Ngorongoro McCrater

As you can see from the previous post, we had an awesome time with JPB in the Serengeti. We topped off our Northern Tanzania roadtrip with a stop at the Ngorongoro crater. Named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, the Ngorongoro crater is one place we were told not to miss in east Africa. The “crater” is actually the collapsed caldera of a volcano that was once taller than Kilimanjaro; now it’s a massive, bowl-like plain that is now home to the largest concentration of predators (and presumably their prey) in the world. It is the largest, intact, unfilled caldera in the world (apparently they usually fill with water and make lakes). The panoramic shots above are from John's new camera.

Anyway, on to what we did at Ngorongoro. After picking up a ranger from the station, we went on a little crater rim hike, which afforded amazing views of the crater floor. Our guide carried an AK-47, which is pretty much carried like pepper spray in Africa, as hikers occasionally run into ornery Cape Buffalo. We came across some fresh elephant dung, but nothing dangerous. We’re at about 7,000 feet on the crater rim.





As we drove around the crater rim to our lodge, I asked E if every time we mentioned the crater, she thought about her maiden name, and she said “yes, but I didn’t mention it because I was afraid of what you guys would start saying”. Lightbulb. This was immediately followed by us making juvenile comments of varying degrees of lewdness that you’d expect from a pair of Ivy League grads. For 15 straight minutes. She was thrilled.

We stayed at a lodge on the east side of the rim, which was perfect for the sunset. The lodge was decidedly 70’s in styling, but with that location and view, I’m not sure how much an update would add.

Sunset over the lodge:




In the AM, we drove down to the crater floor for a game drive. We saw an incredible seven rhinos, which are next to impossible to see in most of Africa, as their number were decimated by poaching and have only recently begun to recover. There is also a small alkaline lake in the crater, which is home to thousands of flamingos. The other animals were similar to those we saw before, but we did come across several prides of lions in a small area, as the pride range is much smaller due to the amazing population of prey in the crater. The main difference was the scenery of vast open plain in the Serengeti v. the bowl-like feeling of Ngorongoro.







This guy was rolling over in the dirt like a cat:


We sat down at a picnic area for lunch, and we were all reflecting on how great the trip had been. I said “it’s been a safari njema (a good trip)”. Not more than three seconds after saying this, a hawk dive-bombed JPB, trying to get his chicken bones. It brushed his arm, he let out a girlish scream, but was no worse for wear in the end.

From there, we drove to Arusha, had Ethiopian food for dinner, stayed the night, and caught the morning bus back to Nairobi (about six hours). We were exhausted from so much driving and travel, but very happy with the trip and how (amazingly) smoothly things had gone. For our last dinner in Nairobi, JPB treated us to Carnivore, an East African landmark, which used to serve all sorts of game meat, but now does less exotic meat, but lots of it. It’s a lot like a Brazilian steakhouse. Crocodile, camel, and ostrich were the more exotic selections, which went along with lamb, pork, beef, chicken, ribs, calf heart, and chicken wings (to name a few).

We had a great time with JPB and miss him. It truly was a safari njema (cue bird dive-bomb).