Travel in Tanzania: Game Drive in Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest extinct volcano, and has become a literal oasis for thousands of beautiful African animals.
The Masaai people used to live inside the crater, but their homes have since been relocated to the picturesque mountainside, surrounded by endless vibrant green rolling hills.

The landscape appeared similar to the fertile soils of Ireland, yet with the added bonus of local exotic wildlife. 😉In fact, because the crater is so remote and difficult to access, it has been called one of the world’s most unchanged wildlife sanctuaries. ❤While in Ngorongoro, we took 4×4 jeeps down into the crater to view a plethora of wildlife living on this fertile soil, and beside this natural salt lake.
There was a definite peaceful coexistence among the animals, as monkeys, birds, and many hoofed mammals all lived in close proximity to one another.

ostrich with gazelle and wildebeest in the background

zebra family near birds and other grazing mammals

zebra standing next to an elephant skull

One of the first highlights of our game drive included a Caracal cat who had just caught a bird, and was spotted running with it across the open plain! 😮We also saw many East African Crowned Cranes.By far though, the top highlight of the day was our sighting of two black rhinos, a rare find based on population size.

Fun fact#1: Black rhinos and white rhinos are actually the same color. What differentiates the two is that white rhinos are grazing animals with wide mouths, and black rhinos are browsing animals, with pointed mouths.

Fun fact #2: Cheetah once roamed these lands, but the growing hyena population has steadily stolen their food supply, and their numbers have greatly diminished. Hyenas are scavengers, which is their strength and downfall, as many hyenas also end up dying from eating rotten, bacteria-ridden flesh. Yuck!

Fun fact #3: Warthogs have to eat kneeling down, because their necks are too short. 😛
Fun fact #4: To distinguish the two types of gazelles, remember that Grant’s Gazelles are much larger and have a white patch on their rump, while Thompson’s Gazelles have a horizontal stripe along their side.

Later on in the day we stopped down by the lake, where we had gorgeous views of the surrounding hills and an up-close encounter with hippo families wading in the water. Overall, Ngorongoro Crater completely blew me away for its utter seclusion and stunning natural beauty. It should definitely be added to anyone’s Africa bucket list. Love! ❤Our group sure enjoyed the crater! 😀
As we were leaving a baboon even tried to jump into our car and steal a banana off the dashboard!Never a dull moment around here. 😉