Got up at a respectable time today and headed for Hot Springs with John. Along the route we saw baboons and various birdlife. We also saw a warthog marching purposefully with its tale sticking upright (as only a warthog does), and John told us a wonderful Masai tale about warthogs. Legend has it that when God created Earth he was giving out skin to all the animals; the elephants turned up early as did the lions, cheetahs, giraffes, etc. The warthog, however, overslept and was late getting there. God told the warthog that the only skin he had left was all the off-cuts from the other animals but the warthog was nevertheless insistent upon having skin, and so God set to work. There wasn't really enough skin to go round but God did the best he could and the warthog ended up with a tight covering all around his body. Today, though, you'll notice that when a warthog runs, it closes its eyes and, because the skin is so tight, this causes its tail to stand on end!

Once at Hot Springs, we felt the water temperature which was almost too hot to touch. These are natural springs heated by the volcanic rock below. It was here that we took a short stroll in the direction of the lake and saw flamingos from a much closer vantage point. Nearby there was a Tanzanian school trip and all the school children kept saying 'hi' (or 'jambo') to us, and the accompanying teacher made a point of saying '"welcome to Tanzania" to us. They were all exceptionally friendly and cheerful. Nearby we also saw the site of the old CC Africa Maji Moto (which means 'hot water' in Swahili) camp which was flooded by the last El Nino event. This flood was all too clear to see owing to the numerous dead trees that portrayed a quite dramatic landscape.

We returned to the Lodge, had lunch (Lake Victoria perch) and had an afternoon kip. At 6.00pm we went out with John to another location near the lake shore, this time with a Masai warrior on board. We had a short stroll and then saw the Masai (who we had been told was just with us so he could collect some herbs for his medicines) perform a small demonstration; armed with some Harrisonia wood and a clump of elephant dung, within a few moments, he had created fire - it was fascinating to see.

Once back at our accommodation, we found a bath had been run, small candles were lit all around and a bottle of Champagne was waiting - what an incredible surprise... and it didn't stop there: at dinner, there was a table set aside for us once again, beside the Lodge's swimming pool. After being truly spoilt, we went to bed ready for tomorrow's trip to the Ngorongoro Crater - a World Heritage site.