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Safari Time: Day 4 and 5 in Ngorongoro
Ngorongoro, Tanzania Safari Day 4-5
Thursday 27, Friday 28 Jan 2011
What a way to finish our safari! We managed to collect all the animals on our list. Ray saw his male lion, Black Rhinos ambled by and a cheetah conveniently appeared. The Ngorongoro lived up to its reputation.
Our campsite was on the northern rim of the Ngorongoro crater. We joined several other groups already at the public campsite, Simba A, and picked out a spot with a good view over the crater. Abdul started our meal preparations while we set up our tents and had a shower to wash off the accumulated dust of the day. We enjoyed trading experiences with the other travellers, including a family with their 12 year old and 9 year old boys from Newfoundland on a one year excursion around the world. They had started in Europe last November and from all accounts, the whole family were still enjoying the adventure. As expected at 2400 M, it was cold at night. We had our fleece to keep us warm and we were snug inside our sleeping bags in the tent.
We were up the next morning just before sunrise. Breakfast was at 6:30 AM; we packed up and were ready to leave shortly after for one last game drive. It was a good one. We stopped briefly on the rim of the crater for the view. At 20 km across, it is one of the largest calderas, or collapsed volcanoes in the world.
We descended 600 M to the floor of the crater on a steep, narrow dirt road. There waiting for us were two male warthogs challenging each other while a female warthog watched patiently. Donald had his two-way radio on and heard that Black Rhinos had been sighted. We raced across the crater floor, stopping only to spot an ostrich and to let part of a racing wildebeest herd cross the road in front of us. We were in luck; a pair of Black Rhinos was posed a distance from the jeep, watching a hyena pass by.
Wildebeests and Zebras are the most numerous animals in the crater. Vast herds roam the plains, eating the grasses and drinking from the small fresh water lakes. Donald told us that another name for the Wildebeest is a Gnu, which sounds like the nasal call it makes to communicate. We tried it out and got answering grunts from several beasts. Some people call the wildebeest a “spare parts” animal because it has the head of a buffalo, the eyes of a grasshopper, the body of an antelope and the tale of a horse.
Flamingos flock in profusion to the alkaline Lake Magadi. Eagles, storks, Ibis and various cranes all visit the crater and quite a few lions make their home there. We saw a pair peacefully sleeping under a tree next to a small river. Alerted to a gathering of jeeps, we raced over to see two large, male lions sleeping in the grasses by the side of the road. Finally Ray had his male lion sighting! Close by another group of jeeps was a beautifully spotted Serval. Twice as big as a house cat, it usually appears only at night, so we were lucky to get such a close view of it.
Further along the road sat a large female lion panting after having killed a wildebeest, which lay a short distance from her. We were told she would not eat until the male lions were alerted by the animal grapevine and came to feed. She was still waiting after we left the area.
More jeeps were parked beside the road. We joined them to use our binoculars to spot a cheetah hiding in long grasses. We were finally rewarded for our patience when the elegant cat strolled out of the grasses to find another spot to rest.
The end of our visit to the crater was nearing. We drove to a designated picnic spot, passing a large Black Rhino moving through the trees to a small river. We parked at the picnic spot and found a place in the shade under a large tree. Donald warned us to watch out for cheeky vervet monkeys waiting in a tree to steal food from unwary picnickers. We didn’t count on the eagle perched in the tree above us. Suddenly it swooped down and grabbed the chicken piece Gianni had just unwrapped from his lunch box. The eagle made a short circle back to its perch in the tree and sat there, happily munching on its prize.
Our lunch finished, we drove back to the campsite, where Abdul had taken down the tents, and loaded up the jeep for our three hour return trip to Arusha.
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