Ngorongoro Crater

(The Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers 8,292 square kilometers in northern Tanzania. It is one of the three divisions that comprise Ngorongoro District in Arusha Region.

NCA was established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, designated to promote the conservation of natural resources, safeguard the interests of NCA indigenous residents and promote tourism. NCA is a unique protected area in the whole of Africa where conservation of natural resources in integrated with human development.
The main features of the NCA include the Ngorongoro Crater, The Serengeti Plains that support about 2.0 millions migratory wildlifespecies of the Serengeti Mara-ecosystem (TAWIRI, 2003) and the catchment forest; and  the Northern Highland Forest Reserve (NHFR) known as ‘Entim Olturot’ in Maa language. Other important features found in the NCA are the archaeological and palaeontological site located at Oldupai Gorge and the early human foot-prints that were discovered at Alaitole in Ngarusi area. Because of these particular features and the harmonious co-existence between wildlife and people that has existed for many years, NCA was accorded the status of a World Heritage Site and listed as one of the International Biosphere Reserves by the UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme.

This map shows the crater, which is where we toured.  Our hotel was on the crater rim, located at about 8:00.

The main feature of the NCA is the Ngorongoro Crater, a large, unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera. The Crater, which formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself some two to three million years ago, is 610 m (2,000 ft) deep and its floor covers 260 km² (100 sq mi).^[5] Estimates of the height of the original volcano range from fifteen to nineteen thousand feet (4500 to 5800 metres) high.

The crater highlands on the side facing the easterly trade winds receives 800–1200 mm of rain a year and is covered largely in montane forest, while the less-steep west wall receives only 400–600 mm; this side is grassland and bushland dotted with Euphorbia bussei trees. The crater floor is mostly open grassland with two small wooded areas dominated by Acacia xanthophloea.

We entered the crater on the northwest corner and followed the one-way road that descended steeply.

The Maasai are allowed to water and graze their cattle in the Crater but they must exit daily.  This herd of cows was just coming up over the rim.

The men were likely selling items to other safari tourists. 

But we were happy just taking pictures.

I'm glad we took a few group shots!

And then we descended into the crater and met this group of donkeys coming up, loaded with water  jugs.

Three young girls walked alongside.

This kind of volcanic rock was found all over.

Aside from herds of zebra, gazelle, and wildebeest, the crater is home to the "big five" of rhinoceros, lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo. The crater plays host to almost every individual species of wildlife in East Africa, with an estimated 25 000 animals within the crater.  The current drought meant that we didn't see nearly those numbers of animals.  Nearly half the wildebeests and zebras will leave during the migration too. 

On my next post, I'll share some pictures of the wildlife we saw.  

(Information from ngorongorocrater.com and wikipedia)

Oldupai Gorge

On our way to Ngorongoro Crater, we stopped to visit Oldupai Gorge, the site where Louis and Mary Leakey did their archaeological dig work.  

Gouged into the edge of the Salei Plains is Oldupai (or Olduvai) Gorge, a steep-sided, 48km-long ravine whose depth reaches 150m in places. Furrowed out of the volcanic land by the capricious Oldupai River, the rock strata on either side of the gorge have exposed the fossilized remains of animals and over fifty hominids dating back almost two million years, and – when taken together with finds from Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa – comprise an archeological trove of inestimable importance for understanding the origins of humankind.

The fossils were first noted in 1911 by Professor Kattwinkel, a German butterfly collector, who stumbled across them quite by chance, and took the fossilized remains of a three-toed horse back to Berlin's Museum für Naturkunde. Two decades later, his findings aroused the curiosity of a Kenyan-born British anthropologist, Louis Leakey, whose name now features in almost any discussion on human prehistory. In 1931, inspired by nothing more than a gut feeling that Africa was the "cradle of mankind", Leakey began excavating at Oldupai Gorge.

For almost thirty years, Louis and his wife, Mary, found only stone tools, the oldest belonging to the so-called Oldowan industry (1.2 to 1.8 million years ago). Spurred on by the belief that the remains of the hominids that had created the tools could not be far behind, they persevered, and their patience was finally rewarded in 1959 by the discovery of two large human-like teeth and a piece of skull. Further digging provided over four hundred additional fragments, which were painstakingly reassembled to form the 1.75 million year-old skull of Australopithecus boisei ("southern ape"), nicknamed Nutcracker Man on account of his powerful jaws. The tool-maker had been found, and the discovery – at the time, the oldest known – provoked a sea-change in paleontological circles, especially as the skull's size and dentition displayed uncanny similarities with modern man. The unavoidable conclusion was that the Leakeys had unearthed a direct ancestor of modern man, and in fact that the much vaunted "missing link" had been found.

