Ngorongoro

January 6^th, 2025

Today’s the day!

It’s been a while since I was in the crater. Almost 62 years to be more precise. That was the trip where the roads were all under water. After a very difficult drive to Lake Manyara from Nairobi our next challenge was to drive into the crater in my parents Vauxhall Velox. This was not a car anyone would usually drive in these conditions, but something like impassable roads had never deterred my parents before.

Off we set on the muddy roads. There was no one else on the roads, so every time we got stuck in the mud, Dad had to dig us out while Mum stood and watched and took photos.

When we eventually got to the crater, we were the only vehicle there, and had the whole place to ourselves. It was difficult getting around, but we saw so many animals that day I thought it was the best game viewing ever.

Unfortunately it got dark all too soon, and we had to make the treacherous muddy drive out of the crater. This trip involved us sliding off the road and getting stuck in the mud so many times, I lost count. It was very late at night by the time we finally arrived at the camp on the rim.

After a few beers my father had recovered from the ordeal and announced that we would have a very early start tomorrow for our return trip to the crater. My mother was in full agreement. I was not. No way was I going to go through another day like we had just experienced. I refused to join them and stayed at the camp the next day while my crazy parents and little Vauxhall Velox set off way before dawn to do battle with the muddy road again. The game viewing had indeed been excellent, but there were no giraffes, and I was particularly fond of giraffes those days. There was absolutely no way I was ever going back there again.

Well, that is until today. There are still no giraffes there, but I was game to give it another try. This time in the dry season.

It had been dark when we had arrived at the Lion’s Paw lodge last night. This morning we could see how beautiful it was.

To have breakfast overlooking the view of the crater was a real treat.

The lodge is flanked by beautiful flat topped acacia trees which are only found in this part of the world.

The drive to the floor of the crater was quite long and bumpy, but not muddy, and the view driving down was spectacular.

Finally we arrived on the floor of the crater (well really it is a caldera), and we had the place almost to ourselves for the next 2 hours.

Usually on a game drive you spend your time driving around in search of game. Not so here. There are animals everywhere you look. It isn’t often that we have seen so many buffalos

Zebra

Grant’s and Thompson’s gazelles.

And wildebeest everywhere

There was even a lone hyena

The views are fabulous – the green crater floor, the sparkling lakes, and the bluish walls of the crater forming a stunning backdrop. The deep blue sky above just makes it picture perfect.

The bird life is also amazing.

I especially like grey crowned cranes, and there was a large flock of them. They were particularly photogenic.

There were plenty of birds all around us, especially at the large Lake Magadi.

There were also several pods of hippos. Mostly they were sleeping, but they did give us a good concert of hippo sounds.

We were searching for wildlife along the Munge River when Steven spotted a serval cat. We had never seen one before, and they are notoriously shy, but this one didn’t seem to mind us at all, and we spent a long time watching him. It was magical.

Usually we have found it difficult to take photos of warthogs because as soon as they see us, they put their tails in the air and disappear into the bush. Not there warthogs, they stayed around and posed for us. Best warthog sightings ever!

We also saw several lions. They were sleeping for the most part

But one did get up to have a drink, which was wonderful to watch.

I do like lions, but usually they are asleep except for occasionally raising their heads.

We were not the only visitors to enjoy the lions. A constant stream of safari vehicles joined us in the crater. We were alone no more. It gradually became more and more crowded as more vehicles arrived. This was not how I remembered the crater.

During the day Steven spotted several rhinos in the distance. We were never able to get a close up look at any of them, but it was good to know that they were there and thriving in the crater.

We also saw several elephants in the distance. A couple of them had magnificent tusks. We loved watching them, although I wish they had been closer.

At lunch time we went to a picnic area for a bathroom break but decided not to have our picnic lunch there – it was way too crowded.

There was even a food truck!

We found a quiet spot where we could watch an elephant in the swamp and eat our lunch. We were they only folks there. Much better. And watching an elephant always makes things better.

After lunch Steven took us to the wooded area in the park, where there are beautiful acacias, and the chance of seeing leopards. We didn’t see any leopards, but we did finally have a close encounter with elephants. I had been a bit disappointed that although we had seen plenty of elephants, they had all been in the distance. Now we could see them close up.

We continued to spend the rest of the day driving around the park, just loving being in such beautiful surroundings.

Finally, it was time to leave the crater floor and drive back to the lodge for sundowners

And watch the sun set.

The lodge itself is lovely, with very friendly and helpful staff. It’s like being back on Seabourn. Except for the food. This was not very good unfortunately.

I had asked the company that we had booked the trip through to send an update on our flight tomorrow. I did know the airport and the time of the flight, but that was it. Luckily when we got back to the lodge there was an email with an eticket attachment. It did give the time and airline that we would be on, but it was not a direct flight, and our transfer time in Arusha was only 20 minutes. I checked the flight schedule from Arusha for tomorrow. Basically if we missed the flight the next one would get us to Zanzibar after the ship had sailed. What had happened to the flight we had been told we were on? It was a direct flight from Lake Manyara getting us to Zanzibar in good time. I couldn’t find it anywhere online.

We could always join the ship in Dar es Salaam the next day, but I was very concerned. I had an email from Seabourn specifically stating that if we left the ship in Zanzibar, we would not be able to rejoin in Dar es Salaam. Was this to be the end of our cruise? Would they refuse to let us back on the ship and we would have to fly home in disgrace?

We spoke with Steven about our concern. He was surprised because he had also received an email with a schedule that showed that our flight was an hour earlier than the one we had. It was also not a direct flight, but the lay over in Arusha was an hour and a half and that we would get to Zanzibar 20 minutes later than originally planned. This sounded much better. Phew!

It was a really cold night and I was grateful for the heated under blanket and hot water bottles in our bed, but I wish that our room had been heated. It’s so interesting that it had been so hot during the day on the crater floor, but now up on the rim it was jolly cold.

It had been a really wonderful day. To spend the day surrounded by wildlife really makes me so happy. It did make me think of that time in the crater with my parents so many years ago now. I do miss them and their totally map cap adventures, but I know they would be happy that I had returned to the place that was so special for them.