In the Ngorongoro crater

The crater is the caldera of an extinct volcano that must have been huge. The size is really immense. We spent the whole day in the crater and could have spent some more time, if we'd had it.

I had some misinformation about the crater. I thought the animals in the crater were there permanently and the sides were so steep that they couldn't get out. I had heard that the lion prides in the crater were inbred. I learned that the west side is pretty steep but the eastern side is more gradual and animals enter and leave on a continual basis. They might even come in in the am and leave in the evening or vice versa. However, the crater itself is greener than the surrounding landscape and therefore many animals stay there for longer periods of time. It is flat, it is green and there is water. The lake in the crater is salt water though, because it has no exit. But the streams and other small bodies of flowing water are fresh.

 We started off with a baboon sighting on the roof of one of the lodge's buildings.

 There were clouds off and on during the day, making for some spectacular lighting. This is the morning sun through the trees. January is part of the short rainy season in Tanzania but they had not had rains since December and everything was dry. We got a few showers on our trip but the rains really came the last day we were there and everyone - human and animals - were happy. But during our trip. we had days like this - with clouds at times and sunny at other times. You will see that it affects the lighting in the crater because we also have the crater rim to shade the light.

Heading down the eastern rim of the crater.

 Cape buffalo grazing in the morning light. See how the light filters through the mists at the top of the crater.

 We came upon some hyenas finishing up a buffalo kill.

 One hyena grabbed a leg and ran off with the prize, right across our vehicle's path.

 The rest of them surrounding the kill so you can't even see it. The smaller animals are jackals

 This is a Kori bustard. We spotted them all over the place. They walk around like they own the joint.

 This photo is emblematic of the crater. A vast green plain surrounded by hills and lots of animals just grazing peacefully.

 I took a lot of photos of baby zebra but this is one of the smallest that we saw.

 Two lions hanging out. I think the lion was on a date and didn't appreciate our watching him because they got up and walked away.

 Wildebeest with vultures in front of them.

 I believe these are impala.

 Wildebeest, unlike zebras, calve in a two-week period between February and March. This increases the odds of any one baby surviving as there are so many others all at the same time. We caught the beginning of the births. This is a tiny baby that was still a little wet. Probably born shortly before we saw the mother and baby.

 Hyenas hanging out in a river.

 This was one of the two rhino sightings. Those two black creatures in the middle are two rhinos. These are black rhinos. We saw another one but it was further away. I got a good look through the binoculars but this is the best I can do with the iPhone. If you zoom in, you can make them out as two rhinos.

There are elephants in the crater but they are older and the reason they come to the crater is because they are on the last of their sets of teeth. Once that set wears out, they die. The crater has lush grass and water so the vegetation is easier to eat. As a result, their teeth last longer. They are very solitary and tend to hang out by the water where the new growth is not as fibrous and woody. We saw a number of them during the day but I didn't get any really good photos.

One of the thrilling things we saw during the day was a missed hunt. I was too busy watching to take photos or videos but another member of our group did and I am linking it here for you to see. Two lionesses decided to take on a Cape buffalo but the attack was thwarted by the buffalo and his cohorts.

We also saw hippos. See the light above the crater? Just spectacular.

 The hippos had come out of this hippo pool. You should be glad you can't smell the photos. Hippo pools are seriously smelly.

 There they are. All huddled up in the pool

 There was a flock of birds around there, a very large flock, and I got some of them in the air over the pool.

 A lion acting like a big cat.

 This pool also contains a hippo. That is his snout in the water. But the location was so beautiful that I had to take a photo even though you can barely see the hippo.

 This one is a bit tricky to see. Those 3 brown blobs are a lioness with two cubs. In the bushes is their kill and they were walking around the area. I think they had eaten their fill but were hanging around, reluctant to leave it.

 Two warthogs just chilling.

 And not a pushmi-pullyu but two Cape buffalo looking as if they have one body and two heads.

 Another baby wildebeest. A little older, maybe by a day.

 They were part of this giant mass of wildebeest.

 Remember that kill with the hyenas at the beginning of the day? This is all that is left of it as we headed back. The vultures were picking the bones clean. Then the bugs start in and very soon, there is nothing but bleached bone.

After we got back to the lodge, we headed out for a hike along the rim. We had to have park rangers with rifles with us in case we ran into any animals. As we started out, we went through the service area for the lodge. Since these lodges are so far from any town or village, the staff have their own rooms and kitchen off to the side. They are there for fixed periods of time and then they get time off. Staff buses take them back to their homes. In the same area are the lodgings for the driver-guides who accompany us and provide a wealth of information. They are the best part of the trip because they are very knowledgeable and have a library of books with them. They name all the birds and animals and are also able to talk about history and culture, and fix flat tires and other mechanical glitches. They are philosophers and psychologists, knowing how to interact with all the different personalities in the tour.

 The end of our walk on the rim was celebrated by some spectacular light effects when the sun shone down through a few breaks in the clouds.

And finally, a sunset over the swimming pool of the lodge. This lodge (the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge) has a unique location and it was hard to think about leaving it the next morning.

