The Ngorongoro Crater was our first stop in Tanzania. It's a unique place where the surroundings attract your attention as much as the animals do.
The crater is what remains of a volcano that exploded and collapsed in on itself 3 million years ago. It looks like a giant bowl - a pancake-flat area 20 km across with walls 600 m (2,000 feet) all around. Inside the bowl, there are about 25,000 animals.
Here are a few crater photos.
In the crater and other Tanzanian game parks, safari trucks must stay on the gravel roads and off-roading isn't allowed unlike Kenya where off-roading is common. The animals have figured this out and are much calmer around trucks than in Kenya. They know they are perfectly safe right up to the edge of the road and they aren't nervous at all when trucks approach. This makes for great game-watching and photos.
We saw lots of the same animals we saw in Kenya and one new one - a black rhino. There are only about 30 rhinos in the crater, they are very reclusive and they tend to hide in wooded areas so we were very lucky to come across a mother and baby in a clearing. Even though they were at a far distance, they attracted a crowd of safari trucks.
Black rhinos are an endangered species in Africa due to poaching. The Tanzanians are doing their part to prevent poaching - park rangers receive military training and they shoot poachers on sight.
We enjoyed staying in tent camps in Kenya but six days of "roughing" it in Kenya were enough for us. In Tanzania, we were booked into places with a solid roof and walls. At Ngorongoro, we stayed at a lodge on the rim of the crater and thoroughly enjoyed the five-star accommodations, service and food.
Next stop - the Serengeti.
Vanessa and Blake
The crater is what remains of a volcano that exploded and collapsed in on itself 3 million years ago. It looks like a giant bowl - a pancake-flat area 20 km across with walls 600 m (2,000 feet) all around. Inside the bowl, there are about 25,000 animals.
Here are a few crater photos.
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| Inside the crater looking up at the crater wall |
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| Crater wall seen from the side |
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| Looking down into the crater from the rim |
In the crater and other Tanzanian game parks, safari trucks must stay on the gravel roads and off-roading isn't allowed unlike Kenya where off-roading is common. The animals have figured this out and are much calmer around trucks than in Kenya. They know they are perfectly safe right up to the edge of the road and they aren't nervous at all when trucks approach. This makes for great game-watching and photos.
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| Wildebeest eating beside the road |
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| Hyenas sleeping 10 feet from the road |
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| Warthogs eating next to the road |
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| Wildebeest and zebras grazing together |
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| A group of zebras is called a "confusion" |
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| Elephant and zebras |
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| Male ostrich - pink neck means he's looking for a mate |
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| Male lion sleeping - hakuna matata |
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| Big yawn after his nap |
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| Maasai man and three boys |
We saw lots of the same animals we saw in Kenya and one new one - a black rhino. There are only about 30 rhinos in the crater, they are very reclusive and they tend to hide in wooded areas so we were very lucky to come across a mother and baby in a clearing. Even though they were at a far distance, they attracted a crowd of safari trucks.
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| Baby rhino standing on right with mom lying on left |
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| Rhinos draw a paparazzi-like crowd |
Black rhinos are an endangered species in Africa due to poaching. The Tanzanians are doing their part to prevent poaching - park rangers receive military training and they shoot poachers on sight.
We enjoyed staying in tent camps in Kenya but six days of "roughing" it in Kenya were enough for us. In Tanzania, we were booked into places with a solid roof and walls. At Ngorongoro, we stayed at a lodge on the rim of the crater and thoroughly enjoyed the five-star accommodations, service and food.
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| The outside of our room |
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| The inside |
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| Rose petals - they thought we were newlyweds |
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| Hotel lobby |
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| Dining room |
Next stop - the Serengeti.
Vanessa and Blake