The theory was accepted until disproved by much older finds from Ethiopia, and from Laetoli south of Oldupai, and since then poor old Nutcracker Man has been consigned to history as an evolutionary dead end. His importance remains, however, in showing that hominid evolution was not a simple linear progression. The find also spurred on a flurry of further excavations at Oldupai, which showed conclusively that two other hominid species, almost certainly our ancestors, lived contemporaneously with Nutcracker Man – Homo habilis ("handy man") and Homo erectus ("upright man").

Over the years, various claims have been made for one place or another being the "cradle of mankind", but it's way too early to say this with any certainty (indeed, a recent find of seven-million-year-old hominid fossils in Chad makes the East African fossils look positively juvenile, though the dating is disputed), and of course fossil beds are usually revealed by geological chance, which in East Africa was the Rift Valley. What is certain, however, is that the incredible journey into our prehistory first began to make sense at Oldupai, and it's a journey that, if it can be traced at all, should happily continue to baffle humankind for many years to come.

(from roughguides.com)

It was an interesting little museum but quite mysteriously, the pictures I took seem to have disappeared between here and there.  I know Sandra took lots so I'll have to dip into her images and find some. 

The museum was in two rooms and was definitely a tiny little  place considering the significance of this place.  My favourite part was the story of a Japanese man who decided to trace the path of human development and cycled from his home in Japan to Oldupai Gorge, over 2 years.  It was fascinating - and I can't find a single online link to it - sorry!

Little Things

There were lots of little things to marvel about as we toured along each day.  Here's a glimpse - 

at the place where we ate lunch -

these guys were waiting for crumbs and leftovers!  The hyrax on the right was quite large (like a cat but with shorter legs) and they were bold.

They are tree climbers too and once we saw them on the ridge cap of some lodge buildings.

The warthogs were cute - at least from far away!  Adults seemed to always eat and root around on their knees.

These tsetse fly traps attract the bugs and we saw them mostly on the west side of the park.  

These glass doors were on the park headquarters building as we exited the park.  They also had some displays about the migration routes of bird through Africa and other info, just like our parks have.  

And with that we left the Serengeti and headed into some of the driest land we would see in the whole trip.  We crossed to Oldupai Gorge, where Louis and Mary Leakey worked for more than 60 years to excavate evidence of hominoids.

Cats in the Serengeti

As we spent long hours in our safari vehicle, we had lots of opportunities to ask Chris, our driver, questions.  One question was "What do most people want to see on safari?"  His immediate response was, "The Cats!"  Some people only come to see them and don't care about much else.  We loved seeing all the pieces / types / variety of wildlife and were thrilled with everything from birds to elephants!  

There is no doubt that there are lots of cats and one day we saw a whole variety of them!  Here is a glimpse of what happened between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m..

It started with this cheetah walking through the savannah.

Remember the lions watching the Cape buffalo herd?

Chris was always looking at big shady trees and watching for "branches" hanging down.  Do you see this one?

It was really this guy, resting!  Thanks to Clarence and Sandra for sharing their zoom lens - we got some marvelous shots using it!

And then we saw a gathering of vehicles and knew there was something interesting over that way.  Here's what we found - the biggest, healthiest male lion we saw during the whole trip, I think.

He was fascinating to watch as he crossed the wide open space.  

And came to the shade of this tall tree.  Chris had predicted his move so we were already there, waiting for him to pose.

And then he laid down, right on the edge of the shade which meant as the sun moved through the afternoon, he'd stay in the shade.

Further down the road were a male and a female in the early stages of courtship.

He spent alot of time yawning and licking his lips!

And then the next morning as we were leaving the park, cruising (as if that's possible on those kinds of trails) along, Sandra suddenly called out, "Wait, wait, wait! We just passed something."  She was sitting in the back seat and was the only one who realized we'd just passed this cheetah.  Chris even missed it!

The termite hill was right beside the road and he checked the terrain and then got down to walk a little further and lay down where we couldn't see him - in the shade.  I love how he blends into the grass here.

You couldn't help but be fascinated by the big mammals!

Serengeti Landscapes

It was so interesting to watch the landscape change in the Serengeti.

Where there was water, there was green.  Palm trees even grew around some of the water holes.

And where there was no water, there was dryness and dust.

Chris said that the elders say rain is coming in 4 - 6 weeks when the acacia trees start to get green.   Now that we are home we believe him because it rained in Samburu in late December and early January, about 2 months after we were there.   

This cheetah was majestic across the savannah.

