We had a nice and early start after breakfast and headed for the Crater. It was a damp day with heavy low lying clouds. On the road up to the entrance to the Crater we were greeted by a family of Baboons, we shut all the windows just in case but none of them jumped on the car.
After driving through dense fog (as we were in the clouds) we reached the first viewing point into the crater and obviously could see nothing. We took it in good humour and our driver assured us that it would be fine once we got into the crater as we would be beneath the cloud cover. Our trusty Godwin was right, although it was very cold. The drive itself down the crater walls was interesting as for quite alot of it you could only see a couple of feet in front of the car. But knowing the roads very well, Godwin got us there safe and sound.All I can say is what an amazing site, the greater spans for miles and is a mixture of open grass and sandy land, forests and lakes. Normally the sun beats down into the crater and it is very hot, but with dense low lying clouds it was as i previously said very cold. It was very striking seeing the clouds rolling off the Crater walls. Peter has been many time and said he had not been in the Crater in these conditions, so was some thing new for him too.
We set off on our drive around the Crater to see all the animals. Amy had wanted a full guide as she wants to learn all about them, but if I am honest I quite liked quietly contemplating all that was going on around me. I (Naomi) was particularly excited to see lions. We saw too sets, one mother with her cub hiding in the trees and then a family of two lionesses and two cubs lying in the grass surrounding a buffalo. We think they had just eaten as they didn't seem particularly interested in it. I was beginning to think we wouldn't see a male lion when he popped up (completing the family) had a yawn, a stretch a bit of a stretch, a scratch and then just flopped back down into the grass. (Much like my cat Flump back home).
Godwin was a star at spotting animals, he picked up a solitary hyena sleeping amongst a heard of buffalo. As I understand it, it is unusual for them to be alone. They buffalo got a bit curious when he stood up and started heading in towards him, but when he lay back down again they figured he was no threat and left him alone. I guess he wouldn't of stood a chance against 5 buffalo, so lying down and being nonthreatening was probably his best bet.
We saw hundreds of Zebras and various Buffalo's, several times we were driving right through herds of then. Amazing to be so close to these animals. (Maybe if I get to do this again I can be closer to a Lion as Peter said can sometimes happen).
To make sure we saw as much as possible, we couldn't spend ages watching each individual set of animals, but we saw so much we had no complaints (well most of us anyway). I could go through each experience but suffice to say I could go on for ever. So I will just list them, Elephants, Ostriches, Hippos lazing in various lakes, rhinos (just, he was hiding so we didn't see all of him), Jackals, Dingos (we think, a different kind of dog creature anyway), various Antelopes, two different types of buffalo, various bird, storks, flamingos etc, a deer, and lots of land cruisers and Americans.
Basically the safari was fantastic and really impossible to describe, there are many others areas to visit which we intend to do on future trips. I recommend to anyone visiting Africa that a Safari is a must, and the Crater should be high on the list as you are guaranteed to see animals.
We finished the day and thankfully the clouds had cleared so we got to see the full view of the crater from the top. No words can describe and I am sure our pictures will not do it justice.
Nearly forgot to mention, we met another family of baboons in the forest on the way out. They had decided the road was a perfect place to congregate and have a mass cleaning session and get their willies out (reminds me of a long weekend in Spain where we accidentally found ourselves on a nudest beach).
On the way home we stopped to see Lake Manyara from a view point by the side of the road (with proper toilets, none of this squat and drop malarkey, worth noting for anyone travelling to the area, although make sure you have toilet paper). The lake is huuuugeeeeeee, and beautiful. There were a number of pink areas on it, thankfully not us hallucination or chemicals in the lake, just masses of flamingos (although only a few compared to what you can find during some periods of the year).
We set off on our drive around the Crater to see all the animals. Amy had wanted a full guide as she wants to learn all about them, but if I am honest I quite liked quietly contemplating all that was going on around me. I (Naomi) was particularly excited to see lions. We saw too sets, one mother with her cub hiding in the trees and then a family of two lionesses and two cubs lying in the grass surrounding a buffalo. We think they had just eaten as they didn't seem particularly interested in it. I was beginning to think we wouldn't see a male lion when he popped up (completing the family) had a yawn, a stretch a bit of a stretch, a scratch and then just flopped back down into the grass. (Much like my cat Flump back home).Godwin was a star at spotting animals, he picked up a solitary hyena sleeping amongst a heard of buffalo. As I understand it, it is unusual for them to be alone. They buffalo got a bit curious when he stood up and started heading in towards him, but when he lay back down again they figured he was no threat and left him alone. I guess he wouldn't of stood a chance against 5 buffalo, so lying down and being nonthreatening was probably his best bet.
We saw hundreds of Zebras and various Buffalo's, several times we were driving right through herds of then. Amazing to be so close to these animals. (Maybe if I get to do this again I can be closer to a Lion as Peter said can sometimes happen).To make sure we saw as much as possible, we couldn't spend ages watching each individual set of animals, but we saw so much we had no complaints (well most of us anyway). I could go through each experience but suffice to say I could go on for ever. So I will just list them, Elephants, Ostriches, Hippos lazing in various lakes, rhinos (just, he was hiding so we didn't see all of him), Jackals, Dingos (we think, a different kind of dog creature anyway), various Antelopes, two different types of buffalo, various bird, storks, flamingos etc, a deer, and lots of land cruisers and Americans.
Basically the safari was fantastic and really impossible to describe, there are many others areas to visit which we intend to do on future trips. I recommend to anyone visiting Africa that a Safari is a must, and the Crater should be high on the list as you are guaranteed to see animals.
We finished the day and thankfully the clouds had cleared so we got to see the full view of the crater from the top. No words can describe and I am sure our pictures will not do it justice.
Nearly forgot to mention, we met another family of baboons in the forest on the way out. They had decided the road was a perfect place to congregate and have a mass cleaning session and get their willies out (reminds me of a long weekend in Spain where we accidentally found ourselves on a nudest beach).On the way home we stopped to see Lake Manyara from a view point by the side of the road (with proper toilets, none of this squat and drop malarkey, worth noting for anyone travelling to the area, although make sure you have toilet paper). The lake is huuuugeeeeeee, and beautiful. There were a number of pink areas on it, thankfully not us hallucination or chemicals in the lake, just masses of flamingos (although only a few compared to what you can find during some periods of the year).
We were lucky enough to have a second safari experience on the way home, with a large family of elephant, over 20 giraffes and many many zebras all just wondering along next to the road. Extraordinary.
The rest of the journey was very uneventful, and very tiring. I don't know how poor Godwin did it as he was driving from 7am to 9pm, with only short breaks for food etc. He has been a star this whole trip I must say.
Naomi (and the team)
Naomi (and the team)
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