Living "The Lion King": Part 1

A few weeks ago, we took a two-day safari and journeyed to the Ngorongoro Crater, which is one of the highlights of the Crater Highlands created by volcanoes and collapsed volcanoes in Northern Tanzania. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most popular tourist areas in Tanzania, known for the incredible sights and large number of wildlife. To get into the crater, you have to drive up the mountain, travel along the rim of the crater, then down the mountain into the crater basin which spans almost 19 km.

Inside the crater, you basically ride in a Land Rover around a network of dirt roads just looking for animals, and when you find one, you stop and everyone takes a picture and then you keep driving. So it's like a zoo without fences or signs posted that say "Here is the Zebra." Rather, the entire zebra herd just walks right by your truck and is like, "Hey, we're zebras. Take the picture already so we can finish crossing the road and eat our lunch." One interesting point is that you're not allowed to get out of the vehicle at any point during your time in the crater except for two different picnic lunching sites. While some ignorantly complain about this minor detail, it's understandable with the liability issues; you don't see people jumping into te cages at the zoo. So no getting out of the truck. Duh. :)

It was very early morning when we arrived at the entrance, and the first bit of wildlife we spotted were ten monkeys crawling all over the ranger's vehicle, kind of like a scene out of "Jumanji!" The above picture was taken at the entrance of the one-way road we trekked down to get into the crater (only one way in and one way out) which you can see although it is impossible to see the crater in its entirety that early in the morning. As soon as we reached the bottom, it was like Jurassic Park (sorry for movie comparisons, but it's a point of reference), quiet and still but everyone knew something was out there, all around us; we just had to find it...

*To be continued! Do rebellious members of the LCCT group break crater policy and get out of the vehicle? Are their trucks charged by a pack of ravenous lions?? Will the group make it out alive on the "travel at your own risk" road??? For more of Kate's Ngorongoro Crater adventures, read the next post! :) (I think I need to get a job....)