Ngorongoro Crater—Day three on safari



Entrance to Ngorongoro Park

Ngorongoro crater was amazing! It was very difficult to grasp the size standing on the rim. Our Ajabu Adventures guide Issa said it was approx. 22 km x 15 km.



First glimpse of the crater



From the top of the crater's edge, we could see an area with very salty water and mist rising from it, some patches of swampy area and then some patches of green, possibly forested area. The rest of the crater was covered with dry, beige grass. Looking down you could see very tiny, tiny specks that were apparently animals.







Massai at the side of the road

Just before passing through the second park gate, Issa stopped the vehicle and backed up. There was a Massai lying at the side of the road. Afterwards Issa said this was highly unusual because they are usually standing or sitting - not lying. He explained to the man that he was lying in a very dangerous spot and was in danger of being hit by a car. He then passed out a bottle of water to the man. We were not stopped for more than 30 seconds, when some older (white) man driving in the opposite direction yells out his window at us that this is a public road and that we shouldn't be stopped there. Freakin' unbelievable how stupid and rude some people can be. We continued on our way, shaking our heads at encountering such rudeness in a moment of compassion.

 The long slow drive down through winding  roads was awesome—to your right cliffs going straight up, to your left cliffs going down a long, long way straight down. When we reached the bottom it was still unclear how big this area was, our eyes  were really playing tricks on us. We headed for the area with water first. Some of the area smelt bad—like bad fish combined with sulfur.

Wildlife that we saw—flamingos, wart hogs, wildebeest, ostrich, a single hyena, lions, hippos, zebras, gazelles (both Thompson and Grant's), water buck, water buffalo and tons of different birds.

 

RHINO!

The one thing that Ngorongoro is known for is the presence of black rhino. We were constantly on the alert, hoping to catch a glimpse of one. We didn't realise at the time that there are only about 35 rhinos in the park. (Had we known this, we probably wouldn't have been so positive that we would see one!)

Issa headed us off to the forested area where the rhinos are known to stay. They go there to stay out of the heat as they have no protection via hair and have small ears so the wind bothers them.  At one point Rick says loudly that he thought he just saw a rhino and asked Issa if he could back up. Issa seemed a bit doubtful that Rick saw one, but was all too willing to back up the truck to check it out. Rick was saying "I bet $100  it's a rhino" and we were all laughing at that. Turns out Rick was right!! It was a black rhino and we had front row seats as we were the only safari truck in the area. We started clicking away with our cameras and sharing binoculars.

Craziness ensues!

Within about 5-10 minutes we were surrounded by no less than 11 other safari vehicles. Word had gotten out on the radio (not by Issa) and the crowd converged. A party atmosphere ensued as people were climbing up on truck roofs, pointing and taking pics. In one vehicle everyone cracked open beers and were cheering each other. Seeing the rhino was the completion of their "Big Five" sightings so it was a moment for celebrating.

Lions with their kill

Driving away out of the forested area, we were lucky to come across a pride of female lions who had just brought down what looked like a buffalo. Lions were rolling around in the sun, being lazy in the sun after their feeding. We could see jackals hanging around in the background, waiting for their chance at the carcass.

One of the many memorable sights of the day were the zebras that were intermingled with the Maasai herds of goats and cattle that were wandering the hill sides. It was weird to be cooped up in a jeep (which you are not allowed to step out of for safety reasons) yet the Maasai are wandering freely around the crater.

Young Maasai boy

On drive to our next lodge, we were driving for miles off-road and ended up driving into a humongous heard of Maasai cattle. There were hundreds of cattle!  Issa slowed down and Maasai warriors surrounded our vehicle; poking their heads in through the open windows and looking around. This was the one time during our whole trip that I felt a bit scared...not because we were surrounded but because all of the warriors and the young boys had the strangest eyes. Their irises were so dark that they seemed black, and therefore they looked like their entire eyes were black with a tiny bit of white on the edges. We started passing out water bottles and Rick asked if it was OK to take pictures. Issa tried to talk to them but they didn't understand him.  Issa speculated that they were probably an old (rich) Maasai  tribe which doesn't interact with outsiders.  We could not negotiate to take pictures so we continued on.

About two minutes before turning into the lodge driveway, we passed the biggest, bull  elephant we had seen to date. He was eating vegetation right at the edge of the road. Of course we stopped to take loads of pictures.










Lake Masek Tented Lodge




We ended our day at Lake Masek Tented Lodge—yet again another romantic, beautiful setting.