Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Shelly in front of our first lion, which is taking a nap
After 2 days in Lake Manyara we drove about 4 hours to Ngorongoro Crater, which is the remnance of an anchient volcano and home to an incredibly dense amount of wildlife. Animals do migrate in and out of the crater but some never leave and live their whole lives in the crater. One of the rarest is the Black Rhino and there are only 19 in the crater. We were lucky enough to see one up close and it was my favorite animal on the trip.
Our one and only encounter with a black rhino
After a long day of game viewing we spent a night at our best campsite of the trip. Our tents were located on the rim of the crater and we had a spectacular view of the morning sunrise and the surrounding mountains. We were also joined that night by two unexpected guests. Before dinner a hyena was spotted near the tents and was easily scared away. We were also joined by a Tanzanian guard armed with an AK-47 assault rifle. Our guide told us that he was there to protect us from the animals and the animals from us (i.e. poaching). We only saw him for a few minutes before he disappeared into the bush, probably to take a nap.
A shot of the zebra and the crater floor and one of our best pictures of the trip
A view of the crater from our tent that night
After 3 days on safari, relaxing before dinner (Kilimanjaro beer not pictured)
Tags: Tanzania
nkurtz
Since Animal Planet is my fav channel – I am loving these pics! I am truly jealous:)!