November 1st, 2006 Serengeti– Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

November 1st, 2006
Serengeti– Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

It was another very early morning and beautiful sunrise (awake before 5:30). At 6:00 we headed out on our last game drive of the Serengeti. The first animal we came across was a beautiful cheetah that we thought was going to hunt. After watching it for quite some time we realized that it was just playing around in the grasslands. Subsequently, we stumbled upon two hyena that crossed the road right near or vehicle. They are awkward looking creatures…Next, we came across a lioness on the road. We followed her and ended up finding a very large male lion! As we sat watching him, another male approached. Initially, we thought that there may be some type of fight over the female. In the end, they were part of the same pride…We also saw numerous zebra, gazelle, and elephants (in the distance).


We returned to camp just before 9:00. After a light breakfast we packed up our camp and left (around 10:00). On our way out of the park we got a flat tire. As we sat there waiting for the tire to get changed I started reading the Alchemist (courtesy of Holly). It’s a quick read and I finished the book later that night.

The drive back to Ngorongoro Crater took about 4 hours (arriving just after 14:00). It was then another long drive down to the crater floor. It was a very bumpy road that woke everyone up!

Once we reached the bottom we started our final game drive! We saw all of the usuals: lions, gazelle, zebra, and vultures. For the first time in almost a week we also saw wildebeest. Most wildebeest are currently in Masai Mara but the ones in the crater are permanent residents (they do not migrate). We also got to see an awesome hippo pool. It is a very small lake that is overcrowded with Hippo. Although it was mating season, we didn’t get to witness and hippo sex. Still, we saw plenty of Hippo yawns…The final animal of our entire safari was probably the one I least expected to see, the Black Rhino. Thought it was quite far away, it was awesome to see such an elusive and endangered creature.



We made out way out of the crater at 17:00. Once again, it was a long, tough drive to get out of the crater. Eventually we made it out and set up camp on the crater’s ridge. After setting camp I had my first shower in several days. After, I explored the camp with the others. We were shocked to fin elephants just outside of our camping area. We were also warned to not leave any food in our tents because the bush pigs will come and tear through them…

After eating dinner it started to rain quite heavily. Everyone quickly retired to their tents and hand another early nights sleep.