Feel the wonder at Ngorongoro
ByIt was just before dawn on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater.
The early morning melodies of a few birds sliced through the fast receding morning darkness and as our safari group piled into the Land Cruiser, we could hear the distant whoop of a hyena.
We had spent the night camping at a Tanzania National Parks campsite on the southwestern rim of the Ngorongoro Crater.
The campsite, though with below basic amenities, had offered breathtaking views of the crater the evening before, and was only a short drive to the crater gate.
There was a good reason for our unfriendly waking hour — we wanted to be first at the gate so that we would have the privilege of being the first vehicle in the crater that morning.
With more than 200 safari vehicles visiting the crater each day, the human traffic, confined to the 300 square kilometre crater, is very noticeable.
Visitors are limited to only six hours in the crater which is famed more for its wildlife densities and up-close photographic opportunities than for offering any remote wilderness experience.
After passing through the park gate, we were soon descending towards the crater floor, inching downwards along the narrow gravel road as the day began to brighten around us.
The crater changed before our eyes; in the dull minutes before sunrise a muted tapestry of soft greens and blues, cloaked in ethereal layers of mist abound.
Soon it was alive with the golden light of sunrise.
The iciness of the morning chill disappeared, the mist evaporated, the colours brightened and the trees began to reverberate with birds chirping.
Once in the crater, a lone bull elephant, framed against the blue-grey crater as the mist rose and evaporated in the background was a stirring introduction to this natural wonder of the world.
We saw a pair of bat-eared fox, a rare treat and we watched as the shy couple hunted in the scrub before melting into the bush.
Herds of zebra, buffalo and wildebeest fed on the fresh green shoots, the occasional black-backed jackal weaving among them.
The crater supplies year-round sources of water and grazing, and is home to approximately 30,000 large mammals such as eland, hartebeest, gazelle, hippo, elephant and black rhino.
With predators such as lions, hyena, jackal, cheetah and leopard also in abundance, the Ngorongoro Crater’s thorn-scrub and grassland is a one-stop-shop for close-up, guaranteed sightings of the best of Africa’s wildlife.
The crater was formed when a massive volcano erupted some 2.5 million years ago, creating in its wake a 600-metre deep, 19-kilometre diameter caldera that is the world’s largest unbroken and unflooded caldera.
The alkaline Lake Magadi on the crater floor is home to flocks of flamingos in the dry season while the Lerai forest with its picturesque fever trees and shadowy woodland is home to waterbuck and plenty of game seeking the forest’s shade.
A pretty (though very busy) picnic spot at Ngoitokitok Springs allows one to become acquainted with the local bird population.
Weaver birds and yellow-billed kites swoop down to snatch whatever they can from the hands of oblivious tourists.
After the mid-morning picnic, the second leg of the game drive offered a lion kill, lone black rhino, kori bustards and very close up sightings of elephant.
It is easy to take game sightings for granted, because so abundant is the crater’s wildlife.
We left the crater before lunch, with the harsh midday sun beating down on all life and we took a last glance from the ascending road.
Source: The East African (http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/magazine/-/434746/818138/-/14jtpk4z/-/)
