Serengeti to Ngorongoro Crater, June 3, 2024, Mark S

On our way out of Serengeti: a Kori Bustard

Serengeti to Ngorongoro Crater

Outbound to Iringa, June 3, 2024
By: Mark S

After a very early breakfast, we left our tented lodges at Tukaone Tented Camp for a dawn game outing on our way south to Ngorongoro Crater.   Saw a lot of wildlife including a make and female ostrich, and 2 rare Kori Bustards. 

As we were leaving Serengeti on our way to Ngorongoro, we stopped at the entrance/exit gate to Serengeti.  We waited while the drivers took one of the vehicles back to retrace our route a bit -- one of the spare tires had fallen off on the corrugated road.  And then the other vehicle wouldn't start and had to be pushed.

We had TWO spare tires when we started!

Giving it a push start

After a long drive, we got to the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, at about 8000 ft elevation.

Ngorongoro crater rim: clouds rolling in

The Ngorongoro Crater floor is about 5700 ft elevation, and has its own ecosystem of predators and prey.

Life on the crater floor

Flamingos along the lake in the crater

Grey crowned crane & chick

Spotted hyenas just waking up from a nap in the mud

Lions sleeping, couldn't care whether we looked or not

Rhinos were hiding out until mid-afternoon

The road up from the crater floor was steep.  The route climbed through dense forests and by a waterfall.  We eventually got up to the crater rim and a view spot overlooking the crater floor:

Our guides/drivers Denis & Noel

We drove by some baboons at the Ngorongoro exit gate and continued to the Ngorongoro Forest Tented Lodge (which was actually not tented and quite nice).

Ngorongoro forest Tented Lodge (well, it used to be tented)

In Friendship and Peace

Manyara to Oldupai Gorge & Serengeti National Park, June 1, 2024, George M

      

Serengeti: 2 female lions on a kopje 

Manyara to Oldupai Gorge & Serengeti National Park

Outbound to Iringa, June 1, 2024,
By: George M

[Heart & Soul Lodge, Manyara area]  After breakfast the staff sang farewell to us. Then when they learned today was David Barnes’ birthday they sang Happy Birthday to him. It is also his 39th wedding Anniversary with Teresa.

On the way up the hill we passed two overturned trucks , one in our direction which was new and one in the other where the load was being transferred to another vehicle. Both vehicles overturned on curves. We drove to the entrance to Ngorongoro [the road to Serengeti takes us through Ngorongoro - we'll be back!]

A group of government secretaries on a tour; Noel’s (our guide) sister- in-law

As we climbed up the rim we were in fog until we reached 7700 feet when we broke out. We passed a Maasai village with lots of cattle then a group of giraffes

He was right next to the road

This eagle posed for us

Lots of zebras, wildebeest, Thomson  gazelle and Grant gazelles.

We drove around a lake with lots of flamingoes. Then we headed to the Leakey museum above the Olduvai Gorge and had a briefing about the Leakeys and their pioneering work on the origin of Homo Sapiens.  [Note: The museum guide explained to us that the correct name for the area is "Oldupai", which in Maasai language means "the place of the wild sisal", which is common in this area,  The German doctor who originally named the area in the early 1900's had misunderstood the Maasai pronunciation and wrote down "Olduvai" instead, so that is how it still is listed on maps.]

Olduvai Gorge [Oldupai Gorge], 48 Km long

After traversing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area we entered Serengeti National Park  and saw our first lions sunning on a big rock in the distance:

2 female lions on a kopje

We then found ourselves in the middle of the Great Migration ( wildebeest and zebras). Apparently the zebras lead until the river with crocodiles but, being smarter than the wildebeest, they let the wildebeest ford the river first. I estimate hundreds to thousands of animals migrating north to follow the water

The Great Migration ( animals as far as you can see)

We also saw several  Marabou storks perched in trees and saw some small elephants but did not have time to stop and photo them. 

Marabou storks

We arrived at our tented facility just at sunset. 

Our luxury tent

We had a nice dinner and hit the sack by 9:30. 

 In Friendship and Peace