Ndutu Lodge Ngorongoro Conservation Area

... next year....and how he'd make it so much more cost efficient as a national....I didn't raise the fact that he's actually Tanzanian though).<br><br>Highlight? Having criss crossed the entire crater, and about to turn up to the ascent track, we came across 5 lions munching their freshly killed zebra RIGHT on the track edge. They were no more than 4 metres away from our jeep....enough said, enough said.<br><br>As we drove back up the crater edge to the rim the view had changed as had ...

... kids and how expensive schooling is (this theme was to be repeated at regular intervals, though he was far less interested in questions about the monogomous nature of ostriches, or the mating seasons of buffalo...more on this to follow). The biggest downside to dinner was the 14 or so year old overweight american chick donning blonde dreads and glasses and being a philanthropist next to us. God. Help. Me.<br><br>Stuffed and tent pitched up, we had our cold ...

... young male lions waiting in the peripheral; they would get what was left when the pride moved on and the dominant male left the scene.<br><br>Suddenly a little cub jumped on top of the buffalo as if playing king of the mountain! He balanced precariously looking down on the lions who scarcely took notice of his antics as they munched away. He turned in circles surveying things below, looking for some kind of acknowledgement ...

... reason, but it was just a bit further down my list. Sitting writing this after only a few weeks i realise that was a big mistake. I've never had three weeks like this before - it's already been absolute quality.<br> The mobile clinic was amazing - happy, sad, rewarding and at times frustrating. The people here just get on with things - they're tough as ****. There was the woman who walked several hours with 4 small kids strapped to her and as ...

... heart&#8221; which makes them easy to spot.<br><br>7. Next came Pumbaa and the other warthogs. Man, are they ugly. I don&#8217;t need to see them again.<br><br>8. We then traveled to a lovely oasis, filled with pretty blue water and bright green watercress. Many animals congregated there &#8230; hippos, Cape buffalo, white pelicans and many other species of birds. It was fun to see them all together at this ...

... we wish we had. Also, front row is far preferable to back row as far as comfort is concerned.<br><br>Just before we arrived at Ngorongoro, we were rewarded with two things:<br><br>1. A stop at a scenic overlook where we got a bird&#8217;s eye view of the very large crater we would be visiting tomorrow. At this point, we were 7500 feet above sea level and the temperature had dropped from mid-80s to mid-60s.<br><br>2. A herd of zebra were ...

... to the Arusha snake camp we arrived around 4pm, showered and relaxed in the bar chatting. The snake park has a collection of African snakes and crocodiles so I had a wander around there and viewed safely the deadly snakes including the Black Mamba, cobras, pythons and constrictors. The crocs are fresh water ones and can grow to huge sizes and are deadly unlike the Australian freshies, more like the saltys of northern Australia. Dinner was at ...

... or perhaps it is because he has the most gracious heart. Ema arranged for a driver to take us and for the four day journey for $90 each. Leah explained that a gift to the village of two goats was an appropriate hostess gift and luckily Ema arranged for his brother to handle this on our behalf. <br><br>On Friday, June 26, we awoke a little after 5 am and none of us were on our best behavior as we packed the Land Cruiser and loaded up the car. There was some petty bickering ...

... floor and this is where we saw our first elephants. They were about 60 or 70 feet away and still looked huge. We also saw a couple of lions mating and a pride of lions feasting on what was left of a young wildebeest. We saw some hippos in the water but as it was during the day they were mostly underwater. Still hanging out for one out of the water. After lunch we started driving again ...

... upgraded to my posh little hotel room on lake Victoria and enjoyed a hot shower. The problem was that I left my soap in that shower. So it has been that long since I have showered. Not a pretty scene! My hair is mangy from the dust, my feet are black from walking in the dirt and I smell like a homeless person. I tell you though... going without a shower sure makes you appreciate being clean again!