Ngorongoro Crater - Tanzania

We left Arusha and drove to the Ngorongoro Crater to start our four day safari with Roy's Safaris.

The Ngorongoro Crater is a fantastic wildlife destination, with reportedly the highest density of large mammals and their predators in Africa.  The area is part of a conservation area - with Masai still living in the area and herding their goats and cows down into the crater to water during the days.

The descent into the crater was gorgeous - bumping along down steep hills with herds of wildebeest and buffalo on the distant plains below.  On entering the park we almost immediately saw our first lion pride.

One of the lions was lying in the shade of a safari truck that was already near the pride.  As it moved off, the lioness was exposed to the sun.

She looked around, then meandered over to the shade created by our truck.  That's her lying next to the vehicle below (photo was courtesy of another truck nearby who emailed it to us on the spot from their iPhone!)

With her paw on our wheel, we were hesitant to leave.  As we did so, she moved her paw with the wheel, almost plaintively saying "why are you taking my shade away again!"

For the rest of the afternoon we were treated to buffalo, a plethora of different birds, wildebeest and finally hyenas (one of which was carrying a piece of something home to its den and cubs).

We also came across a hippo, who treated us to quite a sight - doing what Megan referred to as "rolly-pollys" time after time!  Mid-roll-over, the hippo would pause with its belly exposed and stretch out its legs.  Hilarious to watch!

The next morning we were off to the Serengeti, and saw some more great wildlife and Masai villages along the way.