Although the journey wasn’t a particularly long one, we decided to set off early so that we would have plenty of time to enjoy the Crater. Our driver had suggested that it might be better to get there early, have most of the day in the Crater and then set off early the next day to drive on to the Kenyan border to meet up with Charles and begin the final few days of this amazing trip.
We were happy to take the advice as we felt we had exhausted his knowledge of the area and were keen to see what the Crater had to offer us. And we had become used to sleeping in the hours of darkness and making use of every moment of daylight.
Low cloud meant the views were not as spectacular as we had hoped but that didn’t stop us getting a very clear idea of how interesting the Crater can be. Along the way we passed Maasai going about their business as usual – some herding the flocks (looking very Biblical!), some simply walking along the road and others preparing their villages for a tourist invasion.
It wasn’t long before we entered the Park and soon after that we were cresting the Crater and making out way down into its heart.
The lush green was a surprise: everywhere else had been more barren, but here animals had pasture aplenty.
I was beginning not to be able to tell a hippo from an elephant by now, especially as we often saw them art a distance. And we hadn’t seen any rhino since Lake Nakuru, so they were on our ‘spot’ list, too. Similar shape again!! I gained a reputation for false alarms!
Once we reached the base of the crater there were zebra, wildebeest, ostriches, warthogs, lions, rhino, hippos, flamingos and more – including a variety of birds.
The hippo pool provided great entertainment with three or four pods of hippos just enjoying the water and moving around as they felt like it. They honestly did look like rocks until one little family made a beeline across the pond…
When we looked across from the pool, there was the spectacle to which I was becoming accustomed: wildebeest and zebra, with the occasional tourist safari Land Cruiser just to remind us that we were not alone.
As we were driving along one road ( yes, no off-road here, so a much more comfortable day in some respects!) There was what appeared to be a dust storm: when we looked to our right, there was a group of zebra rolling around. It was strange to see them almost take turns to roll around on the ground, looking far less dignified than they usually do!
I was also interested to note the brown fur with which they are born and which some have in patches particularly on their haunches even when they are a bit older.
Although quite early, it was clear that the rain was coming again and our driver was keen to get us settled into the new camp – a sister establishment to Pumzika, called Pukalele, which was reputed to have stunning views into the Crater – it did!
As we left to climb through the clouds, one last glimpse at the lake revealed hundreds of flamingos sporting pink. At first they were static and there was just a tinge of colour on the lake but quite suddenly they all took flight at once, turning the sky first pink, then brown. Is there such a thing as a murmuration of flamingos? If there is, I’ve seen it!!
And so we, viewing elephants as we left, we came to the end of our day in the Ngorongoro Crater – apart from the rain in the camp, which actually sounded worse than it was. Sadly, though, it meant the spectacular view was less than spectacular but its potential on a good day was clear.
The next day was set aside for visits to the Hadzabe and Datoga tribes before meeting up with Charles again at the border to spend a day in Amboseli – hopefully with its Kilimanjaro backdrop – before flying home.
Living the Journey 