These 2 females and 1 male lion were starting courtship.  We watched awhile but other than a bunch of yawning, not much happened.

The hyenas always seemed to find a mudhole to cool off in.  You can see some hills starting to creep in here.

The termite hills were the only tall things in some parts!

And then we came upon these interesting rock formations called kopjes. 

The Serengeti plain is punctuated by granite outcroppings known as kopjes. These outcroppings are the result of volcanic activity. They were formed when the volcanoes of the Ngorongoro highlands erupted over one million years ago, spewing ash over the southernmost third of the Serengeti to create a rich and fertile, but alkaline, soil that produces short, sweet grass when it rains.

The Kopjes of Eastern Africa tend to be a refuge for life in the Serengeti of Tanzania and Kenya. Where the soil is too thin or hard to support tree life in large areas, soil trapped by Kopjes can be dense with trees while the surrounding land contains only short grass. Hollows in the rock surfaces provide catchments for rainwater. Many animals have adapted to the use of Kopjes, to include the lion, hyrax, and an abundance of bird and reptile life. One kopje likely to be seen by visitors to the Serengeti is the Simba Kopje (Lion Kopje) which was used as the inspiration for the Disney Lion King movie.  (from geocaching.com)

They were interesting and from the trail looked completely deserted.  I'm sure there were lots of animals, especially small ones including snakes, hiding there!

You can see a great map at safarimappers.com.   Here's a little explanation of the park from the website.

"The name 'Serengeti' comes from the Maasai language and means an 'extended place'. The National Park alone covers an area of 12,950 square kilometres. The Serengeti ecosystem, which includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Grumeti Game Reserve, the Maswa Game Reserve, the Maasai Mara Game reserve (in Kenya) and numerous concession areas, is roughly the size of Sicily. It lies between the shores of Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi in the south, and the Great Rift Valley to the east."

Box Lunches

When we headed out on an all-day game drive, the lodges would send along box lunches for our noon meal.  The boxes were lovely - strong cardboard, hotel logo, lots of room and the lunches were, well, interesting!

Inside were: a juice box, apple, banana, slice of pound-type cake (always very dry), yogurt, a wedge of cheese, a hard-cooked egg and a sandwich.  The sandwiches were 3 triangles of white bread, with butter on both sides, and one thin slice of a salami type meat.  No mustard - no mayo - no lettuce - none of the condiments with which we would build a sandwich.  The first couple of days it wasn't too bad but after day 8 - well, I'd had enough!  Only once did we get some celery and carrot sticks.  And even more surprising - Bob and Clarence got the very same lunches on their Kilimanjaro hike!!  There was always plenty to eat and Chris always collected the leftovers to share with the carwash boys or other employees.  The first day, the 7 boxes were stacked in 2 large white shopping type plastic bags and Chris made sure we kept those bags to reuse because not every lodge would have bags to put the boxes in so they would ride safely in the vehicle.  I definitely appreciate the way we make sandwiches at home now!!

Morning in the Serengeti

We stayed in Serengeti National Park for 3 days and took several game drives.  One day we started out early in the morning and came upon this setting where a company was getting ready for the ballooners to land and enjoy their champagne breakfast.    It looked very elegant with tablecloths and wine bottles set out.  We left the balloon ride for our next trip - it looked like a great activity but would have been an extra $1000 for the 2 of us.  

There were countless species of antelope grazing everywhere.  These are Thompsen's gazelles and Chris always called them "Tommies".

The track wended its way past this quiet pool.

And we used Clarence and Sandra's zoom lens to capture some bird pictures.  This was a lilac-breasted roller.  Rollers are named from a tumbling courtship or territorial display flight in which birds "roll" through the air. (from Mark Nolting's African Safari Journal)  We never saw them flying or rolling, just perching and watching.

Further along the way, we came upon another hippo pool where cranes were standing in the sun on the shore.

And then we found the lions!!  On the other side of the hippo pool, this matron climbed to the top of the hill to lie in the sun - 

while across the way , the rest of the pack was intent on watching a herd of Cape buffalo.  When the lions were standing, the buffalo were very wary and didn't graze.  

But when the lions laid down in the shade, the buffalo went back to grazing.  It was an amazing display of the predator - prey relationship. 

The matriarch left her hilltop -

and sauntered down - 

to cross the road right behind us - 

and rejoined the pride.

This pool, across the road from the lion's tree, marked a crossroads on the trail and after spending an hour or so, we headed out again.  We loved this corner!

Further along, we found another group, this time with cubs.

They were tuckered out and slept soundly beside mama.  We never did see any young lions playing.

All that - and more - before lunch!!