Africa Experience - Tanzania - Day 13

July 8, 2014 - Ngorongoro Crater

We woke this morning and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the Karatu Lutheran Hostel.  We drove the short drive to the Ngorongoro Crater (http://www.ngorongorocrater.org/).  The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest unbroken caldera in the world.  It is about 20kms across, 600 meters deep and 300 sq kms in area and is consider a natural wonder of the world!

A large Boma we drove by!

When we got to the crater to check in, one of the vehicles that had some trouble, was not working well.  We all combined into two vehicles.  It was a little crowded, but we managed.  We started the drive down into the crater. 

Beautiful view on a gorgeous day!

A Maasai man takes his cattle down to the caldera...what
a job!

We spent several hours driving around the floor of the crater, seeing zebras, wildebeest, lions, ostrich, and hyenas.  We stopped for lunch at an area with tons of hippos.  Hippopotamus are consider one of the most dangerous in the land.   They can kill a human instantly with one chop of their strong, powerful jaws. 

Wildebeest, hyena, warthog, buffalo

Lions!

crested crane

Pink flamingos amid the wildebeest and zebra!

Yummy lunch with chicken and
a Cadbury candy bar!

The hippo pool at lunch!

It never fails, Connor found
a tree to climb!

Following our lunch, we continued on the direction to depart the park.  In front of us were several safari vehicles.  Once we stopped, we realized they had spotted a black rhinoceros.  There are reportedly only 26 in the crater, and they are very often hard to find!



Rhino

Ostrich can run up to 40 mph

Animals living together

We stopped near the top of the crater to enjoy the view and take pictures at the lookout.  It was an amazing view of the caldera below.  The animals were merely specks on the greenery below. 

Wildebeest and zebra below

Lake Magadi



You can see all the vehicles lines up to see the rhino (in red)

The hippo pool where we ate lunch!

We had a VERY long drive ahead of us back to Arusha!  We did stop briefly at the Snake Park so the boys could buy Mzungu shirts (White People in Swahili) and a few of us could enjoy a cold beer. 

Back in Arusha, we had a hearty, buffet lunch at the Arusha Hotel.  It was a very nice hotel.  The buffet included a salad bar and pasta bar.  The food was very delicious!   It was a perfect way to end our 3 day safari adventure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mt Meru Maasai Curios & Crafts Market

Devastating news today from Arusha, Tanzania.....the Maasai Market where we bought many of our gifts and souvenirs has completely burned down.  It's very tragic and affects the livelihood of many in the area!  Not only is this the main source of income for craftsman, vendors and families - they have lost all of their good works ahead of the Christmas season.  I hope they are able to rebuild and continue the tradition of the market!  Photos below courtesy of Elizabeth and Nature's Gift Safari (http://www.naturesgiftsafaris.com/) 

Africa Experience - Tanzania - Day 12

July 7, 2014



Good morning Tanzania!

What an AWESOME night......Brett and I awoke to a loud elephant trumpet at 1:50am.....right outside our tent.  We immediately jumped to the end of the bed to look out the side of our tent.....through the mesh curtain, a giraffe walk by in the distance.  It was so amazing. My other vision was to see an elephant walk past our tent as I lay in bed.  That, we would see later in the morning, but for now, a giraffe was way better.  For the rest of the night, we didn't sleep.  Our ears were perked and our eyes were constantly focusing on seeing wildlife.  About 4:15am, some of the workers walked down the path with flashlights.  Brett decided to step out on our porch and unzip the curtain on the outside of the front of our tent.  He was quickly instructed to get back inside the tent.  As we lay awake the rest of the night, we heard constant noises from animals, purring  and cooing.  We got out of bed early to take advantage of the warm shower.  We had a scheduled game drive at 6:30am and wanted to enjoy coffee on the veranda at 6.  During our coffee hour, we learned that the purring and cooing outside our tent were several lions that had come to visit.  (I tried to record the sounds during the night, but it didn't pick up the sound.  I will never forget that night!) 



The sun coming up over the Tarangire....beautiful!

Vultures - huge owl....you see different
animals and creatures in the early
morning!

Time for our game drive.......It was a beautiful morning.  There was a chill in the air, but the sun was coming up over the horizon.  There are so many different animals that are out in the early morning.  We started off seeing some impalas and warthogs running after each other.  There were some vultures waiting to eat off some leftover prey.  We saw many different birds and smaller animals.  Our mission of the morning was to see some lions.  Along the way, we saw many tracks, and lion paw prints.   We knew they were near.  They would not be the same lions that were outside our tent, but we were all determined to find the lions belonging to these prints.  It didn't take long.....ahead were to young male lions.  We were so lucky to have one of the lions cross our path.  They are so strong and confident at they walk by us without a care in the world.  It was the most amazing experience, and I will never be able to look at a lion at the zoo the same way. 





Impala enjoy the sunrise!

Lion paw prints!



 

This was the best part of the morning....we saw two male lions!

Lion selfie!

The Tarangire Safari Lodge was the most amazing
place to stay.  The view was breathtaking!  We watched
an elephant walk through the river while eating breakfast!

After driving through the Tarangire a bit further, it was time to head back to the lodge for breakfast.  And what a great breakfast that was waiting!  There was an omelet bar, homemade crepes, fresh fruit, sausage, oatmeal with toppings including fresh rhubarb.  Did I mention we ate well?!  I think I am repeating myself!!! 

Homemade crepes and omelets!  Fresh rhubarb!

The view outside our tent....where the giraffe walked by!

Wildebeest in the Tarangire River - looking out our tent!

An elephant didn't walk right past our tent, but we watched one while
laying in the tent and looking out our curtains!
 

Toni peering through the tent!

The Tarangire River

Next time we visit, I am getting a massage!

As we were driving out, vultures
were feeding on left over prey!

A giraffe came to see us off.....

After packing up our belongings and buying a few treasures from the gift shop, it was time to head to our next adventure....We were off to Lake Manyara (http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/manyara.html).    It was the least exciting of our safari stops but still full of new sites.  We drove through the lush, green Rift Valley, described by Ernest Hemingway as "the loveliest I had seen in Africa”.  We saw tons of baboons, blue monkeys, wildebeest, giraffe, zebras, warthogs, pelicans, storks, pink flamingos, and hippos.



Orange, hard boiled egg, cheese
sandwich, water, juice, fruit,
cookie...

We stopped to enjoy our boxed lunch the view of the flamingos and greenery.  We were hoping to see a leopard but no luck. 

giraffe, flamingos, wildebeest, storks, remains from an animal, zebra

 

 

 
 
 



Hippos peaking up through the water!

We would retire for the night at the Lutheran Guesthouse in Karatu (http://www.karatuhotel.com/).  It was a wonderful place for our group to stay....lots of space and large rooms for our group to spread out.  Kyler and Nathan shared a room, while Brett, Connor and I shared a large space.  Dinner was very good, with  chicken, noodles, rice, veggies,  fruit, spaghetti, rolls, and a split pea soup.  All our meals are very filling.  After a hot shower, it was off to bed.....

 

games and cards....

 

Dinner!