Ngoragora Crater and Serengeti,
I would like to say we woke after a long & restful sleep.... but that would be lying. At 12.30am we were woken by someone in the campsite screaming from a nightmare. Shortly after this we could hear a dog fight happening Just outside the fence of the camp. It seemed to go on for minutes while all the dogs in the surrounding area started howling. About an hour after this we were awoken by someone banging on the large iron gate at the front of the campsite. I was really tired by this point & unnerved by all the outside noise. The banging settled down & we could hear men yelling in Swahili, Tom got up to go for a toilet break & came back to report there were men keeping watch inside our campsite. Thankfully this was the last interruption of the night.
Today is the day we go on our first game drive & enter the national parks of Ngoragora Crater & The Serengeti. We had to wake up at 4.30am to be in the jeeps by 5.30am & waiting outside the national park entry gate before they opened at 6am. We drove through, being 5th in line, playing Africa by Toto, how cliche! According to our guide, the Crater is 2.5 million years old & was the biggest mountain in Tanzania until volcanic eruption. It has its own unique eco system where the Animals don't migrate & are safe from the threat of poaching. Once the initial excitement of entering the national park had wore off, exhaustion became the dominant emotion & we all fell asleep. Looking outside the window showed nothing of excitement while it was still dark & it wasn't till about 7.30am that the sunlight touched the land around us & the fog started to thin.
It was a very cold foggy day due to the altitude. As we started to make our way down into the crater we could start to comprehend how secluded this eco system is & how unbelievably big the crater is. Trying to imagine it as a volcano exploding is mind breaking! As we get to the bottom of the rim we start to see life in the forms of birds & some buffalo in the distance. The buffalo of Africa, of course are very different to the ones we saw in Nepal. As we drove further in, The animals we would see quickly appeared. The list of animals we saw in the crater is extensive & was only over a short time period of 4 hours. It includes:
- Alli
The campsite & a collection of buffalo skulls
I would like to say we woke after a long & restful sleep.... but that would be lying. At 12.30am we were woken by someone in the campsite screaming from a nightmare. Shortly after this we could hear a dog fight happening Just outside the fence of the camp. It seemed to go on for minutes while all the dogs in the surrounding area started howling. About an hour after this we were awoken by someone banging on the large iron gate at the front of the campsite. I was really tired by this point & unnerved by all the outside noise. The banging settled down & we could hear men yelling in Swahili, Tom got up to go for a toilet break & came back to report there were men keeping watch inside our campsite. Thankfully this was the last interruption of the night.
Today is the day we go on our first game drive & enter the national parks of Ngoragora Crater & The Serengeti. We had to wake up at 4.30am to be in the jeeps by 5.30am & waiting outside the national park entry gate before they opened at 6am. We drove through, being 5th in line, playing Africa by Toto, how cliche! According to our guide, the Crater is 2.5 million years old & was the biggest mountain in Tanzania until volcanic eruption. It has its own unique eco system where the Animals don't migrate & are safe from the threat of poaching. Once the initial excitement of entering the national park had wore off, exhaustion became the dominant emotion & we all fell asleep. Looking outside the window showed nothing of excitement while it was still dark & it wasn't till about 7.30am that the sunlight touched the land around us & the fog started to thin.
It was a very cold foggy day due to the altitude. As we started to make our way down into the crater we could start to comprehend how secluded this eco system is & how unbelievably big the crater is. Trying to imagine it as a volcano exploding is mind breaking! As we get to the bottom of the rim we start to see life in the forms of birds & some buffalo in the distance. The buffalo of Africa, of course are very different to the ones we saw in Nepal. As we drove further in, The animals we would see quickly appeared. The list of animals we saw in the crater is extensive & was only over a short time period of 4 hours. It includes:
Grey crowned crane
Wilder beast
Wart hog
Spotted Hyena
Thomson Gazelle
Buffalo
Zebra
Ostrich
Mating pair of lions
Single Male lion
Black rhino mother & calf in the distance, seen through binoculars
Hippos
Flamingos
Single Male black rhino seen through binoculars.
2 female lions walking across the road.
After lunch we drove out of the crater, along the rim & through land used by the farming Maasai Mara tribes. It was about 2 hours of rough, hot, extremely dry & dusty road before we got to the gate at the entrance to the Serengeti.
The temperature difference is phenomenal & happened very quickly. The environment is very very different, but the animals & birds we saw weren't that different.
We saw: Grant Gazelle
Wart hogs
Thomson gazelle
4 elephants
2 mating lions on a rock
Leopard in grass ?
Common Eland
Kori bustard
Superb starling
The mating lion pair we saw were lying on a large rock & looked like they enjoyed being exhibitionists & putting on a show. The leopard was seen by another jeep a few minutes before we arrived. We saw something slinking away in the grass in the right direction, but nothing to confirm it was a leopard. At 5pm we started to make our way towards the camp site.
It had been a big day of sight seeing & although we had snuck a few naps in, we were all very tired. After dinner I was in my sleeping bag before 8.30pm & out like a light.
Wilder beast
Wart hog
Spotted Hyena
Thomson Gazelle
Buffalo
Zebra
Ostrich
Mating pair of lions
Single Male lion
Black rhino mother & calf in the distance, seen through binoculars
Hippos
Flamingos
Single Male black rhino seen through binoculars.
2 female lions walking across the road.
The lion sighting's were very special, the mating lions were a huge highlight. They were not too far away from the road & we saw them mating twice in a 20 minute period. Our guide explained that they will stay together, mating very frequently over the next few days without drinking or eating. Most males will last 4 days & mate approximately 700 times in those days. Lying directly next to the road approximately 50 meters away was another male lion. Our guide said he likely tried to fight the other male for mating privileges, but lost & will now wait until the winning male gets tired & then he will attempt to mate. We also enjoyed the zebra herd that was quite large & not shy about the jeeps. They crossed the road between & around the jeeps. After 12pm we stopped by the waterhole to eat a packed lunch. Any desire we had to sit outside was deterred by the cold & the threat of kites that had a history of swooping out of the sky to steal the tourists lunch right out of their hands.
After lunch we drove out of the crater, along the rim & through land used by the farming Maasai Mara tribes. It was about 2 hours of rough, hot, extremely dry & dusty road before we got to the gate at the entrance to the Serengeti.
The temperature difference is phenomenal & happened very quickly. The environment is very very different, but the animals & birds we saw weren't that different.
We saw: Grant Gazelle
Wart hogs
Thomson gazelle
4 elephants
2 mating lions on a rock
Leopard in grass ?
Common Eland
Kori bustard
Superb starling
The mating lion pair we saw were lying on a large rock & looked like they enjoyed being exhibitionists & putting on a show. The leopard was seen by another jeep a few minutes before we arrived. We saw something slinking away in the grass in the right direction, but nothing to confirm it was a leopard. At 5pm we started to make our way towards the camp site.
- Alli
Our amazing safari group! Ally the driver, Noria, Tom, Phil, Nathalie & Myself
Our Vehicle
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