Day 4 - The Serengeti
Africa’s bumpy roads are hard on vehicles. We had seen a few stalled vehicles over the past few days. And so it was no surprise when our vehicle broke down on our fourth morning out. We spent most of that day at the visitor center where we saw a bunch of mongoose and colorful little birds as we waited for Jonas to get the SUV fixed. Because of the delay, that night we ended up at the first luxury campground inside Ngorongoro again. We arrived just in time to witness a gorgeous African sunset. Because this campsite is inside the reservation, we were among wildlife. As a precautionary measure, at night Masaai warriors escorted us around the campground. They wore rubber sandals made from old tires and carried thin wooden spears along their sides. I wonder if that was enough to actually injure a lion if we were attacked. But I guess they would know how to scare away the animals before it got that far.
Day 5 - Ngorongoro Crater
Two thousand feet deep and fourteen miles across, the Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest inactive and undisrupted crater. This majestic landscape is home to a diverse concentration of wildlife. It boasts the highest concentration of lions in the world. Over a million wildebeest traverse its plains annually during their seasonal migrations.
The Ngorongoro Crater was such a stunning place. We were surrounded by wildlife wherever we drove. In the wooded areas we witnessed elephants spraying themselves with dirt. In the grassland, wildebeasts crashed head first into each other. On top of a little hill, stubby zebras were scratchting their heinies on a fallen tree trunk.
But most spectacular of all, at the watering hole, we were among a myriad of different animals sharing the same space harmoniously. And not to forget, the hippo who took 15 minutes to walk 10 feet to the closest shallow pool only to poop in it and then sank down to bathe in its own poop. Gross but funny.
