The Crater (Friday)

Today was our last day of wildlife viewing. It started at 7500', on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. The crater was created 1.5 million years ago when a volcano imploded. This is very similar to the creation of Crater Lake.

This is the view from the lodge we stayed at.



This is the view about halfway down.



We started the day with some animals we still wanted to see. The white spot is a cheetah. You could see it very clearly with the binoculars. We waited fifteen to twenty minutes hoping a nearby Thompson gazelle would wander close enough to make it move, but the gazelle seemed to have self preservation at the top of its list.


The big five is a way of categorizing the success of your safari. The big five is lions, leopards, elephants, water buffalo and rhinoceros. We started the day at four. These rhinoceros finished the list.


I only had one animal left that I wanted to see, jackals. We saw two types. Done.


This panorama looks like nothing. It is a photo of the salt lake at the bottom of the crater. If you blow it up, you will see small pink and white dots. Those are flamingos. There was even a point where a third of them took off. It was very exciting.


This is a random scenery photo. Off camera to the right are the bathrooms.


The climb out of the crater is 600 meters over 10K. It is a very similar length and grade as Alpe d' Huez. It is more harrowing as the road is little more than one lane and severely rutted. This was about two thirds up.


This is the final look back at the crater from the opposite side where we began.


By all measures it has been a successful safari. I have much more to post after we get back, go through the photos and videos, and get the photos from other members of our group.


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Location:Ngorongoro, Tanzania