To say it was cold this morning was an understatement. It didn't help that Suweda seemed to be running a little late and our breakfast wasn't ready when it was supposed to be. Instead of getting away at about 6:15am it was nearer 6:30am. If it had been intended that we would see the sunrise from the crater floor, we missed it.
To counteract the cold, Debs took the wise decision of keeping her sleeping bag with her in the car. The wind blowing through the open roof was freezing. Nevertheless we set out to explore this unique area.
The Ngorongoro crater is the largest unbroken caldera in the world, covering an area of 100 square miles it is home to over 30,000 animals. One of the highlights of visiting the crater is to try and spot one of the 32 resident rhinos. We may not have spotted 32 of them, but we did at least get to see one!
It may be just us, but after the sheer amount of animals we had seen in the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro crater came as a slight disappointment. The soda lake was largely dried up due to the light rains and the start of the dry season. Which meant that the huge flocks of flamingos that normally inhabit the area had dwindled. Also, much as we have loved seeing zebra and wildebeest, it is a job to get terribly enthusiastic about seeing more. The rhino spotting was great as were the many hippos inhabiting the pools. The crater itself is also incredibly dramatic, with its steep walls, open plains and diverse areas of vegetation. Perhaps we were just tired!
Before leaving the crater to return to Arusha we spotted some hyenas fighting over a carcass, one running towards our vehicle with a half eaten head in its mouth.
This was followed by a lioness stalking some zebra and wildebeest. We watched for quite a while, but this time the lion was unsuccessful. It rounded off what has been an amazing, but very tiring experience.
We arrived back at Sakina camp-site at around 5:30pm and said our goodbyes to Thomas and Suweda. Our 'Arunga Expeditions and Safaris' experience has been excellent, our guide was knowledgeable and informative and the meals have all been great.
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