East Africa 2012 - Ngorongoro Crater

East Africa 2012 – Photo Safari to Kenya and Tanzania

February 12 – 14, 2012, Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge

On the long drive from Lake Ndutu we noted the changes from the wide-open Serengeti to the hills with farm and grazing land. We climbed in elevation to the rim of the Ngorongoro volcano crater at over 7,800 feet in elevation at the lodge. The vegetation became lush with many kinds of plants and trees including forests of the flat-topped acacia.

Flat-Top Acacia trees

We made one stop at a viewpoint before continuing to Sopa Lodge where we stayed two nights.

On the morning of the 13^th we got up early and drove into the crater for sunrise, dropping down to around 5,800 feet. This huge 102 square mile caldera was formed when the volcano collapsed. It is nine miles in diameter and contains a variety of habitats and a very dense population of animals. One can find the “Big Five” and just about all the other animals that we had seen in other places.

Hyena chasing wildebeest baby

Hippo pool

As we drove around in the crater we saw many special events. There was a group of lions stalking prey, hippos in a large pond, large herds of wildebeest and zebras, plenty of warthogs, logs of hyenas, ostrich, and many kinds of antelope.

We saw and photographed three unusual and exciting events. First there was a hyena chasing a baby wildebeest. Just as it looked like the hyena would win, an adult wildebeest ran into the picture and headed off the hyena, allowing the baby to escape.

Newborn baby wildebeest

This was calving time for many of the animals. We were privileged to arrive just as a wildebeest delivered her calf. We watched the mother clean off and eat the afterbirth, then encourage the newborn calf to get on its feet. We laughed out loud as the long-legged baby kept falling before it finally got on all four legs. Although we could tell it wanted to nurse, the mother kept it walking by turning in circles. What was so amazing was that from birth to running full speed with its mother took only fifteen minutes. Fast running is required for survival as we saw later as another hyena was stalking a small herd of wildebeest.

We all met near a large pond to enjoy our box lunches. At that time some changed cars so that those who wanted to stay out longer could, and those who wanted to wander back to the lodge could do that.

Photo by Gene Hassman

On our way back we came across some vehicles that had stopped near some lions. As we watched, one large female walked over and around our vehicle, and then laid down beside us to rest. First there were the cheetahs in the Serengeti using us for shade and now a lion. We felt special.

Back at the lodge it was a race to begin packing and for me to finish the slide show I had been working on. Those of us with laptops, who wanted, could present a three-minute slide show at our farewell gathering before dinner. Five of us showed examples of the pictures we had taken during the trip; you can see my pictures on our website.

Jack and Rikki Swenson, Lindblad Photo Expedition Leaders

At the farewell we had a chance to thank our driver guides who had been with us for the entire Tanzania part of our trip. They were great. We also tanked our Micato Safari Director, Lewella, for making sure the whole trip went smoothly. And of course, we acknowledged our appreciation to Jack and Rikki Swenson, our great Photo Expedition Leaders from Lindblad, for all their expertise and help both in the field and during our free time.

The morning of the 14^th, Valentines’ Day, we all boarded our five vehicles for the drive to Arusha. Much of the drive was on paved roads and through towns. We arrived at Serena Mountain Village Lodge in time for lunch. We each had a day room where we repacked for travel home and showered to be fresh for the trip.

Eventually it was time to leave for the Kilimanjaro International Airport where we checked in and waited for our flight to Amsterdam. There was a bad dust storm, but the plane did come in and we took off for Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, and on to Amsterdam, arriving at 7:15 am the next morning. We had a 2 ½ hour layover before our direct flight on to Portland, arriving at 11:30 am.

We had a fabulous time on this second visit to Kenya and Tanzania, led by our friends, the Swensons. It was enhanced by a great group of fellow travelers. Now comes the task of dealing with all the photos, but this blog is one way for us to share them and our experiences.

 

That's it for now. Grace and Paul