Ngorongoro Crater

 Saturday September 7

Ngorongoro Crater is famous for good reasons. It is the largest intact caldera in the world, with a floor of 100 square miles. One-third of the floor is a soda (salt marsh) lake, with the balance as open savanna. The original volcano cone is estimated to have been 19,000 feet. Since its collapse 2.5 million years ago, the caldera rim is at 9000 feet and the floor at about 6000 feet. The Crater sits inside a larger conservation area. It is not a national park, as other activities (like Maasai villages and some lodges) are allowed on the outside slopes of the crater although no such activities are allowed within it. While some animals do climb in and out of the crater, most remain within, creating a feeling of Noah’s Ark inside. 

We entered the conservation area through the south (main) gate, drove around the rim through cloud forest mist to the North Gate, and then drove down the steep wooded incline into the caldera for most of the day.  We also had an exceptional lunch at a private picnic area, with food provided by a nearby lodge. It was quite a surprise as we had expected box lunches and fighting for a picnic table with all the other tourist jeeps. The crater is a very popular destination and the animals are not frightened of the trucks. It also meant that at lunchtime there must have been 30 other vehicles at the public picnic area, making our private lunch the more special.

Today was a day of near and far.  We drove on a circuitous route throughout the savanna and along the lake shore. We stopped to see a pod of hippos, and were surrounded by assorted water birds. Of most interest was the cooperative, coordinated feeding behavior of a group of great white backed pelicans. They swam together to form a circle and then all dove into the water at the same time. It was explained to us that, similar to the bubble net feeding of humpback whales, they were herding fish together in the center of the circle, or in one case trapping the fish against the shoreline. It was beautiful to watch. We had several other unusual bird species appear close beside our truck. Perhaps the highlight of the day was seeing a Serval, a medium sized cat, walk through the tall grass right up to the truck.  Or perhaps the highlight was an elephant who strolled into our picnic site and then settled down for a mud bath in the adjacent marsh. 

We saw a number of hyenas and two pairs of lionesses from a distance. There is no driving “off-road” to get closer to animals in the crater, so what you get to see is what you see from the road. As we were leaving, we saw three black rhinoceros so far away that it required the big camera lenses to verify their identity. Still, it was great to see them. 

Today was the last full day with the rest of our tour group. Tomorrow we drive to Tarangire National Park for three days of private exploration.

Pictured: Serval, view of the crater, pelicans fishing