Ngorogoro Crater was formed about 2-3 million years ago, when a volcano exploded and subsequently collapsed on itself, leaving a huge crater, about 300 square kilometers in area. It is daunting to imagine how all of these volcanic explosions and implosions may have effected the birth of humanity, whose cradle was in the Kenyan and Tanzanian Rift Valley. Surely, adaptation to the volcanic activity which must have resulted in a massive destruction of plant life, must provided an advantage to carnivores hominids over those that ate only nuts and seeds. The crater walls vary in height, but on the average, the crater is 600 meters deep. One side of the crater is shallower, providing an opportunity for some animals to enter and leave. While zebra and wildebeest enter the crater in a seasonal fashion, most animals remain in the crater the whole year round. Male elephants tends to live within the crater in gangs, but now that the rainy season was over, and the females were in heat, most of the male elephants abandoned the crater, leaving only the old guys behind. The craters highlands are covered mainly by montane (rain)forests, similar to the base of Kilimanjaro, while the bottom of the crater consists of grassland. Even so the base of the crater is at about 1700 meters elevation, a little higher than the Serengeti. There is a salt lake at the center of the crater which ids fed by a natural stream, the Munge. This stream supplies the rich animal life with fresh water all year round. The Maasai used to live in the crater over thirty years ago. while they are allowed to bring their cattle and goats tot he crater, the are no longer allowed to settle inside.
The crossing point for migrating animals
Maasai villages adjacent to the Ngorogoro Crater
We arrived late afternoon at eh Ngorogoro Sopa Lodge, which like the hotels in the same chain in the Serengeti were first class, with large rooms, bathrooms and beautiful views. The Sopa Lodge was at the highest point of the crater at 2800 meters elevation, and it really did not make sense why they would build an unheated swimming pool at that elevation. But they did heat the bedrooms at night. Computer connectivity, like elsewhere in Tanzania, was nonexistent, partly because of the relatively outdated equipment, I presume.
Ngorogoro Sopa Lodge
The next morning we descended into the crater. Twenty-two years ago, when I was here in the rainy season, the salt lake was filled with flamingoes. This time, the lake shore had receded, and the flamingoes were visible only from the distance. We did drop in on a group of lions digesting their breakfast. Judging by the bones that the hyenas were eloping with, and the fullness of their bellies, they must have caught a warthog.
Elswehere, over twenty vehicles were about to witness the hunting of another seemingly unknowing warthog at the edge of a swamp. A lioness slowly closed in on the warthog, nearly shutting off all escape routes, while another less interested lioness watched from the distance. Maybe she decided her friend should do the work this time. It was a game of chess, playing out over minutes, almost an hour. The lioness may have been only 30 yards away from the warthog, waiting for it to drink from the swamp. But it would never turn its back long enough for her to make the the dash. Lions were not as fast as cheetahs and in contrast to leopards were not able to hunt at night. They could sustain a top speed of 60 km/hr for only a hundred meters or so. Well, unfortunately for the lioness, and much to the delight of the women audience, the warthog finally either smelled or saw the lions ears poking out from the grass.
After the failed coup, the two lionesses left the site, walking along the edge of the swamp. It was easy to know where they were heading as all of the animals, including wildebeest and zebras stood frozen looking into a single direction, frozen and attentive. With this fearful respect paid by hundreds of animals, even hundreds of meters from the lions, it was clear why the lions received their title as kings of the animal kingdom.
Finally, we were able to find several hippopotamus pools. But other than sleeping motionlessly in the swamps or swimming along the surface of the water far away from human activity, there was little to see. We also encountered some unusual birds, such as the pale-chanting goshawk, secretary birds, bateleurs, and the Kori bustard.
Hippo Pool
Bateleur
Kori Bustard
Water Buffalo
We left the crater in the afternoon to spend one last night on the road. this time we stayed in a newly opened hotel, which was intended to become a spa, on the outer hillsides of the crater. The hotel owner, Willy Chambolo, descended from African and German natives of Tanzania. He was a guide in the National Parks for many years, but ten years ago decided to enter the hotel business, in addition to managing several (mainly coffee) farms. He was running about ten hotels in the area. The Kitela Lodge was completely designed by him, with the design being adapted from a South African hotel, with palm reed thatched roofs, high ceilings. The hotel consisted of several bungalows, clustered around a hacienda-styled reception area, and adjacent to his vegetable garden and coffee plantation. The plants were treated with recycled and treated water, the houses were powered with solar panels. There were fireplaces everywhere, in the bar, the restaurant, and in every bungalow. We were still at an altitude of 1900 meters, so that made sense. Drinks were free, we tried a local infusion, and his kitchen utilized only vegetable grown organically in his garden. while eating supper, they arranged the room, as in most other hotels, closing the mosquito net around the beds, closed the shutters, but in this case, they also started a fire in the fireplace. The pool and spa areas were not ready yet, but the Kitela lodge was already booked out completely for several months to come.
The next day we left for the Kilimanjaro international Airport. We stopped at one more handcrafts outlet, employing local artists. We were going to spend our last Tanzanian Schillings, but managed to also leave a few dollars there after some hard bargaining. The propeller plane barely seated ten passengers. One of the main reasons for booking a flight to return was to fly over and photograph Kilimanjaro. The only problem was that it was under a cloud cover that day, and apparently this was the weather since we had left the mountain. I guess the guides were not carrying their umbrellas to ward off the clouds.
Hussein, our guide
Cloud-covered Kilimanjaro
Over the clouds
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