Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Our day started at 6 AM, breakfast buffet at 6:30, on the road at 7 driving down into the crater. First sighting hundreds of wildebeast , then a pride of 3 lions, some Thompson gazelles, zebras, beautiful crowned cranes who sport what looks like a golden Afro and a grant gazelle with her. The "piece de resistance" was a view of thousands of pink flamingos on blue water! Amazing!!!
Further along we observed wildebeests grazing together, a zebra sniffing prone wildebeast and then "hippo heaven," a family of hippos lounging and snoozing in the water! A "dust devil," a perfect funnel was the backdrop, many miles away.
The crater is a perfect eco-system with grazing land and a soda lake whose size varies with the rainfall. The wild animals enjoy the area together with little or no conflict unless a lion is hungry!
We saw a Kori bustard with its baby. Chande, our driver today, said he's never seen a baby Kori. An ostrich group was nearby. The males are polygamous and ALL of the impregnated eggs are in one nest and the females take turns sitting on the nest!
The next highlight was a buffalo kill with 2 male lions enjoying the carcass. There were also 3 or 4 female lion nearby waiting for their turn. The females typically kill the prey, the males eat first, then the females and then the hyenas and jackals have their chance. These lions were surrounded at a distance by a single buffalo who looked to be in mourning. The curious jackals and hyenas were waiting their turn. Interestingly there are only 3 lion prides in the Ngorongoro Crater. Shortly after that, we saw some hyenas slinking around, stalking wildebeests and they were chased off by other attentive wildebeests.
HIGH POINT: a black rhino sighting at 11:00. The sighting was at a distance but the guides are incredible at spotting wildlife with the naked eye. The rhino was not not any more attractive closer up!! Almost prehistoric looking!! Rhinos don't travel in packs; they are "loners!"
Local Maasai take their cattle down the steep walls of the crater, a right negotiated with the government, to graze the cattle. The interaction of cattle with wild animals is almost non-existent. We actually saw cows and zebras grazing side by side but not interacting and thereby preventing the spread of disease between them. Amazing!
Lunch was quite memorable! A picnic in the savannah of the crater with tables set with tablecloths and napkins, dishes, silverware and wine glasses! All elegantly served by Serena Lodge personnel. We had grilled chicken and beef sausage, vegetable casserole, parsley potatoes and salad. Dessert was a choice of raspberry cake, lemon pie and eclairs. Wine, beer and water were poured! WOW!!
Before making our way up the crater on a road paved with stones (done by hand!), we were treated with a sighting of a black maned lion who had 3 females nearby! Back at the lodge about 3:30, we were given the rest of the afternoon "off!" And we all took advantage of the time to rest before meeting for cocktails at 7 PM.
Carol joined us for cocktails. Dinner was much better tonight. The cream of broccoli soup was good as was the salad bar. Peter's beef entree and my traditional chicken were both very good as were the desserts. Again we had to pay $2.00 for a bottle of water! Joanne also joined us for dinner and the talk was lively. We still are questioning the tips here at Serena Lodge and think the explanation by Classic Escapes needs to be more transparent. There needs to be a clear leader of the group to answer our questions about tipping.
We leave tomorrow at 8 AM for Dunia Camp in Serengeti National Park. May not have wi-fi for a few days. Will post when I'm able!
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