Ngorongoro – Trouspinet travels

Today we got up early to experience one of Tanzania’s highlights – the Ngorongoro Crater, a huge volcanic caldera covering around 260 square kilometres. The area is home to a unique ecosystem, including lions, rhinos, elephant, hippos and many different types of antelope – but no giraffes, since the sides of the crater are too steep for them to enter. Our guide Estomih wanted us to be at the entrance gate at 06.00, saying that in the afternoon, the crater gets very busy with day trippers from the Serengeti or even from Arusha.

We arrived at the lip of the crater just as it started to get light, Estomih bought our (very expensive) permits, and we set off down a steep slope along a one-way road. Our first stop was the lake at the bottom of the caldera – apparently the largest volcanic lake in the world, and home to flamingos, hippos and pelicans.

Sunrise at the Ngorongoro Crater at Dawn

The steep sides of the Ngorongoro Crater at Dawn

Next we headed to the small forest occupying the south end of the crater. There, through the trees, we caught a glimpse of some white rhinos in the far distance. This species was driven to extinction in Tanzania by poaching, and in 2025 eighteen were brought from South Africa to a special protected enclosure at Ngorongoro to see if they thrive and can eventually be released into the wild. Whilst we were admiring these massive animals, Estomih heard on the radio that back on the plains of the crater, a wild black rhino had been sighted, so we hurried off to see it. However, our road was unexpectedly blocked by an elephant having his breakfast, and we had to wait until he had hauled his tree branch out of the way before we could continue.

The black rhino proved to be a bit of a disappointment. It was far away, and lying down, disappointing the large group of tourists in jeeps that had assembled to watch it.

We had breakfast in our jeep, hoping the rhino might at least get up and walk a bit, but when we had finished he was still stubbornly immobile, so we headed of to see the rest of the crater. It was a beautiful sight, justifying its reputation as one of Africa’s seven natural wonders.

Soon it was time for lunch, which we ate at a picnic spot beside a small lake. The area was busy – just as Estomih had said, day trippers had arrived from the Serengeti, and the crater was now quite busy. We were concentrating on eating and protecting our food from the black kites circling overhead, when suddenly on top of a hill overlooking the lake appeared a group of lions. I quickly calculated that even with my small teddy legs, I could reach the safety of my jeep before a lion could reach me, but they ignored us and passed on their way.

Estomih once again got a message on the radio about another rhino sighting, so we hurriedly finished eating and headed off…..to run into a big traffic jam caused by the lions we had just seen. They were now walking down the main road, oblivious to the chaos they were causing behind them. It seemed that the tourist jeeps divided into two groups – those with passengers like us who had seen lots of lions and were hurrying to see the much rarer rhino, and those with people who had just arrived and found lions exciting. The latter groups would stop frequently for pictures, making the traffic jam even worse.

Eventually we fought our way past the lions and found the black rhino, who, whilst still being a long way off, was at least walking around and posing for photos.

We took a few pictures of him before it was time to leave Ngorongoro – to control traffic and preserve the environment, the authorities only issue a six-hour permit to visit, and ours was due to expire at two pm. On the steep road back to the crater rim we had time for one last stop to admire the view of one of the most magical places in the world.

At the exit to the park, we continued our road east on the main road back towards Arusha, and then turned south on a dirt track to Lake Eyasi, arriving at our lodge in the mid-afternoon for once. This gave us time to sit in front of our room, looking at the sun setting over the lake, enjoying the company of a flock of lovebirds and absorbing what we had seen over the past few days in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. The trip so far had been mostly devoted to Tanzania’s animals – it was now time to meet more of the country’s people……

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Today we had to leave the Serengeti and continue on to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We had time for one last morning game drive, during which we saw a huge bull elephant with one very long tusk. Our guide Estomih told us that this elephant had once attacked a tourist jeep that had approached too close to him during the mating season, and had rolled the vehicle over many times. Fortunately the occupants escaped with minor injuries. We were happy to admire him from a safe distance.

We also saw our good friends the mother cheetah and her cubs once last time, once again surrounded by tourist jeeps…

Our friend the mother cheetah and her cubs

A cub crawls onto to mum and collapses asleep

…before we spotted two other cheetahs in a different area of the park. For this couple of young males, we could relax and observe all for ourselves.

Estomih served lunch on the bonnet of our jeep, and we ate it whilst looking around carefully for any lions that might sneak up on us, but there were none. Indeed, this was the only day in our Serengeti stay when we did not see any.

Finally, after four days of amazing game viewing, it was time to leave the Serengeti National Park, and pass into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Unlike the park, the Masai are allowed to live in this area and we saw many of them tending their herds of cows and goats by the side of the road. We made a pre-arranged stop at one of their villages to learn about Masai life. We were greeted by a welcome dance…..

….before being shown how to make fire (actually a very quick process)…..

…..and then being invited into one of their tiny, simply huts to learn what the Masai ate – milk or cow’s blood in the morning, and meat in the evening, with no fruit or vegetables.

The visit ended with a slightly too insistent request to buy some of the huge number of carvings set out on a massive stall in the centre of the village. The Masai are good at commerce and have become quite expert at milking tourists for money in return for photographs or other services.

We headed onwards and visited a modest display about the attractions of the Ngorongoro area in small museum building just off the main road. There I learnt that the famous archaeological site of Olduvai Gorge was only five kilometres away down a dusty track. This is the place were the earliest fossils of hominid ancestors of man have been found, including the famous “Lucy” Australopithecus skeleton, and so can probably claim to be the birthplace of humanity. I asked Estomih whether we could go and visit the museum there, but he said that this needed to be booked in advance and that in any case it was late in the afternoon and it would close soon. I was a bit disappointed that I had forgotten to ask for this key site to be included in my safari itinerary.

My disappointment was short-lived though, as the road climbed into lush green mountains with beautiful views of lakes, trees and small Masai villages.

We made lots of stops to take photos, including one at the rim of the famous Ngorongoro Crater, our destination for the next day.

We reached our lodge as the sun was setting and the shadows lengthening, which was a shame because it was a really nice place and it would have been good to have enjoyed it for longer.

Our lodge on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater

When the sun finally set, it became decidedly chilly, and we put on the warm clothes we had last used when changing planes at Amsterdam in Europe. After another nice evening meal we were soon snuggling in bed, delighted that the lodge had provided each of us with a hot water bottle.

Keeping warm ahead of another early start

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Tag: Ngorongoro

The Ngorongoro Crater

From the Serengeti to Ngorongoro