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“The night was eventful with a Bush Pig drinking all of our washing water” |
The trip to Ngorongoro was long and a bit scary due to the poor state of the roads - several times I thought I our landrover was going to tip over the edge.
It was well worth it as, when we reached the top of the crater we had a superb view over the rim. It is a weird view - a 15million year old crater with a wall all the way round which is about 600m high. The crater itself is huge measuring some 16km by 19km. It is home to a myriad of different wildlife.
We saw more buffalo and a buzzard on the way into camp. The campsite sat on top of the crater rim although dusk was falling when we arrived so the view wasn't great. We pitched our tent and got ourselves set up. Dale told us that animals regularly come through the campsite especially Zebra, Buffalo and Hyenas.
We had a nice meal in this concrete shed which was made to look very nice with tablecloths and lamps!
When we got back to the tent we found a herd of Zebra about 10 metres away plus two Hyenas. We went to bed hoping for a night filled with exciting sounds.
The following morning we awoke to find ourselves surrounded by thick fog and it was also bitterly cold. After a breakfast of cereal, toast and a fry-up we made our way down into the crater.
The journey to the village took us past several Masai villages - the Masai people are allowed to live in the game reserve but not within the crater walls. Once down in the crater we were out of the fog but it was still a very cold day.
We soon started to encounter animals first Warthogs in their burrows and then a herd of Zebra. Our first new animal of the day was a Thompson's Gazelle - a small antelope with a black and white stripe down the side and a tail that wagged non-stop! Our next new animal was a Grant's Gazelle which looked like a Tommy but bigger. Plus their stripe faded with age apparently. The best encounter of the day was two trees full of Vervet monkeys who played and ate barely 5 metres away from us. Other highlights included baboons, hippos (sleeping - do they do anything else!), zebra and wildebeest.
We stopped for lunch by another hippo pool and ate our lunch on the grass by the water. It was a little scary as the hippos were only about 25m away although they were asleep. Naturally. There were loads of birds round us hoping for titbits and the chinese in the van next to us obliged by giving them most of their lunch! That was until a strange lady with red hair told them off for feeding their animals in quite a grumpy way. The other lunch incident was provided by a flock of Black Kites who were circling overhead. One dive bombed a group eating their lunch and stop a girls piece of chicken!
After lunch we headed out in search of Lions and Rhinos. We came across a group of Hyena sunning themselves. Up close they appear to be a cross between a dog and a bear and are actually quite cute. We also found a couple of ostriches. A very strange bird - when they run their necks go in opposite motion to their legs. It looks very ungainly but they do get up to a good speed!
From afar we spied a Cheetah twice (although it was probably the same one) but he stayed a distance away from us. Apparently Cheetahs have the problem that they are so popular they cannot get away from vehicles long enough to hunt - one of the reasons why all National Parks are closed at night. We finally came across a Rhino lying down in the grass - we got a glimpse of his horn as proof. He managed to attract 17 vehicles around him.
We then drove back through the central plain and were surrounded by hundreds of animals - wildebeest, hartebeest, zebra, baboons, warthog - all sleeping, some guarding. It was an amazing scene set against the backdrop of the huge crater walls.
It had been a very hot day - both of us had fallen asleep through bits of the drive in the hot sun. We started to make our way back to camp - passing a baby Hyena sunning itself outside his den and, later on, a Zebra carcass. The ascent out of the crater was just as scary as coming in.
We got back to the campsite and after a really impressive dinner (steak and chips!). The night was eventful with a Bush Pig drinking all of our washing water and several Hyena laughs.
The following morning was once agan foggy and cold and the last thing I wanted to do was the get out of my nice warm sleeping bag but we were on our way.
Our first stop was Olduvai Gorge (actually named oldupai by the local Masai people but the first explorer misheard them and spelt it wrong - a cock up that lasted! It's actually named after a plant found in the gorge).
This was the world famous scene where Dr Leakey found the first ever hominid footprints and a human skull known as Nutcracker man (somewhat unfairly due to his large teeth).
We were given a short lecture overlooking the gorge and then wandered round the little museum. Of most interest were the skulls of extinct animals that are ancestors of modern animals such as an Elephant with their tusks in the his bottom jaw.
It was then back into the landrover for more driving to the Serengeti!
previous travel blog entry
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