30 Sep 2014 - Ngorongoro Crater

We left the Serengeti Lodge at 08:00 and prepared ourselves for the ‘Tanzanian Massage’….that is, a drive on the road from hell. We weren’t disappointed but the saving grace has always been about the wonderful animals we see along the way.

I don’t think we were more than 5 minutes out the gate and a ‘tower’ of giraffes was munching on the tops of the Acacia trees.  I never get tired of watching them and now I try to get extreme close-ups of their facial features so that I don’t end up with 1500 of the same photos of giraffes (you think I’m kidding?). We’ve seen them in groups of up to 14 at a time and we’ve learned that giraffes always travel in a group so if you see one…you just have to look and find the other nearby.

Guide Vincent had said we had a 3-hr drive to Ngorongoro so if we wanted to get there for lunch, we couldn’t do many stops. However, a blast of Swahili on the radio took us down a side road where another large pride of 13 lions lay under a tree plus the largest male lion we have seen to date. Clearly there is no ‘5 jeep limit’ here as there was in Masai Mara as I think we counted over 20 jeeps stopped on the road. Luckily the lions don’t give a darn and the big male had already crossed the road and was laying in the grass watching the parade. One of the females in the pride was collared which we have seen a few times and this particular pride has some younger cubs.

There were incredibly large numbers of Wildebeest and Vincent explained that while there is a big migration there is also a continuous migration. The wildebeest, zebras, and antelopes may only travel from one side of the Serengeti a short distance to the other side where there the ecosystem is just a bit different and a little rain has fallen to encourage grass to grow. They will also travel to parts of the park where specific minerals are in the grass which provide a specific body need they have at that moment. Seeing them on a National Geographic special is one thing….watching them running and jumping over the road by the thousands is another!

I think the thrill of the day for me was seeing the largest mass of Zebras I could have ever imagined, in one place, at one time. We saw a large group on one side of the road and as we continued to drive it was obvious that the mega herds on both sides in front of us were Zebras! We continued driving and the herds got larger and larger until we were surrounded by thousands and thousands of them.

I am quickly learning that trying to describe what we are seeing and experiencing in Africa is almost impossible. I can use words like ‘incredible’ and ‘awesome’  but I know now that someone must be here to smell, feel, and allow your breathe to be taken away by what you see. Corky and I have had all of that and more every single day.

As we passed through the entrance going up to the Ngorongoro Crater we started seeing many Masai villages. Because they are nomadic and not hunters they have free rein of the Serengeti and can graze their herds of sheep and cattle wherever they please. It was easy to see the areas they have packed up and left as there is always a circle of brush that encloses the huts and animals. Some of them had very large herds of goats and it was nice to see that they actually wear those bright coloured wraps and beaded collars…it’s not just for the tourists.

We drove through such an array of landscapes today from flat plains to tree’d terraces with moss hanging from them. As we started to climb higher we were able to look back at the mountains and see a hundred miles back into the Serengeti. I’m not sure at what point we approached the crater that we were able to look down and once again...have our breath taken away by the sight. Vincent stopped at a look-out that gave us a full view of the crater. It was beautiful beyond description!

Tomorrow we will drive down onto the floor of the crater and see what animals are in the area. People have said there are some Rhinos down there and that is about the only animals we have not seen close-up.

Corky and I have once again skipped supper. The food has been superb but we’ve both eaten so much that it’s hard to get excited about another meal. Because we have access to a big hot lunch as well as a big hot supper (after a big hot breakfast), our stomachs need a bit of a break once in a while. My stomach is just a bit upset and I really want to do that drive tomorrow. Hello Gravol, my old friend.

Tomorrow will be our last full day and then we will be heading home. I missing my dear husband…between his coming and going, my coming and going, crappy internet sometimes, we haven’t connected. I wish we were able to ‘transport’ instead of spending so much time on airplanes but there’s no alternative. We’ve managed to upgrade our short flight from ‘regular economy’ to ‘extra leg room economy’ but all those spaces have been taken on the long flight….drat!

Hopefully I will be able to blog tomorrow but until next time, love and hugs to all. Xx

Update: Stomach issue got the best of me and I spent the next day in bed. Seems to be under control in time for the long flight home.