MY “OUT OF AFRICA” TRIP – PART TWO
MAGIC IN THE TANZANIAN HIGHLANDS

With a heavy heart, we left the sanctuary of ChemChem heading towards Karatu and the Tanzanian Highlands.  As we wound our way through villages we noticed a monthly Maasai market - a hive of colour and activity as they bartered their goods and enjoyed the monthly get-together.  It then started to get colder as we climbed up over the Great Rift Escarpment, and it was raining when we found ourselves in the Highlands – a lush emerald green farming area dotted with banana trees and towering acacias.   We eventually arrived at Gibbs Farm – a working coffee farm at the foot of the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area.  

I was captivated.   

How does one even begin to describe this place? It was so different to anything I had visited before. If we were to continue on the movie theme – I had definitely left the open plains of 'Out of Africa' and entered the dream-like world of Pandora’s Planet in the movie 'Avatar'.  (I loved that movie)

The first thing I noticed were the enormous trees that seemed to form a canopy over it all and the lush wet jungle-like gardens below with moss dripping off trees and “Lobster Claw” plants in abundance.  I had entered a botanical garden with sweeping views over dark green coffee plantations.

 Well known for its organic fresh “farm to table” cuisine, the centre of it all is its extensive “kitchen garden” which spreads out into the forest. Gibbs boasts acres of coffee, fruit, vegetables and various other gardens including a herb garden and a medicine garden, as well as a working dairy and pig farm.  The earth is fertile and dark reddish brown – you could smell the earth mingling with the many herbs and vegetables growing and the smell of roasting coffee together with the sweet pungence of a rain forest.  

The beautiful kitchen garden 

Birds called, pesty baboons chattered, the Maasai men bantered as they worked the coffee beans and the old women filled the baskets on their backs with vegetables and herbs for the kitchen.  Some young children could be heard playing a soccer match beyond the rhubarb hedge.  I believe the odd elephant has come to test out the various veggies – thankfully they do not make an appearance whilst we were there.

The 1929 farmhouse has hardly changed and has history that gives it a settled ‘soul’. A lodge can try as much as it likes but it cannot have ‘soul’ unless it has the quiet confidence of a rich history - a place settled into time nestled into the coffee plantations for generations.   

Ray hard at work

The atmosphere is relaxed, slow and peaceful and very much in rhythm to the farm.  When we caught our breath after catching up with our dear friend, Rachel, who is the Executive Chef here, it felt easy to settle into the inviting big old leather armchairs in front of the fire-place and surrounded by old rock clad walls (which I’m sure tell a story or two). Adorning the walls throughout the farmhouse are black and white prints of the farm many years gone by, photos of favourite characters that have worked here and been loved (many being grandparents of those working at the farm today) as well as local art of Maasai warriors and African wildlife.  It is not trying to be “African Chic” – it is not trying to be sophisticated at all - but then that’s its appeal. 

The kitchen team with Blev

The food here lived up to every expectation – fresh, full of flavor and absolutely delicious.  Our meals were fun and jovial affairs.  Apart from the happy friendly staff and our noisy banter, we also enjoyed chatting with a big sociable group of American doctors and nurses.  They had come over for a few weeks to assist in the local Karatu clinics providing further basic medical care to the local villagers. Gibbs is also closely associated with a school in the area and guests have the option of buying a desk and can sign it with a message and deliver it personally to the school.  This farm, like ChemChem, is very much part of the community.  As I travel in East Africa, I am getting a recurring theme.  There is a great deal of work being done together with the communities  – something quite special is going on here. 

A Maasai Warrior emerging from the mist

Gibbs Farm is also close to Ngorongoro Crater and we managed to do this as a day trip. Together with Hashim (our very enthusiastic and attentive guide with his Bill Clinton “don’t you worry about a thing” take on life) we headed into the misty dense forested mountains of the crater rim.  We could barely see in front of our vehicle as we edged along the ‘jungle’ roads.  At various points in the ghost-grey mist we noticed brightly clothed Maasai with their cattle and some beehive huts but other than that, I felt an eerie quietness.  I believe this is only because it was “quiet” season – during peak season the park apparently explodes with safari vehicles.  I don’t think hundreds of tourist vehicles jostling about like swarming African Army Ants could be any fun.

Crater View - with our great guide Hashim  

Our forest escapade then opened up to an incredible view of the crater – the world’s largest inactive unbroken caldera.  The steep sides of the crater have made it a natural enclosure for an extensive variety of wildlife.   Game viewing was spectacular – just like visiting London Zoo!  

In my sense of utter amazement, I took at least a thousand photos (my trusty camera battery even died on me).  Never had I seen such a concentration of African animals like this.  

Apart from every ungulate you can imagine, it also includes the rare black rhino and the densest known population of lion.  The flamingoes in the crater lake were a sight to behold.

What I found really interesting was that the crater provides multiple land use, with wildlife happily coexisting with semi-nomadicMaasai pastoralists practicing traditional livestock grazing.  We saw some of the Maasai bringing their cattle down from their homesteads on to the crater floor to graze, which they have done every day for many years.  We watched as they wandered past prides of lion without a care in the world – just like they were heading down Main Street for a spot of shopping.  The VERY true meaning of co-existence!

The following morning we said good-bye to 'Pandora’s Planet'.  The past few days in the Tanzanian Highlands had been fabulously magical and rather mythical actually.  Back to 'Out of Africa' we go, as our next stop is the Serengeti – I am beyond excited to see it at last.  To the local Maasai, it is known as Siringitu - "the place where the land moves on forever." 

See you there in the final stage of my East African adventure.