Ngorongoro Safari

After Lushoto we had two days before I had to meet Joel for climbing and before John and Tyler had to be in Kenya for Christmas, so we decided to go on safari. We chose the Ngorongoro Crater because it was closer than the Serengeti and has a much higher density of animals. Within the crater, which is about 20km across, we got the chance to see almost all the African safari animals, with the main exception being the giraffe. We ended up seeing 4 of the big 5 (and learned that they are named based on hunting; these are the five most dangerous animals if you only wound them) including elephants, rhinos, lions, and buffalo. We didnt see the leopard. Other animals included hippos, a lot of heriborves like waterbucks and zebras, and a lot of birds including ostriches and flamingos. Unfortunately we came across a stuck truck and fufilled our ethical duty to help. We spent about an hour and a half trying to pull this truck our with no avail. We gave the driver a ride when it was time to leave to get to the gate before it closed. We decided to splurge on the accommadation and stayed at a very nice lodge on the crater rim. John had been recently diagonosed with maleria so he left our 4 course dinner early and we ate his entree. Very good meal, some drinks in the very nice bar, and a good nights sleep in a huge room. In the morning we went to a Masai village which operated like a tourist attraction. The Masai people are a cattle herding people that live in the savanna. They are the ones who put the holes in their ears which you may have seen. It was kind of sad in reality, paying these people to dance and left us invade their community. I call it culture-whoring. We didnt spend to long there, as we felt akward and I think it was akward for them. We returned to Arusha and Tyler and John headed for Kenya. I spent the night in Arusha and headed to meet Joel in Moshi the next day. The safari was very interesting and we all enjoyed it, even John with his malaria symptoms. What made it better was that I never had any intention of going on safari so it was something extra.

There was a lot of baboons on the road leading to the park






Some grazing animal. I am terrible at identifying animals and just as bad as remembering their names




African Buffalo







Hippos. I would love to see them out of water, they look so large even with only a little bit visible from the water. They only come out to graze at night.



One of the two lion brothers we saw. They are very lazy during the day. We got lucky after about half an hour they rose and walked around a bit



The lions were definetely the highlight. They came right up to the truck, drank from a puddle, rubbed up against the truck, took a piss, and bit at the antenea a bit. They were more than close enough to pet if you were stupid enough

The black rhinos. Something like 25-30 left in existance and the all live in the crater. Smaller than the white rhino




Zebras, so many zebras

Elephants, these ones were outside the park. The ones in the crater were very far from the road. A pleasent surprise to see some close to the road after the game drive was technically over.


Our truck did most of the pulling. Lots of people hung around trying to help. It kind of sucks giving up precious time to help, but if the shoe is on the other foot, right?



The lodge. Unfortunately the potentially amazing view of the crater was never visable due to the fog




Some Masai women








Some Masai men