This was a fabulous day, as all days were, only marred by the knowledge that it was the last day of our guided safari.
We spent a long day in the Ngorongoro Crater. This crater is considered the “Cradle of Mankind” because many of the earliest remains of humans were discovered there. It is enormous, 100 square miles, and was formed 2-3 million years ago when a massive volcano exploded and collapsed on itself. Now it is a nature preserve. With much water, it is full of water birds and the many, many animals who arrive looking for water. As I wrote earlier, the only large indigenous animals that don’t come into the crater are giraffes who can’t manage the steep entrance and also wouldn’t find the food they need there, with few of the trees they feed on growing in the crater itself. Driving in and out of the crater is an adventure unto itself, traveling the steep switchback route through dense rainforests into and out of the heat of the crater.
As you have seen, during our days in the Serengeti we saw all of the big cats, and each of them several times and up close. That in itself was amazing but by the end of this day, we had added two more cats up close – the serval and the caracal. We had seen the serval deep in the weeds capturing a rodent on Day 5. This time it was coming out of the grass and came quite close to us. How about that pink tongue? As a true cat lover, I can’t resist posting all of these for the other cat lovers out there. I’m also including Jackie’s video.
The caracal cats likewise, were first spotted far off and then came very close to the road which allowed me to get some really adorable shots of the two kittens. The kittens raced ahead of their mother (see the horrible pictures, which I only include to show their speed) up to the small outcropping of rocks. She followed them up and then walked back into the field, calling them. They seemed happy to stay up there on the rocks. The mother came back and really meowed at them, but they stayed put. Finally one went down and then the second kitten followed him down, but just then a Martial eagle soared up above and the kittens raced back to the rock for safety. It was a very fun 20 minutes. I hope you can follow the story from the photos and video.
I like to include links to interesting information and videos in these blogs and this video of how the caracal cats can leap up to 10 feet in the air is pretty cool. https://www.pbs.org/video/supernature-wild-flyers-caracals-incredible-vertical-launch/
Wildebeests! – what so many people come to Africa to see. We didn’t choose to witness the “great migration” of the wildebeests and zebras on this trip, but I did enjoy seeing them up close. Two of them locked horns for at least a full minute, but nothing came of it. You might notice that a little Wattled Starling is taking the place of Red-billed Oxpeckers.
We didn’t see many antelope in the crater, but we did see a nursing Thompson’s gazelle.
I’m quite embarrassed to show any pictures of the one Rhinoceros we saw that week – but here it is – from miles away and seriously cropped in order to make out what that little white spot was.
We had a crazy experience with a large elephant who was about to cross the road to join another. She came right up to our jeep, which was considerably out of her way, in a manner that seemed quite aggressive to us. Adam, however, said you can see in their eyes when there might be trouble and this elephant didn’t show that. As it turns out, Adam was right, thankfully! (I forgot to ask him what we would have done if it had looked dangerous.)
The first picture is uncropped and shows how close it came. Jackie’s video shows her glancing at us as if to say, “I could, if I wanted to…”
There are lions in the crater, but we didn’t see many. Here is one shot of a small family on the move through the tall grass.
Zebras were plentiful, however, and we got to see several young ones up close. You can tell them by their brown fuzzy fur and mane.
There was a lot of nuzzling going on. Stripes going every which way is like op-art and kind of makes my eyes hurt!
And here is a rock they were using to scratch themselves on, taking turns, which was fun to watch. Here’s one of them who had just finished rubbing its belly and moved on the the neck and ears.
A cattle egret paid a visit to these two zebras. I know the last shot is not sharp but the egret’s position was just amusing – to me it looks like someone wrapped him up in a white bathrobe!
So now it’s time for a slew of birds again. With all of the water in the crater, birds are a main attraction. We saw white pelicans again;
and right next to them in the pond, the Yellow-billed Stork with Black-winged Stilts beside it.
Jackie was especially excited to see the Flamingos. I wasn’t able to get the picture of them in flight that I wanted but they are discernible amongst the other birds in flight. Eventually we came close to what appeared to be a little family with the not-yet-pink “kids” and a Blacksmith Lapwing. Flamingos are amusing birds, to be sure!
The one time I had the chance to get the flamingos close up in flight, the camera insisted on focusing on the Cape Teals instead.
I had never heard of Avocets, but here are Old World Avocets with their upward curving bill, helpful in stirring up the shallow waters in pursuit of invertebrates and insects.
Ibises were plentiful, especially the African Sacred Ibis.
We also saw many black Ibises but always further away. Maybe the best shots I got of them were in flight, though still far away. The heavens were certainly full of birds down there.
Here is an immature Blacksmith Lapwing, a pretty bird.
Lots of herons and egrets
Black-winged Stilts which we also saw with the Flamingos.
Outside of the watery areas we also saw lots of birds: the large Kori Bustard; the even larger Ostriches; the White-headed Vulture, finishing up a kill; the little Wattled Starling that we had seen on the wildebeests; and a new one for me – the White-browed Coucal, a type of cuckoo.
But I have saved the best for last – the Grey-crowned Crane – real beauties! We first saw a couple at a great distance. Luckily we later came upon 5 of them so close that I never managed to get all 5 in one picture.
And this marks the end of our tour with Adam!