After a few more hours of sleep following a very early morning wake up (hello 0300) due to cape buffalo stomping around and snorting outside of our tent, we were very excited to get the day started. As awesome as the trip had been thus far, this was the day that we were most anticipating: Ngorongoro Crater!
We saw EVERYTHING that we were hoping to see, many times over (except for the elusive rhino, of which we only saw twice). This place not only lives up to the hype, it far exceeds it in the most wonderful of ways.
I was positively high from the number of elephants that we encountered!
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| Wildebeest crossing, the line when for miles, and there were THOUSANDS of them! |
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| Cheetah on the hunt |
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| Could not believe the color of this lizard! I did not know this color could exist in nature! |
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| Hello Ngorongoro Crater! |
And down into the Crater we went:
There were two lionesses moving around with 6 cubs between them...oh, I was in love. We enjoyed just standing still and watching them for a good 15-20 minutes.
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| It is newborn season <3 |
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| Two of the 3 rhino that we saw on the entire trip, this was the closest we were able to get! |
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| So many hippos! |
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| And SO many storks! |
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| Watching the rainstorm come in |
It was a beautiful moment having a strong rainstorm blow in and across us. That change in the air, and that smell of the air, as the rain approaches.
We enjoyed seeing, quite literally, thousands of animals in the full day and a half that we spent in the Crater. Of note, the entry fee to the Crater is quite expensive, thus why most tour companies don't do more than a day here, but I promise that it is totally worth it. Plus the fee goes completely back into protection and conservation efforts, so you feel good knowing that your money is going towards such a great cause. Adam and I both agreed that they should double the price, as it would still garner them the money that they need, but decrease the tourism numbers that are slowly eroding the natural beauty of the place.
