Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania- August 16

Today we had a full day game drive with a picnic lunch.

The Ngorongoro Crater is the best place in Tanzania to see the 'Big Five' and is absolutely beautiful and it is busy since it’s one of the world’s’ most amazing natural wonders. Well, the Rhino hadn’t been seen in days so we only got the “Big Four”.  

It was a cold and windy day that required a fleece and a wind jacket. We did have a wonderful day here though. We saw lots of Cape Buffalos, Wildebeest, a Jackal and a Hyena eating a Wildebeest carcass and watching them tug off pieces of flesh, Kori Bustards and Crown Cranes, lions and zebras.

 

 Auger Buzzard

 Northern Anteater-chat

 Cape Buffalo

 Spotted Hyena & Black-backed Jackal eating a Wildebeest

 Gray-crowned Cranes

 Grant's Gazelle

 Kori Bustard

  Kori Bustard

  Kori Bustard

 Hyena taking a leg for later....

  Hyena taking a leg for later....

 Cokes Hartebeest

 

We stopped by a hippo pool where there was a rest stop and it was so cold, Greg got this photo of me:

 

The highlight of the day was on the top of a rim we were close to lions next to the truck, but Wilson our guide was ignoring them and watching on the crater floor as he noticed a herd of Zebras all running in one direction and he tried to explain where he was looking. It was through binoculars, but I finally found them and noticed 2 lionesses stalking behind them. Then, I noticed a lot of motion behind them, a lone Zebra was running and I felt like I was calling a horse race as I watched the scene play out. The Zebra was surrounded by 6 to 9 lionesses. Every direction it turned there was a lioness. Finally, as a last ditch effort, it took off running and one lioness took it down. (no pictures as it was too far away but I did get a good look through my binoculars) It was breathtaking!  

 

 sun peaking through the clouds

 Rufous-tailed Weaver

 Rufous-tailed Weaver & nests

 Rufous-tailed Weaver

 Thompson's Gazelle

 Cape Buffalo

 young Cape Buffalo

 road across the crater

driving up to the ridge

 lots of vehicles watching the lions

 the crater floor from the ridge

 hard to see, but zebras running in one direction

 one lioness stalking the zebras

 6 to 9 lionesses surrounding the zebra

 3 young lions sleeping

 they were bathing each other

 the adult female

 one of the males

 young males sleeping

 male lion sleeping

 Black-backed Jackal

Common jackal

 

We drove down to a picnic site and ate our lunch in the car. Then we made our way to where the kill had happened and all of the lions were full and just a couple were still eating. There were at least a dozen of them there. Vultures and jackals were waiting their turn. There was also a herd of Cape Buffalos next to them and one decided it wanted to challenge the lions. Wilson said if the whole herd was to gang up they might take down a lion, but with so many lions there the herd turned their backs and only the one was left to challenge. While the lions were watching it to make sure no action was needed, they eventually just lied down and ignored the Buffalo. The Buffalo tried to be nonchalant and just turned his back on the lions. (good thing they were full) Eventually, he made his way back to his herd.  

 Sacred Ibis

 Blacksmith Lapwing

Black-headed Heron 

 Egyptian Goose

 Egyptian Goose chicks

 Warthog

 Lions with Zebra kill

 Cape Buffalo challenging the lions

you can see the ribs of the zebra

We also came around a corner to see a huge bull elephant in rut and he was very close to another safari vehicle. Wilson said it was really dangerous to be that close to him while in this condition. They didn’t drive away and we couldn’t pass. Eventually, the elephant lost interest and walked away. 

 

We saw hyenas “cooling off” in a stream.  

hippo in stream

 

 we had to drive around these guys in the road

 Maasai with donkeys

 

 Back at the lodge there were Baboons in the parking lot and they must have smelled our leftover lunch. One quickly got in the vehicle and grabbed a sandwich and took it back to a tree.

 

We did some more birding before sunset and before lunch there was a performance of Maasai in the lobby.

 Brown Snake-eagle

 African Stonechat

 skink

Little Green Sunbird? 

 Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater

 White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher

 African Yellow White-Eye

 young birds....cute, but don't know what they are

 Sunbird



Dinner was better tonight as the food was hot. We also had a bit of heat in the room as the radiators were warm. (Wilson later told us he said something to the management) The shower also was working like it should. Yeah! 

Tomorrow we work our way to Central Serengeti with a stop at a Maasai Village and Oldavai Gorge.