Kenya and Tanzania 2008: 8/18/2008 Serengeti, Olduvai Gorge, all day game drive Ngorongoro Crater, Ngorongoro Sopa

Buffet breakfast at our lodge. Check out. We are leaving the Serengeti behind us. We see some hyenas as we're driving.

We head out to a part of the Ngorongoro Conservation area-Olduvai Gorge. Unique geological history where layer upon layer of volcanic deposits were laid down over a period of almost 2 million years. It provides a remarkable documentation of ancient life. The most famous fossil is the 1.8 million year old apelike skull known as Australopithecus boise which was discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959 and which gave rise to a heated debate about evolution. Here we hear a lecture about the Leakey discovery and general information on the gorge and then we tour the museum. I also bought some souvenirs-a scarf for my aunt and a Maasai ceremonial bonker. I was fascinated by all I learned. And the views were fantastic!

Postcard

Check in Ngorongoro Sopa. Then it's what I've been waiting for. We will spend the rest of the day down in the Ngorongoro Crater. Blue-green vistas, close range viewing opportunities, and a huge concentration of wildlife. It is one of the largest calderas in the world. Here you can find grasslands, swamps, forests, sultans, a fresh water lake, and rich bird life. Wildlife shares the crater with local Maasai who have grazing rights for their cattle. All vehicles must be out of the crater before 6:00 pm.

Driving down into Ngorongoro Crater

Gate into the crater

In the crater we see weaver bird nests in a tree, wildebeest, hyena, zebra, kori bustard, superb starling, helmeted guinea fowl, cape buffalo, cheetah. We saw hundreds of flamingos wading in the shallows of Lake Magadi, the soda lake at the crater's base. Despite the crater's steepness there is constant movement of animals in and out thanks to the permanent water and grassland on the crater floor. The scenery captures my attention as much as the wildlife. I was blown away by how beautiful it was.

Weaver bird nests in this tree

White bearded wildebeest

Kori bustard-neck up

Kori bustard-neck down

Superb starling

Helmeted guinea fowl

Wildebeest

White bearded wildebeest

Hyena

Flamingos wading in the shallows of Lake Magadi

Cheetah

At a hippo pool we stop to have a box lunch picnic. The hippo pool is not what I expected. It sounds like the hippos are farting! When they do this we can see a bit of the mud and water shoot into the air!