The Incredible Sanjan
As the rains return, this parched land of dust and drought is transformed. The rain creates a river called SANJAN, which means lover or sweetheart in the language of the Maasai people. The river starts in the ancient Gol mountains that have stood here long before the Serengeti Plains were formed. The Sanjan flows eastwards towards the Rift Valley escarpment and empties into Lake Natron. Here stands an active volcano, Ol Donyo Lengai and like a supplication to the foot of this “Mountain of God” the river brings a time of rebirth and regrowth. We walk this land into these timeless gorges where the vultures breed, it trully feels biblical, we walk along river courses and out onto the plains to greet the migrating wildebeest.
Maasai warriors with the Sanjan plain beyond
Walking the Sanjan River with Maasai children
Quality time with the Maasai here is as good as it gets and since 1991 when I helped the BBC comic relief team film here, I have had a love affair with this land and its people. But like all love affairs there are good times and bad. This remote place can suffer terribly from drought and this community needs all the help it can get whilst it learns better how to help itself in these times of change and increasing pressures on resources.
The waters of the Sanjan flow to Lake Natron
The sunlit entrance of the Sanjan Gorge and the start of a wonderful day
I pay community fees here to The Malambo Village to help with development issues and last season (2004) the funds generated built the foundations for a new Antenatal clinic, the very first in this area. This year we hope to finish the clinic. I aso help the primary school by organising donations of much needed text books, sports equipment and almost any basic education aid including maps of the world, health education posters etc. I am happy to get such items cleared at customs and organise transport to this remote village.
If you want to experience the Sanjan and camp here I insist on at least 3 nights as part of a longer camping trip either to the Serengeti or the Gol Mountains.
If your spirit needs a real lift come stand on these plains surrounded by this land of volcanoes, Gods and Biblical scenes. Immerse yourself in land so different and inspire yourself. And help a community.
Walking the Gol Mountains into the two Gorges
The Gol Mountains of Northern Tanzania are old. They have stood for hundreds of millions of years and seen the Serengeti ecosystem change and evolve into the incredible wildlife area it is today. On the Eastern side of these weathered mountains lie the gorges, cut by millions of tones of rainwater over countless years. One gorge is narrow and intimate, the other, much larger with dramatic cliffs that pull one in, swallow up one’s life for that day.
A walk into the Ol Karien Gorge
Three hours walk into the Sanjan Gorge
To walk them early in the day is best and as you return you will meet Maasai and their herds coming in to drink the sweet rainwater, and perhaps a Zebra or two!
The Ol Karien Gorge, (the place of red ochre, a soft stone used by the Maasai people to decorate their bodies) is an easy two hour amble each way into an intimate ‘echo land’ of shadow and sunlight. The narrow sections are only a few feet wide and the rains create smooth rocks, wonderful to run one’s hands along. Rocks of every color and texture imaginable lie at your feet.
Olive Baboons, Klipspringers, Black eagles, Egyptian geese, thousands of swifts and vultures, lovebirds, sunbirds, hornbills and doves compete with you for echo and space.
The Sanjan Gorge, (the place of lovers or sweethearts) is much larger and deserves the effort of a three to four hour hike in each direction. Better to take a picnic lunch and spend the day resting at noon in the shadows of 1000 ft rock faces that seem stacked by some ‘giant vulturine god’ into the perfect nesting sites for Griffon Vultures. Thousands of birds nest here in the wet season. This gorge also narrows but only at three hours in! The Sanjan River flows in this gorge and feels its way around enormous house sized boulders of granite and mica that fell thousands of years ago. Its waters have cut their way across a short grass plain and eventually drain into Lake Natron, 25 miles away.
After a demanding walk into either Gorge, the truly magnificent space of the open plains a waits where Giraffe, Zebra, Gazelle and Wildebeest seem to chase the clouds across the distant horizon.
A day spent in one of the gorges ends with a walk on the plains
Evening light on Ol Donyo Lengai
Pictures do say a thousand words, but the experience of walking in the Sanjan and Ol Karien gorges will give you thousands of thoughts and images of your very own.
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