Ngorongoro Crater

Leaving the Serengeti our hearts are filled with wonder.

Wonder = the accessibility to the animals in their natural habitats, the proximity they allow us as they go about their lives, to have slept with their sounds, to have been present for even a few days in this special spot. . .

This morning I stepped outside the tent to brush my teeth. After a few moments I felt something tickling and prickling my legs. I had Safari ants in my pants. The only thing to do was to get myself out of the pants. Any early riser might have looked down the row of tents to see me dancing in my underwear.

Safari Ants

Amish Works at the Serengeti Camp

Our lions have killed a buffalo in the night. The "mastermind" has figured out how to separate a single cow from the herd. A single lion remains with the eviscerated carcass and it’s evident the pride has eaten their fill. We were spectators at the prelude to the kill, now we witness the aftermath.

Scavengers will come after the lions are through. The hyenas will demolish what is left behind within minutes.

One last view of a Mama warthog and her 4 piggies crossing the road, all tails up like radio antennae. Adorable!

As we leave the park we start to see Maasai people and villages again.  Cattle, sheep and goats replace the wildlife. There’s an occasional ostrich, giraffe and zebra that hasn’t yet discovered the “good life” inside the park.

At the entrance to Ngorongoro Crater a dirt track drops 2000 feet onto the caldera floor. We drive it down to the bottom where 25,000 animals live within the 102 square mile basin. They never have to leave because all their needs can be met. The only animals not found here are the impala, the giraffe, and the female elephant, (the steep sides are a deterrent).

Road Into the Crater

This protected wildlife sanctuary is known as Africa’s Eden.

Traffic in the crater is reminiscent of Yellowstone National Park. A single lion sprawls in a shallow trench. Vehicles crowd the road for a view. Ombeni asks “Will you tell these people what it’s like to see a lion?”

Hartebeest

The Auger Buzzard

Hyenas Soaking in the Mud

Crown Crane 

A Golden Feather Corona is Their Crown

Wildebeest in Single File Like a Line of Ants in the Far Distance

We bag our rhinos to complete the big 5. There are three in the far distance between ¼ and ½ mile away, (the crater is 10-12 miles across). Looking through the binoculars we can almost agree that we are seeing rhinos. They obligingly turn profile for us and display their horns. Well, OK then.

Our lunch spot is near a hippo pool. Blue water, green rushes, trees, an oasis of sorts after the dry Serengeti. The hippos sound like your neighbor trying to start his leaf blower on Sunday morning but about three octaves lower.

Open Wide

Hippos

There are dozens of safari trucks and more people than we’ve seen since Arusha. It’s been mostly just our small group and the animals for the last four days. We eat in the truck because the birds here are so aggressive.

A big green bus full of kids is on a field trip. Their school transports them to the crater rim where they transfer to the conservation bus for a tour.

Just as we’re heading out we see rhino #4, still far away, but much closer, moving heavily along the plain. We can see him with the naked eye and he looks like an armored truck with an ivory horn. He’s plated with body armor. You can feel his weight just by watching him move.

Birds Riding Bareback

It starts to rain and we can smell the fragrance of the grass seeping through the windows. We ascend a red dirt road that quickly turns to slick mud. The crater fills with mist below us, drawing a symbolic curtain on our game viewing experience.

We leave the crater reserve and then drive onto pavement, an element that’s been missing from our surroundings for several days.

The Tloma Lodge provides hot showers and real beds. Another kind of Eden.