After an epic first two days on safari, we bid farewell to Steven, our ranger in Lake Manyara, and hello to our Ngorongoro ranger, Joseph.
He drove us through Tanzania for an hour or so until we reached the crater viewpoint…
Yeah, breathtaking.
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
We then drove along the crater’s rim until we arrived at our next camp, the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. It had a completely different look and feel than the treetop cabins we just came from. And definitely a different view!
The cabins are handcrafted in mud and thatch with a banana leaf ceiling. They are opulently decorated inside with each one overlooking the crater with the most insane panoramic view.
Oh, and there are zebras everywhere in the “front yard.”
The staff at the lodge went to great lengths to make our stay special, like having a romantic bath waiting for us after being on the dusty, somewhat bumpy, roads all day. Consider us completely charmed.
Umm, it’s cold here
And maybe you think who wants to have a hot bath in Africa? Well, this place is pretty frigid once the sun goes down due to the elevation. We had a packed wood stove going in our room every night while we slept. Super cozy.
But by morning the heat from the fire would be gone and it was chillllllly. A frosty-toe-hopping-around-the-room cold. It was at this point that I knew I didn’t pack properly for living on the top of a crater. But, c’mon! Who thinks a place so close to the equator would get so cold???
Which brings me to what I say at some point on every trip: “I really should have looked at the weather before I left.” One day, I’ll learn, but this was not that day. Cold toes it is!
Now back to safari…
Welcome to crater land
When Joseph picked us up in the morning to embark, he introduced us to a couple we would be sharing the game drive with. They were from Washington DC. The husband was friendly and chatty with us. His wife not so much. More on that later.
After introductions, we were off!
The crater is the world’s largest inactive and unbroken volcanic caldera. It’s also one of the seven natural wonders of Africa. And you can easily see why when you get down in there. It’s stunning.
You’re enveloped on all sides by the crater walls with a surprising amount of wildlife within. And from what Joseph told us the wildlife here is not as skittish as elsewhere as the crater walls provide great protection from poachers.
So they don’t dash when they see your vehicle approaching.
Which makes them comfortable enough to get a bit too close…
Following the herd
The first “wow” moment we came across was a herd of elephants doing their morning munching march right in front of our vehicle.
They slowly marched and munched right across the road with the tiniest baby elephant in tow. So tiny it was wobbling in its walk and still had its fuzzy baby hair on its head.
And by the following photo, the baby is definitely a boy. lol
Rhino spotting
One of the most unique animals you will find here is the black rhino. They are quite endangered, but the country’s conservation efforts to save them have their population on the rise. At least within the crater.
And luckily enough we did get to see one!
But he was pretty far away, snoozing. I could only watch him rolling and shifting his head from binoculars — too far to get a good pic.
Seeing the rhino took us to number four on the “Big 5” list (lion, rhino, leopard, cape buffalo and elephant). We only had the leopard left on the list to see.
In reality, the most dangerous animal not in the Big 5 is the hippo, they kill around 500 ppl a year. 😮
Speaking of hippos
We saw a lot of the tubby beasts in the crater. We actually stopped to have breakfast in a picnic area on the left of this pond. The hippos were having a lazy morning snooze closeby. Probably happily dreaming about keeping everything out of their territory by chomping on it.
I mean, would you mess with these sneaky bitches?
Total bumps on a log here.
Hot and bothered and feathered
We saw plenty of different types of birds in the crater. Like buzzards, herons, crowned cranes, spoonbills, guinea fowl and a kori bustard. But the most impressive was the ostrich. Because just look at it. Large and in charge.
Joseph told us when the male’s neck turns red it’s ready to rock! With a mate that is. And the darker the red, the more hard up the bird is. How embarrassing to have it all out there for everyone to see. And as you can see, the bird above was looking pretty saturated. Oh my.
And here is a single lady strolling around waiting for her red-neck prince charming to find her…
Range roving
Even though the crater is only 264 square kilometres in area, it seems like it houses all the terrains. We drove through the forest in the morning where we saw elephants, then had breakfast near the marshes where the hippos were and then we hit the open range where the “zebra and the antelope play.” As well as the wildebeest and cape buffalo and gazelles and jackals and serval cats and water bucks and the ugly hyena. etc. etc. etc.
And they mostly all intermingle like it’s cocktail hour on a Friday.
Oh yeah, and there’s lions. And they are the chillest. Probably because every other animal keeps their distance. Except us humans.
A little factoid from Joseph: The Ngorongoro relationship between lion and hyena is reversed in the crater. The hyena does most of the hunting and the lions scavange off their kills.
The one animal you won’t find in the crater is the giraffe. They only roam the outside, never in. It’s like they’re just not allowed in the ‘cool kids club.’
Pretty in pink
At the end of our day, we found ourselves watching flamingos dine in the shallows of Lake Magadi. With the sun starting to dip low, the colours of the birds, the water and the crater became a study in soft pastels.
F*cking Jean
So, it was a most excellent and memorable day…except for the couple who were with us on the drive. The husband was actually very nice, but his wife was quite miserable. I don’t think she liked us very much.
At one point, we were at a picnic site and our ranger informed me there was a black rhino about 45 minutes away. As the wife had been talking non-stop about seeing a rhino all morning, I went up to her excitedly and said, “Jean! There’s been a rhino sighting!” And she snapped at me she heard already and angrily pushed past me, which totally stopped me in my tracks in utter confusion. I was so gob-smacked by her reaction and I guess so was our guide because he saw the interaction and came and asked me if I was ok. lol
After that, we just ignored Jean and enjoyed our own experience. But it was tough, she got more bitchy and rude as the day wore on. So much so that we even overheard her husband a few times telling her to stop it and giving us empathetic looks. No worry buddy, we only have to endure one day of her.
It’s so weird, I couldn’t understand what set her off. The only thing I could think of was whenever we were straight driving to a spot we would chat with our ranger, asking him questions about growing up in Tanzania, his experience on becoming a guide (intense!) and trying to understand more about the people of the area. Our guide was such a great hang and we were in stitches when we chatted with each other. But I would hear Jean not-so-quietly tsk-tsking from her seat every once-in-awhile in judgment. So odd. But we realized quickly that she was only interested in the wildlife of Tanzania and nothing else. Especially not the people.
It seems wrong to visit a place just to see animals and ignore getting to know the humans that share their land and the creatures within it with you.
At dinner that night, Joseph came to our dining area to apologize to us for Jean’s behaviour. So he noticed it too! And he didn’t need to apologize for her. But the phrase “F*cking Jean!” is part of our vocabulary now. 😂
Anyways, Fucking Jean didn’t kill our vibe, but who knew someone could be so miserable here. I mean…
