We came here after days in Tarangire and Lake Manyara.
The Ngorongoro Crater is part of one of the oldest national parks in the world and used to be part of the Serengeti national park and is the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera [link]. We got there by driving up the sides and then down to go to the flat part which is one of the richest areas for wildlife in the world. It was probably best to save this day for last as, frankly, the other days would have paled in comparison.
The national park had not only animals but also human villages in there. We did not go into them, but it was interesting to see them at least and it is the only conservation area in Tanzania that allows human habitation.
In the morning, we drove around and saw plenty of interesting animals including, from very far away, a rhino. They are very rare so we were supposedly very lucky to get a glimpse[link].
The highlight was definitely the following of a cheetah. This really set my heart racing and I used to have a massive soft spot for cheetahs as a child due to their speed. Benny had thought he had seen one as we drove past an area and so we waited. Waited in vain.
We drove off somewhere else where there were a group of men in the back of a van that appeared to be some kind of freedom fighters to my untrained eye. To the trained eye, however, they were local college students that were studying conservation. As we drove back past the same spot again where Benny had teased us with the cheetah thoughts, he warned us again, and pointed.
There were, for a while, no other cars[1] though there so we were able to follow, slowly behind it and track it as it was on the prowl. It was really an unfogettable experience and watching the languid confidence as it prowled towards other animals was superb. As it strolled towards the zebras, they looked scared but once they were a set distance away, they seemed calm – and that distance was not far. In some of the photos, you can see some zebras running and others watching the cheetah calmly.
Once the other landcruisers were there, the cheetah seemed unconcerned and came closer and then walked away again. It got pretty close[2].
Everything after the cheetah felt a little lower – and I really felt like I was going through the motions when taking photos. I still liked it and actually the lions afterwards were also pretty great, but I felt a bit spoilt. We were close enough to hear the lion breathing (which it does very fast - even when sleeping) so it was not unimpressive. But, really, everything after that seemed a little dialled down.
1. Plenty of cars came after a few minutes as Benny had texted his other guide friends so that they could also bring their visitors – a good system.↩
2. I, rather stupidly, got very close. While I was very excitedly taking photos, my lens cap fell off and in my excitement at the cheetah being there, I kind of forgot that a cheetah was there. I opened the door and got out to go and get the lens cap off the floor. I later lost the lens cap for good in Malaysia where I did not have the bravery to reclaim it.↩
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