Tanzania 2013

Tanzania March 2013 - Day 4

We were really sad to leave Richard and the team at Olakira but animals beckoned and we needed to start to wend our way back home (already!). Day 4 was to be spent in one of my favourite places in the world - the Ngorongoro Crater. After enjoying another lovely sunrise and a delicious breakfast off we went.

view

It was quite a long way but the scenery was stunning so a few photos along the way.

vulture

We also stopped to enjoy these Egyptian Vultures - a special bird as it's worked out how to use tools like a stone to crack open an ostrich egg. Dinner for them today was easier as a Thompson's Gazelle had been hit on the road so they were scavaging off that.

We finally arrived at the crater - Jonathon pointed it out in case I missed it!

flamingo

Lesser Flamingo (in the water) and Greater Flamingo (on the grass)

weaver

Speke's Weaver Bird (female)

weaver

Speke's Weaver Bird (male) - they flap their wings when they sing.

weaver

Speke's Weaver Bird (male)

bustard

The Kori's Bustard on the left looked much more handsome when he displayed as can be seen on the right!

view

The crater looked completely different with being green.

baboon

We saw some Baboon in the Lerai Forest within the crater. We didn't see any Vervet Monkeys this time but did see the effect they have on the Yellow Acacia trees. All the knobbly bits are where the tree has healed itself having been damaged by monkeys.

buffalo

Buffalo (just to prove we saw some)

Elephant (again, just to prove we saw some). This group of females must have been invited in because the males dominate the crater.

hippo

Here are some Hippo that were pretending to be logs and not doing much at all. The second pair we saw were splashing mud over themselves.

hyena

This Spotted Hyena was most disgruntled when we disturbed his slumbers. He trotted off in disgust in the end having made his feelings clear.

thompsons

Thompson's Gazelles are very dainty and this baby was really cute.

lion

This Lion Cub was sitting between her siblings and their mum. Mum was on the other side of the road looking out for prey.

lion cubs

Lion cubs - about a year old (or so)

You can see that this lioness cub still has her leopard type markings. All cubs have these and they wear off as they grow older.

The big treat of the day was seeing Black Rhino and we were lucky enough to see six in total. A pair and a single were in the distance but this family of three were close enough to enjoy for a while.

rhino

Black Rhino with Ox Pickers on their backs. The male was trying to wake the female up. The smaller female at the back was the larger female's calf (but was really a bit too old to still be with her mum)

The male was very busy marking his territory but the female wasn't interested.

We arrived at Manyara Kirurumu Tented Lodge to spend our final night in a tented camp. The view from the balcony was over Lake Manyara so a lovely place to stay.