It was an early morning breakfast at 6 AM with a departure of about 6:45 AM. Nhikani Lake Ndutu Camp was amazing. We really were in the thick of the animals. Now that we have left I can report that there was a lion in our camp on night two that they scared away by shining a light in its face and a hippo on the path this morning. I equate it to camping in the Rocky Mountains in Canada knowing there is a possibility of seeing a bear. You might see one when camping, but likely not and you have to be aware and smart.
Driving through the grasslands we saw a wildebeest calf that had been born one or two minutes before we arrived. The mother was nudging the little guy to get moving right away. Thom told us that many calves die young because they cannot keep up with the heard moving 50 km in the day, resting them going another 35 km. They most certainly lose track of their mothers and suffer from dehydration. It really is a marvel that the species is so prolific!
And today we drove through the conservation area, with a quick stop at to see the Hominid Skulls inside Olduvai Gorge. The entire gorge is 45 km long. The site we stopped at was called Ngorongoro Lengai UNESCO Global Geopark. Chris gave us a little history of the area and again I wish I could post videos within this blog. Sixty fossils of hominins can be traced back to Olduvai Gorge, providing the most continuous record of human evolution for the past 2 million years. My oldest son (a geologist by training) would have revelled in the historical significance of the area.
Then we journeyed on fairly rough roads (by North American highway standards) up to 2100 m elevation to enter Ngorongoro Crater. Wild Media Safaris had reserved entrance for our vehicles between 9 am and 3 pm. Vehicles allowed in the crater are allowed in for a six hour window but they would be scheduled to leave the crater no later than 6 pm. The idea is to minimize traffic for all the animals that reside in the crater.
We immediately saw so many birds - Eurasian Bee-eater, Variable Sunbird, Auger Buzzard, Brown Crested Snake Eagle and more. When we descended to 610 metres to the bottom of the crater, we saw greater and lesser flamingoes, avocets and stilts.
We saw many mammals (zebras, elephants, Cape buffalo) but no giraffes inside the crater. The Crater walls are too steep for giraffes to descend. And the missing element of the Big Five - we saw the Black Rhino.
So that is the best I could do with a cell phone picture of a black rhino. It looked much bigger with binoculars!! A male approached a female and they bumped noses in greeting. The female was probably not quite ready to breed and the male walked away. The gestational time for rhinos is 15 months.
We had our picnic lunch by a small lake with a number of picnic tables. We felt safe from the hippos and the kites diving and trying to snatch food from our hands!
Group picture at our lunch stop.
And then we made the slow ascent up and out of the crater.
This is the stunning view looking down into Ngorongoro Crater - which is actually a caldera - a collapsed volcano.
Neil Zeller in the foreground and the group along the rim of the crater. Our safari is now complete. So many blessings to have experienced Tanzania this way.
We have a couple more days in Tanzania-but none viewing animals.
We were so thrilled to check into our hotel for this evening Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge.
The gardens, pool and room are absolutely stunning. It is the swankiest hotel I have ever stayed in!!
Our glamorous suite - with two queen size beds, indoor and outdoor showers and a slipper tub. Just amazing.
We don’t have to depart until 10 AM tomorrow so it will be a glorious sleep in!!
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