Ngorongoro In A Day

Sunset

So today we woke up to our first safari. Little sidenote, "safari" is a swahili word that means,  'journey to the wild animals".

So there is one way into the crater, and another way out. They are at separate ends of the park. This means a whole day safari with box lunches (which we have been warned to eat in the car, or else the birds will snatch any foods out of your hands - and this did happen to one is the teens that came).

At the preserve entrance, we saw some zebra and birds.  The zebra's were far away and everyone in my truck was really excited and wanted to take pictures. I knew better than to say anything, but I thought,  "just wait, this is only the beginning". After a while, we headed down the road to the bottom. 

Almost immediately we came upon a large pride of lions with the two males eating a wildebeest. It seems the women and children lions eat after the men are done. There were jackals waiting nearby for their turn to eat the leftovers. I have a feeling they'll be waiting a long time, given how long it took for just the 2 male why eat. Zebra, wildebeest, and gazelles stayed observant, but didn't go far since the Lions already had l-nch. Jackals waited patiently for the Lions to finish so they could scavenge. They would have a long wait as the Lions will eat until they can't eat anymore


Over the course of the day, in addition to what I mentioned above, we saw buffalo, elephants, hyenas, black rhinos, hippos, baboons, monkeys, ostriches, and a plethora of birds.

At one point, or jeep for surrounds by a herd of elephants. At one point, the elephants came right to our vehicle and the guide had to start the car and move away from them twice. It was really cool, but the best part was the tiny baby. Probably just 2 years old. I found out that the reason we are seeing so many babies is because the animals have food, which makes them more likely to get pregnant.



Overall, it was a great day, with more animal sightings, and close interactions with them. I had been told the flat floor of the crater made finding animals, but this was beyond what we could have expected.

Here are some other pictures from the day: