Tanzania Safari #3 - Ngorongoro Conservation Area

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After lunch at Safariland, we drove a couple of hours through the beautiful countryside, soon coming upon the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. At the entrance to the crater, Abdul went to get our tickets. In the meantime, avoiding the many baboons, we went to the nice little visitor center. You can see a model of the crater area (which I loved) and there are standing displays of the natural area surrounding it, such as human history, plant life, and of course the many types of animals we may expect to encounter. The visitor's center was quite nice and you could easily spend 30 minutes here. Plenty of valuable information to be read.

We then got into our truck and continued the drive up the steep slope - it was very steep to drive and there were very steep cliffs to the side, which could make you a bit dizzy if you looked down! Soon, we arrived at the viewing platform over the crater. With perfect weather, we could see the entire crater from this view. Just beautiful green below, blue skies above, and some nice fluffy white clouds. We could not wait for the next day's adventure!

Serena Ngorongoro Crater Hotel

We drove along the rim of the crater toward our hotel, passing some local women who had gathered wood and were carrying it back to their village. We arrived at the beautiful Serena Hotel, which Abdul said was his favorite hotel chain. It was absolutely gorgeous, with the walls (at least the facade) made of small rock pieces. For me though, it was the attention to the details. It was a pretty long walk to our room, but that is because the hotel is laid out along the crater room and every single room has a balcony with a view over the crater; I have seen many people complain about that, but come on - it's totally worth it!

Anyway, our room was awesome. First of all, we had a very nice proper shower, the first time in days. We each had our own bed, and the headboards had small animal drawings and the throw and pillows also were embroidered with animal depictions. The curtains had animal depictions. There were drawings / paintings on the walls themselves which were so nice (one of ours looked like a baboon pooping....). The doors were etched with animals and the covers on the outside lights were painted with animals. It was so incredibly nice. But the view.... oh the view was just absolutely unforgettable! The clouds were building up within the crater, which was pretty cool, but also meant limited sunset. However, the morning sunrise was just incredible. I love my African sunrises! The colors were just gorgeous.

A went to get a nice massage that evening and loved it, while I relaxed in the room reading and taking a nice looooong hot shower. Then I joined her in the lovely lounge, which had a fireplace and lots of little animal detail decor. We got lava colada (a spin on the pina colada) and chatted for a bit, just enjoying the night before our last safari. This place was definitely more lively than the other places we had visited, which were mostly empty. Here, the room was full, and when we were taken upstairs to our designated table for dinner, the tables were packed. It was almost, almost, overwhelming because it was so different to the previous days. However, it was well organized. We were able to get a buffet salad bar before our selected dinners came. I had a chicken curry, again, not able to eat the whole thing, and it was good, but nothing compared to the other two hotels. The next morning, we were in the same room at the same table for the breakfast buffet, which was absolutely perfect. There were so many options to choose from and we determined this was the best breakfast of the hotels we stayed in.

Then it was time to join Abdul for our final safari. We were sad to say goodbye to the hotel; this was the drawback of the safari trip - the hotels were so nice, but we would only get to experience them for a few hours. I wish we could have stayed at each one two nights. No complaints whatsoever about this amazing and well organized adventure; it just would have been nice (and more money!) to enjoy the incredible hotels.

Ngorongoro Crater Safari

So, we drove further along the rim, passing elephant dung which had not been there the previous evening (where are you?) and then little kids in uniforms on their way to school - they walk quite a distance. So cute! We checked in at the entrance to the park and made our way down the steep slope to the crater. Just, amazing views. We were definitely among the earliest visitors and it paid off as we soon saw a lone bull elephant in the distance, quickly followed by a small herd of zebras in the distance upslope. We saw gazelle, birds, and then a cape buffalo as well. This was all before we made it to the crater floor.

We continued on and encountered dozens of wildebeest and zebras, some of them playing. Abdul said the two of them are often together as they rely on each other for protection. While migrating, zebras are the lookouts as wildebeest have poor eyesight, while the wildebeest are more intimidating. We wandered through many of these herds, just enjoying the sheer amount of animals around us.

Then we entered a forested area that Abdul said was our best chance of seeing the black rhino. We didn't see one and we came out onto a large lake where many animals were just chilling. Gazelle were everywhere and we arrived moments after the birth of a little baby gazelle. For the next 15 minutes we were spellbound as we watched the newborn start to take its first steps. So amazing.

Continuing on, we saw a black rhino in the distance, using our binoculars. As we were watching, we also noted a hyena in the distance as well. This was a close as we got to either, but it was still incredible to see. We then crossed the lake and saw a bunch of elephants and ostriches in the distance, but it was noticeably less crowded with animals and vehicles. We stopped at one spot just as calm, cool seyval sashayed itself down the road. I just loved the colors, the green grass, red roads, blue skies.... incredible.

Our next target was to find some hippos, but we suddenly turned toward the rim, joining several other vehicles in pursuit of..... something. What could it be?? Turns out, it was a pair of lion cubs snoozing away on a rock outcrop. Their mom and auntie were lazing about nearby, seemingly telling us, stay in your cars, take your photos and we don't have a problem. Abdul said the mom and aunt would keep the cubs away from the pride until they are old enough to manage on their own, taking turns hunting. There were about 8 cars there, just silently observing and taking photos. It was the best experience of the day!

Then we left in search of hippos. We saw a bunch on the water, but Abdul said he knew a small, better water hole where we could see them in privacy and have lunch. Unfortunately, there were no hippos here; we saw a few on the way. After doing a last little drive around, we went to another picnic area, at the edge of a lake where we saw hippos in the distance. It was very scenic. Lots of those little bits with the beautiful plumage.

Then, we headed for the exit and climbed up and out of the crater. Sad to leave but an amazing adventure! After this, it was a 3 hour drive back to Ngare Sero Hotel for the night. I have Abdul a nice tip- he was awesome. We had different flights early in the morning, so we had a bottle of wine, a delicious dinner and got some sleep.

Overall Hotels Assessment
I loooooved all three luxury hotels, honestly all the hotels in general. The staff at all hotels went above and beyond and really made you feel welcome.

Luxury hotels

Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge - best grounds, best overall food, best wifi

Escarpment Luxury Lodge - best pool, best dinner, best boxed lunch, best room / chalet. Our favorite.

Serena Ngorongoro Lodge - best view, best breakfast, best shower, best detailed decor.

Other hotels:
Aishi Macheme Hotel - Altezza owned I believe. Great location, nice grounds, view of Kili on clear days. Best prepared.

Bru Bru Hotel - was only here for 12 hours, but great room and shower, best / super friendly staff

Weru Weru River Lodge - good sized room, rustic, art decor, varied food options, best entrance

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

The joys of Africa
You are having a marvelous trip. Thanks for taking us along.

[Ake Och Emma]

You bring back memories
Your pictures from Ngorogoro bring back memories from when we were there in 2015. We loved it there and it seems like you did too. /Ake

[lexispence10]

Amazing Memories
Definitely the highlight of the safaris! I'll remember it forever.