Seeing the Unexpected in Tansania’s Ngorongoro Crater

Our final night of camping was in the Ngorongoro Crater. Well, at the top of the crater. Only the animals sleep in the bottom of the crater. Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest unbroken volcanic caldera and is famous for the wildlife that lives there. The one animal that is not widely seen there, however, is the leopard. The last time our guide had seen a leopard in Ngorongoro was about five years ago. 

When we arrived down at the bottom of the crater, we first had lunch before embarking on our final game drive of the trip, and it did not disappoint. Unlike the Serengeti which is rather flat and dry, Ngorongoro Crater was more green with water.

Our first stop in the drive was by the water where we spotted a hyena keeping watch over its kill, or possibly trying to steal another animal’s kill. Slightly further down we saw a bunch of flamingos. There are two types of flamingos in Africa, the greater flamingo and the lesser flamingo. They vary in size and color, but are both beautiful and were entertaining to watch as they flipped around in the water with their legs sticking up out of the water. It was as if they were doing synchronized swimming. 

We saw the usual warthogs, hippos, etc. We then drove to the top of a large hill to get an overview of the crater. It was a beautiful view and what do you know; we saw a rhino! Well, there was a debate whether we could actually say that we saw it. It was so far away; you could really only see a black thing moving. It wasn’t exactly identifiable that it was a rhino. Oh, and you had to be looking through binoculars to see it. However, I think it totally counts! We then drove down to a lower elevation to see if we could see it better, but the view was more or less the same. You could see a black spot slowly moving. 

We then continued the game drive and drove into a dazzle of zebras. I just love seeing zebras. I think they are so beautiful. Seeing a zebra or two is amazing, but being amidst a dazzle of zebras is something else! It’s interesting to see how they interact with each other. They like to rest their heads on another zebra’s back. Sometimes, they’re both resting their heads on each other. That was probably one of the highlights of the trip for me. They were so close to the jeep, and they weren’t bothered by the jeep at all. I also watched one scratch itself on a sign that had fallen over. Amidst the dazzle of zebras were wildebeests and warthogs. I do find it interesting that the zebras and the wildebeests travel together during the great migration.

After spending time in the dazzle, Frank, our wonderful driver, was driving pretty quickly, not slowing down to look at some animals. I had a feeling there was somewhere he was trying to get us, but I wasn’t sure. We then came upon an area backed up with safari jeeps. When there are a lot of jeeps in one area, you know it’s something exciting. It can also make it very difficult to see the animal as every jeep is trying to get a prime viewing spot. To our surprise (and our guide’s surprise), there was a leopard in the tree! I guess our guide can no longer say it’s been five years since he’s seen a leopard in Ngorongoro.

Unfortunately it wasn’t in the best spot for viewing, up in a tree behind some branches. It took us quite a while to even find it, and when we did, it was just the tail and leg hanging over the branch. We couldn’t see the face. As jeeps left, we moved to see if we could get a better view, but we couldn’t. However, as I was watching it through my binoculars, I saw it quickly get up and jump off the tree. Seeing a big cat move is always more exciting than seeing it sleep. But now, it was completely out of view. However, we saw it, and with the rhino, we saw the big five of Africa. Everyone was pretty excited as we exited the crater and headed to our final campsite of the trip.

I think at this point everyone was ready to be back in civilization. However, this campsite had similarities and differences to the one in the Serengeti. The showers apparently had warm water (it wasn’t worth the effort), but it was extremely cold in the evening. I put on as many layers as I could for dinner. Fortunately they gave us a wool blanket to use in addition to our sleeping bag. We were still in nature with no fences so there was still the possibility of animals coming our way. After the elephant incident, I think everyone was a little more on edge. 

As I was crawling into my sleeping bag, my tent mate was out using the restroom one last time, and she quickly returned and told me there were zebras. I grabbed my headlamp and my phone and exited the tent to find two zebras eating grass near the tents. Even though we had seen so many zebras on our trip, it still felt surreal to see them just hanging out in the campground. We of course took pictures with the zebras and then went to bed. I slept well and slept with my airpods in to block out any noises that might wake me up. While I slept soundly, everyone else slept on and off to the sounds of zebras eating grass next to the tents all night long.

Morning came, and we were ready to head back to wifi, electricity, hot showers, and sleeping soundly. We of course thanked our team that prepared all our meals and set up and took down our tents at every spot. We were spoiled. As much as I was looking forward to having wifi and a hot shower, I was feeling grateful for the experience. Would I go back to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater? Without a doubt! I don’t think I could ever get tired of seeing the big five or driving amongst a dazzle of zebras. I’d just opt for a hotel next time! Until we meet again, Africa!