The lookout from Ngorongoro Crater

We left Tarangire Park and headed to Ngorongoro Crater. We had heard so much Ngorongoro we couldn’t wait to get there. After seeing all the elephants we headed toward Ngorongoro Crater, the road was far from smooth and as we bounced along I was surprised to see that Caitlin had fallen asleep. This would be a common occurrence throughout the Safari. Whenever there was a long stretch of driving, Caitlin would fall asleep. She mentioned that she had learned the skill during her youth driving across country. I had always figured she was on par with anyone else who falls asleep, this vacation showed how much I had underestimated her abilities. While she was sleeping I was bouncing along unable to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

After a few hours we got to the entry of the conservation area and had to check in. As Prosper was went to turn in the papers he mentioned that we lock the windows, not because of theft by humans so much as baboons. We did as asked and headed into the information area, after we came out we got to witness baboons steal a paper bag out of one of the other jeeps. The baboon ran up the tree then tore open his treasure only to find nothing edible, he seemed more than a little peeved.

Shortly after the show Prosper returned with the paper work done and we headed up to our lodge, stopping on the way to check out the lookout point. As we rolled into Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge we were glad to be out of the car and get a chance to relax. We enjoyed the night then got up early the next morning to descend down into the crater.

The next morning we headed out and it was a little cool but quickly warmed up. As we cruised around the crater we got a chance to see a plethora of animals. The coolest thing about the crater was the wide variety of animals that we saw all in the same place, that was the highlight of the day.

Us at the lookout point.

The view from our room. It was when Caitlin saw this view that she started to cry, the bellboy didn’t know how to react.

The first zebras we saw, we got so excited we would lose a little of that enthusiasm as the day went on.

A hyena we saw in the morning, a jackal was chasing him and biting at his haunches. Prosper mentioned that it was a territorial thing.

As you can see the hyena didn’t fully leave and so the jackal stayed to keep an eye on him.

A gazelle.

Wildebeest.

The zebra patterns stood out in such contrast to the surroundings.

Their lines were so cool.

Wildebeests in action.

A couple of lions chilling.

We then saw these too walking nearby. It ended up being a large pride.

Walking like he owned the crater.

Poor wildebeest was freaked out.

Crown crested cranes.

There were so many of them in almost a progression, it looked like a time lapse picture.

The black rhino we saw, it was super far away and sleeping.

Not a great picture but shows what was so cool about the crater, in this one is a hyena, zebras, and wildebeests.

We also got a chance to see hippos out of the water walking around.

Zebras at play.

Like I said their stripes stood out so much.

A jackal.

A cape buffalo getting his ears cleaned by a small bird.

A lioness walking through the grass.

A warthog, we didn’t realize until this one how long their hair is.

Cape buffalo.

The view as we drove out of the crater on to our next stop.

It was so lush and beautiful.

The zebras would hang out near the Masai for protection from predators. If you look carefully you’ll see a couple of Masai.