masks, jewelry, and textiles. They had items to suite all budgets – from watching your pennies to blowing the bank. The selection was mind boggling, and the quality very good. We managed to blow a few bucks ourselves.

Lake Manyara, Tanzania

Our next destination was the Meserani Snake Park Camp (http://www.meseranisnakepark.com/), a legendary overlander stop-over. The place has been in operation for decades, since overlanding was in its pioneer days. The place is covered in memorabilia from overlanding groups going back 20 years.

Old overlanding photos.

Snake Park Camp memorabilia.

More overlanding memorabilia.

The proprietors, Ma and BJ, are snake and reptile enthusiasts. They feature a small exhibition of crocodiles and snakes – hence the name Snake Park Camp. They donate part of the camp proceeds to the local Maasai for a museum and school. They also the help fund the Meserani Snake Park Clinic. The clinic is the regional authority on the identification and treatment of venomous snake bites.

We also took a “five minute” walk (must have have been on African time because it was really 20 minutes on dusty tracks under the broiling sun… Thanks, Brett) to a Maasai village. We were invited into an enkaj, a small round hut constructed of with framework of sticks that has been plastered with mixture of mud, sticks, grasses, ash, cattle dung, and human urine that serves as a Maasai dwelling. We were able to see a bit of their traditional lifestyle.

5 minute “Brett-walk” to Maasai village.

Eron and new friends.

Maasai boy.

Pounding Casava root.

Rushing to join in.

In the afternoon, we made our way to Kudu Camp (http://www.kuducamp.com/) near the Ngorongoro Crater Conservancy Area. The available rooms were nice, and the en-suite showers very tempting, but at $75 USD a night, we opted to stick with our tent.

Dramatic skies.

Ebron grilling steaks.

Will and Roger fully embraced their new-found tradition of an after dinner cigar before retiring to the tents.