Nipping to the Ngorongoro Crater
Trip Start
Apr 13, 2005
1
10
40
Trip End
Feb 09, 2006
Ngorongoro Crater,
Tanzania
Sunday, May 1, 2005
After the feed some local lads and girls come round to do a sorta show for us.. Tricks with bottles, fitting into and through small tubes, and then some dancing after alla that.. in which lotsa people had to get involved. Was gud laff.
Next day we had a very early start to get up to go to the Ngorongoro Crater. Had a long drive in a 4 wheel drive to get there..
01. Camp Dancing Hat-tricks
Was beautiful on entry to the national park thou. Stunning driving down through the mountains and forests - so scenic. Its another of them places thats known as the eighth wonder of the world. No suprise to me!! It stretches across 8,300 sq km, It boasts a huge blend of landscapes, wildlife, people and archaeology that is awe-inspiring. The volcanoes, grasslands, waterfalls and mountain forests are home to an abundance of animals and to the Maasai. Was a bit cloudy / misty so made for a great entrance once we broke through that layer and saw the scenery and surroundings below.
Some info on it (nicked off another website):
The Ngorongoro's crater is a deep, volcanic crater, its the largest unflooded and unbroken caldera in the world. About 20kms across, 600 metres deep and 300 sq kms in area, the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking natural wonder. The rich pasture supports over 25,000 animals, predominantly grazing animals, including some of Tanzania's last black rhinos. Big tuskers roam the floor and even though animals are free to leave or enter the Crater, most remain because of the plentiful water and food available on the Crater floor throughout the year
02. Fitting into a small pipe..?
. Steep inner slopes give way to open grasslands which cover most of the floor with several species of grasses that are the main food source for most of the larger grazing animals.
Lake Makat, fed by the Munge River is a soda lake and a magnet for flamingos and other water birds which come here to feed. The crater is a dynamic and changing ecosystem and the numbers and proportion of some animals has fluctuated over the last thirty years.
This was probably my favourite national park, so stunning! Saw everything here bar leopard. Saw a few lions buzzing around, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, zebra, buffalos, cheetaghs, flamingos, sooo many different birds - from small ones to big birds of prey and even storks buzz there.
We had lunch a few hours into the trip, stopped up near a river and chilled out for a while - we were warned about the birds that they could swoop down and try nick some food outa our hands.. It did sorta happen too.. a nice birda prey swooped down to grab sumthn, it was so fast
03. Bottle (And stick!) balancing
! Some little funky birds were buzzing around towards the end as well pickn at the crumbs and anything they could skavenge! Lovely plumage on them! Went back around morea the crater then, finding more animals and seeing lotsa new stuff. Just towards the end spotted some lions chilling in the long grass right beside the track we were driving out... Was so peaceful to see them just dozing in the shade - so different from when you see them attacking prey.
Anyway, this was such a stunning day - this is one place id defo recommend for anyone to go see!
