Safari! Day 7 - Ngorogoro Crater

We knew this was our last day on Safari <sniff> so we wanted to be up early to get down into the crater as soon as possible.  We also had to be out by 3pm when our park pass expired (it lasts for 24 hours from the time of entry).  We still hadn’t seen Rhino’s  yet which were the last of the big five we hadn’t seen (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalo and Rhinos) and this was to be our best chance.  We weren’t overly concerned about them as we will be in a Rhino sanctuary in South Africa in 6 weeks but would enjoy seeing the Black Rhino’s they have up here. 

Our lodge wasn’t too far from the drive down which was a bit of an adventure.  No guardrails and single lane (unidirectional) road – and an aspiring Mario Andretti as a driver on a vehicle with dodgy tires to boot!  Anyway, we safely make it down to the bottom and just as we are about on the floor, we spot a Cheetah on some rocks on the hillside.  Sam says this is quite unusual.  We can also see a pack of about 20 Hyena’s on the prowl.  Quite cool.

We drive across the crater floor and are paralleled by a crazy Hyena who was running along just to get to the (salt water) lake and cool off.  Lots more Zebras, Wildebeest, and Wart Hogs.  Then we come across a female Ostrich doing something really crazy with her wings… she’s got them fully extended but drooped down to the road and is hopping around a bit.  Then the male comes charging on to the scene and all is clear….  He starts this crazy dance where he’s got his wings out and is rocking crazily from side to side as he’s chasing her… after about 20 seconds of this, she decides he’s OK and plops down in a pile and he mounts her.   Well, female Ostriches aren’t that lucky cause things are over in about 10 seconds (but he was hung like a horse) and he wanders off like he’d never seen her before.  The kids jaws were on the floor.  J  Jen was trying to change batteries with the camera at the time so she missed it… Ostrich sex – blink and you miss it.  Sam had never seen it before either.

Then we came across this cheetah on the open plain… walking along.  We raced to intercept him (with about 10 other 4x4’s) and he crossed about 3 vehicles ahead of us.  We got some great shots of him.  Too bad we couldn’t see him sprint.  Some idiot honked his horn to try to spook him but he was as laid back as Elvis in his fat suit and completely ignored us.

Just out for a morning stroll.

After that, we found some lions sleeping on a hill side.  The more we watched the more lions we’d see… you could see them spread out all over.   We counted 4 females (three on one side of us and one on the other) and two big males (Musafa and Scar).  The lone female eventually got up and crossed right in front of us… giving us some great shots.  They weren’t far from us so we got some good shots of them lounging around although it was clear they were keeping one eye on the Zebra/Wildebeest herd as well.  Just as we were preparing to leave, the two males got up and decided they wanted to get the the tree on the other side of us so we raced up to put ourselves in their path.  We got some great shots of the lion as it was only inches from our rear bumper.  It paid no attention whatsoever to the crazy human hanging out over the roof taking his pictures!

We spent at least an hour with the lions. We never got tired of watching them.  They are my favorite animals by far, but Shawn’s were Zebra’s (followed by Giraffes) and Rachel’s were the Elephants.  I never did get a favorite from Jen as she insists she enjoys them all. 

We grabbed our quick lunch at the park by the (fresh water) lake.  Sam advised us to eat inside the vehicle as the eagles there would dive bomb you and steal the food right out of your hands.  A school bus came up while we were eating and we saw what he meant!  After that, it was a VERY quick race up the crazy winding road and along the crater to make it out by three pm deadline.  Poor Rachel wasn’t feeling too well, what with Mario having the vehicle on two wheels half the time.  We made it with  3 minutes to spare.  (not great planning on his part but we did appreciate maximizing the time in the crater). 

From there, it was back down past Lake Manyara to Lake Eisha for an overnight and then an early morning hunt with some local tribes.  This turned out to be another tented resort (with 3-5 tents) and we were one of two guests they had.  Jen and I aren’t sure how they pulled it off as we didn’t see a kitchen and the place only had stone age facilities but they managed to make the best meals of the entire trip!  The location left a bit to be desired – out in the middle of a dry desert scrub, but they built it when the Lake really was a lake… it dried up two years ago and they are hoping it’ll come back.   A 5:30 am start tomorrow so an early night.