Safari Day 4

January 28, 2019

Safari Day 4

Ngorongoro!!! YES!!! This is where one can see just about all the animals of Africa, including some that are endangered.  I was really looking forward to this day.  We had been very lucky to see several things that most people don’t get to see…. the leopard kill, the wildebeest migration, perfect weather….(ok, I just threw that in). I had a feeling that this day was also going to bring rare and special sightings.

First, the name Ngorongoro.  It’s actually the sound of a cowbell as the Maasai herd them out to pasture. Try saying it with a kind of sing-song-nasal sound and you’ll hear what I mean.

On our way to the crater, we got to experience the sunrise.

We went down a very steep one-way road to get into the crater of Ngorongoro.

Almost immediately we started seeing more animals than I could take pictures of.  Here are some of them.

Ostriches chasing a hyena.

Another bird

A vulture (yes, another bird)

Cute, cute little cranes

A fox

Eland

A baby eland

You got it...another bird

uh-huh. A zebra

An old wildebeast.

I know....birds.

Is an ostrich a bird?

Hundreds of Flamingos and ducks dotted this lake.

Stork

Yet more animals

Buffalo

We made a stop at a lovely lake called Ngoitoktok where we saw more hippos.

It was here that we saw a very rare, one of a kind creature. It’s difficult to tell what it is at first, but the closer shot will show you that it’s somewhat like a leopard and somewhat like a cheetah and somewhat like a…… creature of human design.

The spectacular views continued.

I took a few videos for some action shots.

….a fox

 ….an ostrich on the road

One thing I really really wanted to see was a black rhino.  They are endangered.  In fact, Ngorongoro is the only place you can find them and there are less than 50 of them alive.  They stay in the forest, near the hills on the edge of the crater.  If they are spotted, they are always seen at a distance.  I didn’t have much hope of actually seeing one.

BUT then, lo and behold. Up ahead of us we saw TWO BLACK RHINOS right next to the road.  As soon as we approached, they started running so I couldn’t get my camera going fast enough to get a large, clear shot but take a look.  In the flesh! Black Rhinos! (You have to look carefully in the distance.)

 Take a look at this photo which shows the outline of these 2 beauties.  The one on the left is the juvenile and the mama is on the right. (Unfortunately, there was a spot on my camera lens but it doesn’t obscure the rhinos.)

I was sooooooooo happy.  In the safari world, there is the “Big 5” which are the top animals that are the most intelligent, the most aggressive, and the most difficult to kill.  A truly spectacular safari includes viewings of all 5 animals.  Here they are:

Elephant

Buffalo

Lion

Leopard

Rhinoceros

Yes, I saw ALL OF THE BIG 5!

Finally, it was time to leave and we started for the one way road that went up out of the crater.

But wait…..there’s more.  As a final wonderful shot, we stopped and there, right out my window was a lioness enjoying a rest under a bush in the late afternoon.

(sigh!)

We returned to Haven Nature, the first camp we stayed at.  That’s where I said goodbye to Marion and Marianne who were continuing on to other adventures with Nyange. We unloaded our camping gear and rearranged our luggage.  Phil and I climbed into the jeep with the 4 young’uns who were going to Moshi after dropping me off.

The uneventful drive back took about 3 hours. I had time to think about my adventure.

Taken from the back of the jeep.