The road is long…

…with many a winding turn…

We had torrential rain overnight and when we woke up this morning at our ‘safari lodge’ there were massive puddles of water everywhere. It was another early start and as we set off after a regal breakfast (the food has been great) in the mist and drizzle I was wondering if we would suffer a disappointing day at the hands of mother nature. We climbed up the Ngorogoro Crater and to be honest, we could have been in the lake district. The visibility was so poor, all you could make out was green, mist and rain. Except of course that the road was red clay (the soil has changed colour again)! Oh, and I was cold. Something I never thought I would say in Africa! How ironic…. Admittedly we were are 2500m when we got to the top of the ridge of the crater. Things were no better as we bumped our way along the ridge to the descent point. Steady rain, properly misted windscreen, cold.

The descent was exciting however, and lifted things somewhat. A steep narrow track, with massive pot holes and boulders twisting and turning sharply down the mountainside… our guide navigated it superbly. As did our trusty vehicle. And as we descended into the crater the mist began to lift. Slowly, meter by meter of our descent as we crept carefully to our destination. It was quite magical. As we emerged into the crater, we were met by a geological marvel. A collapsed volcano crater creating a bowl of deep green. Mostly grassland with a few lakes, it really did feel like we were entering the landscape of fiction. A lost world where dinosaurs might roam…. 

It was absolutely stunning to be completely honest. Unreal. And the wildlife was fantastic. The weather also lifted throughout the day and on the way out we were treated to the most incredible view of this unique savanna. I really was like being in another world. I half expected to turn my head and see an enormous dipladocus striding along. As it was, we were treated to a plethora of beautiful animals. The highlights for me were a pool of hippopotamus, numerous zebra (which I love for some reason), an astonishing encounter with a male lion that walked around the vehicle (and actually peed on the vehicle in front!) and a long watch of a black rhino – there are less than 2,500 in the world and less than 40 in the crater. We got a really good look at this one as it slowly made its way towards where we were stopped. We also saw another three in the distance as we later left the crater – they are normally solitary, but this was a pair and a calf. Such a privilege. Such beauty. To be found in all of the animals, not just the ‘famous’ ones.

Cheeky monkey, playing around 

post hijack incident!

To top it off, we had a close encounter with a baboon when we were parked waiting to ‘check out’ from the reserve. It jumped up to Ruthies window and was about to climb in to steal some food. I lunged towards it (some natural instinct I think) which sent it scuttling, but not before it had given Ruthie the shock of her life – the tachycardia didn’t settle for at least 30min, bless her. We have all laughed about it over dinner tonight though.

An incredible day.

(Unfortunately, the battery on our camera has died, with the charger left behind in Muheza, so all the good wildlife photos from today cannot be retrieved currently).