Ngorongoro Crater - Mesarani Snake Park

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Wallowing Hippos

If you want Safari we got safari!
We got up before dawn to be picked up in Land Cruisers to go to Ngorongoro Crater. The first creature to be spotted was the Tanzanian Prime Minister, who had decided to hold a rally for the upcoming elections in the middle of the road, which held us up a bit as the armed police were not going to let us go anywhere. Just before the entrance a troop of Olive Baboons crossed the road & we were all very excited & trying to take photos of them. The entrance to the Ngorongoro Crater conservation area is just like the gates to Jurassic Park, opening up on lush green vegetation with the expectation of man eating creatures lurking within. We then had to get into the crater which involved driving up a fog covered road up to the rim & then dropping down into the bowl. When the fog shortly lifted we were presented with vast expanse of the yellow crater strewn with black dots that later became zebra & wildebeest. A Maasai warrior who was grazing his cattle walked up to us & wondered if we would like to buy the teeth of a lion he had killed. Only wanting to take photos from the crater we passed on his offer, opened the roof any continued onto the crater floor. The first predators we came across were a couple of hyena lazing by a watering hole doing not a lot but sporadically flicking there tails. After passing a few groups of Thompson & Grants Gazelles our guide said he thought he saw something & borrowed our binoculars we drove to sighting & found a Cheetah feeding (what our guide had really spotted was the jeep already watching the cheetah). The rest of the morning was filled watching Silver Backed & Golden Jackels, Koke's Hartebeest, Hippo, Buffalo, Crowned Crane, Kori Bustard, Blacksmith Plover, Ostrich, Secretary Birds, Egyptian Geese, Hornbills, Malachite Kingfisher, Rufus Tailed Weavers, Sacred Ibis, Black Headed Vulture & African Fish Eagle & then it was time for lunch. We ate sandwiches by a big pool with elephants on the other side, Sam managed to lose her sandwich to a Black Kite which swooped & snatched it out of her hand, a pretty mean feat by the bird as Sam was shielding herself with the car door to prevent it from happening.
After lunch & repeatedly asking what our chances of seeing a lion were we found a pride of seven lions hanging out in some long grass. The lions did little more than let out an occasional roar but they were still very cool. The rest of the hot afternoon was spent revisiting some of the animals including a troop of Black faced Vervet Monkeys & getting decidedly dustier. We drove home as the sun set on the crater & the surroundings were bathed in a dusky pink as we all drifted off to sleep in the back of the car.

Drink of the Day: Kilimanjaro Beer.

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