Driving Miss Karen

A blog about our travel

Tanzania: Olduvai Gorge and Ngorongoro Crater

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Our last safari stop in Tanzania was Ngorongoro Crater. An old volcanic crater with a lake and a river running through it. The crater is surrounded by steep sides of about 1500 feet. Since there is year round water and a steep climb, most of the animals stay put in the roughly 12 mile wide area. This means you could potentially see lots of animals in a very short time. Here we finally saw the elusive (at least for us) black rhino but only from a distance. The crater itself is stunning but since it’s a relatively small area, it can get crowded fast if something is happening (like a rhino sighting). For some reason, there are no giraffes in the crater even though there are trees for them to nibble on.

A beautiful morning view from the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. If I had one day to Safari, I would do it here.
You can see the layers carved by the river on the cliffs on the left. The river exposed layers dating back to about 2 million years
The footprints were first thought to be bear prints but later expert analysis concluded they were from a bi-pedal hominid like Lucy the oldest hominid remains
We stopped at Olduvai Gorge where the oldest bi-pedal footprints were made 3.6 million years ago. The site also contains remains and tools from about 1.7 million years ago. There is a covered viewpoint and short tour which was a nice bonus.
Water buck looking like a big deer
Mom and baby monkey
Flamingos in the Ngorongoro lake
Some of these are from Serengeti but these animals are in Ngorongoro as well
The oxpecker birds eat ticks from the buffalo and the bird gets food and protection
Definitely some trust on both sides with the bird sticking its head in the buffalo’s nose
One last baby lion sleeping just because
A large family group of elephants foraging
Beautiful little iridescent birds that are everywhere
The Farmhouse near Ngorongoro – The prettiest place we stayed
60 acres of farm and gardens surround the property. Just stunning
Finally my very far away, very blurry, shot of a black rhino in the crater. It was better through the binoculars. Rhinos are oddly sensitive for such big creatures. Our tour guide said they don’t like dust and don’t like it when it’s windy. The prima donna of the crater.

Jose

AKA Alfred

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