Lake Masek

Ngorogoro Crater




Today we left our lodge and went the short distance to Ngorogoro Crater. Wow. What an interesting place that is! We journeyed down the windy road to get to the bottom of the crater and then we did a long game drive. There is so much game in the crater and it stays fairly constant. We saw a golden jackel on the side of the road as we started. He was lying in the road and did not move when we drove up and stopped and took all the photos we wanted. Next we spotted a pair of female lions who were sleeping up on a hillside. Then we saw a number of vehicles parked and we knew something was up. It was a pair of lions mating. The male was a big guy with the black mane. Later we saw a pair of ostrich mating so we had our biology lesson for the day. We spotted two big male lions with the black manes resting near a stream. They are just beautiful animals. We saw hyenas sleeping two or three places. They are so much bigger than I expected. We saw a silver backed jackal and of course we saw “the usual “ cape buffaloes, zebras, gazelles of all kinds and wildebeest. It was a really neat game drive.

When we left the crater, we stopped for a picnic lunch on our way out of the park-with zebra grazing nearby and birds waiting for us to drop crumbs. Then we drove to Oldvai Gorge where the bones of early man were found.

Then we drove on to our tented camp, Masek Tented Camp. It is a pretty new camp and is very well done. The tents are huge and have double sinks, a tub, and an outside shower-where you can shower in private with just the stars above.