February 7
After having a more quiet evening at the camp, we had breakfast with Innocent and took off for the Ngorongoro Crater.
This meant saying goodbye to Max and our great camp. Yes – Michael’s bag is bigger than Max’s entire body:
We were planning on spending the afternoon he crater, so the morning was still spent in the Serengeti.
Buffalo that have a break in the center of their horns are male. No dip – female.
We got to see a few more leopard before leaving! Can you spot the adult:
But the cool thing about this leopard is that it had two cubs with it which were snacking on a recent kill. It’s hard to see from this video (but better than any picture I took).
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_7007.movNot the lowest “v” of the tree, but the second lowest. If you play you can see a little guy moving around.
We got to see a few more other animals before leaving the Serengeti including this guy who came right up to us:
And this lioness sauntering off while…
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_7014.mov… freaking out the zebras:
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_7015-1.movWe came to find out that the lioness was actually not hunting, but had just finished nabbing a wildebeest and was keeping the area clear until the rest of her family came to join her for dinner:
Sorry – a little graphic. But I’m sure he was just sleeping…
So with that we left the Serengeti. I know this picture looks like we are entering, not leaving. We were actually wandering over to get our picture taken with the sign but that picture didn’t turn out and this one kind of did, so there you have it.
About Ngorongoro: 8300 square kilometers; the crater covers 310 square kilometers and is 610 meters from the top to the bottom.
Ibis:
Golden Jackal
We saw a rhino. It was super far away, but Innocent was relieved. His last group didn’t get to see one.
So the rhinos are allowed to go anywhere in the park, but there is one area that they prefer to give birth that tourists are not allowed (and possibly the lions are kept out as well). Apparently any slight disruption to a pregnant rhino and she’ll miscarry. So they are very careful to make sure the rhinos have as little disruption as possible. Back in the 90s there were as little as 5 rhinos in the Serengeti. Now there are 30 which they are really excited/proud about. But there use to be “a ton” of rhinos before hunting got out of control in the area. Apparently in the Ngorongoro crater the people in charge won’t commit to exactly how many are in the crate. It’s more than before. But they won’t give people an exact number for whatever reason.
We also had two male lions walk within two feet of our open window (read: faces). They were not at all concerned with the humans.
I definitely pushed the limits on the above photo. I wanted portrait mode to kick in, but it never did and I just ended up being that tourist trying to get her arm attacked by the lion. I came to my senses and quickly pulled my arm back in.
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_0914.trim_.movThey were really close!!
More cranes – still the national symbol of Uganda and still really goofy looking
Hyena that was rolling around in the mud
Some lions hanging out on a tree:
Lerai Forest: the forest is here because the ash from the volcano eruption didn’t reach this area.
This was the end of the Ngorongoro Crater. We headed off to a new lodge for the evening.
The lodge was right on the edge of the crater and as such had a ton of wildlife that wandered right up to the rooms and the deck. My favorites were these waterbocks who were out behind the deck to the restaurant.
Beautiful, right? Plus they took the cuteness award away from my dik-dik with this cuddle session:
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_7112.movAn incredible day that ended with wildlife, a great meal and a beautiful sunset.