I've been spinning and reading mostly. I am afraid my craft hobby has been eclipsed since I discovered the New York Public Library's ebook app. It is so easy to browse their catalog and borrow books.

I finished spinning the first half the of the fractal spin and am 1/3 of the way through the second half.
This is the first bobbin.

I also wove a bit more on the plaid scarf but it looks the same as it did in the beginning so new pictures are not all that interesting.

Next up is Tarangire National Park.

On the way to the Ngorongoro crater

From Serengeti NP, we headed back out on our way to the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. We spent a whole day in the crater so I will talk about that in my next post. This one is about the journey there.

We started off the next morning retracing our way past the flowering acacia trees with their baboons and the hippos in the river.

 Then we spent some time watching a couple of male lions walking around to find some shade to rest in.

 This guy's mouth was a little wonky but he looks pretty impressive none-the-less.

 We said good morning to some elephants who were feeding near the road. They were part of a much bigger group that was wandering around.

 I took this to show you how close we were to the elephants.  That black line at the bottom is part of the vehicle.

 I have a love of reflections and take pictures of them whenever I can. We drove by a lake and stopped for a few photos and I couldn't resist sharing this one even though there is no wildlife in it.

 We were in a hurry to get to the entrance gate because we had a 24 hour ticket in the national park. If we got to the gate too late, we'd have to pay for an extra day for everyone in all our 6 vehicles. But we were not in such a hurry that we couldn't stop for a herd of Cape Buffalo.

 Here you can see them crossing the road between our vehicles.

 We saw a hyena burrow. They have multiple entrances and exits.

 This is called a kopjes. They are there in a section of the Serengeti and apparently a favorite place for lions to hang out. I didn't take photos of the ones the day before as the light was wrong.

If you remember, we were prevented from climbing one of these the day before to get a view because a 'big lion' had taken up residence there.

Therefore at the entrance gate, having made it there on time, we climbed a hill called Nabi hill to get a view of the surrounding plain.

 That road you see, the straight line in the middle of the picture? That is the road we came by to get to the gate.

 A store at the gate had some maps and bird/animal posters displayed so I took a photo of them. You can see Tanzania here.

From the park, we headed to Oldupai Gorge. You might know it as Olduvai Gorge which was where the oldest hominid fossils have been found. The gorge itself is beautiful but we were on a lookout overlooking it. The archeological sites are in the gorge. We visited a museum on the rim and had a talk by an anthropologist who explained the area and the geology and what fossils had been found in the different areas. We also had lunch here overlooking the gorge.

 This is a panoramic photo of the gorge.

 At the museum, there were a lot of fossils and artifacts from the gorge but what caught my eye was this bicycle. Dr. Sekino retraced the path of humankind in reverse from the southern tip of South America to Tanzania on it. This 2004 Japan Times article talks about that trip as part of a story on another trip he was planning to take.

 There was also a copy of the Laetoli footprints which are the oldest hominid footprints.

 After we left Oldupai Gorge, we visited a Masai village. After we introduced ourselves, the Masai welcomed us with a jumping contest. The idea is to see how high one can jump vertically. Here's one of them demonstrating. The men and the women did it separately.

 We went into a Masai hut and its owner explained how they lived. The huts are very tiny and dark so no photos but he claimed that up to 6 people live in the hut. Four of us sat on the sleeping surface and took up all the space along the length. There was a cooking fire with a pot on it and a small window to let the smoke out. The huts are made of mud.

 You can see some of the members of our party with the Masai women. There was quite a bit of selling to us - beaded jewelry, carvings, etc. The women do most of the work around the village and make things to sell as well as to wear. The men take care of the cattle and goats and sheep.

 We rushed on to our destination after the Masai village stop in order to catch the sunset from the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. We stayed at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, which has the most beautiful location that I have seen in a long time. It is right on the eastern rim of the crater.

 We had a little time to explore before the sun set. There was a post with distances to various places.

 And then the sun started setting.

 I did turn at one point at take a photo of the lodge and its reflection in the swimming pool. I did say that I like reflections, right?

The pool was off-limits as it had been contaminated by wildlife. We had to be very careful walking to our rooms at night in all these lodges. There were security guards who escorted us because there are animals around here and they can get aggressive.

 And a photo of the crowd photographing the sunset.

 I was able to get some early morning shots before we headed down to the crater after breakfast.

 Another reflection. With the chairs lined up for people to sit and sip their drinks and watch the sunset. This is for those who weren't on the terrace by the pool.

 The pool in the am with the other side of the crater as background.

 Flowers around the lodge grounds.

And a final shot of the crater as I end this installment.

On to fiber: I was knitting but my hand and elbow protested my knitting a few days in a row. So I took a couple of days off and then started spinning.

 I finished spinning the fiber that I dyed in the class in Rhinebeck. The collage above represents the story of this fiber. It is Corriedale roving that I bought in New Zealand when I was there. Starting from the bottom right and moving clockwise:

• an inspiration photo from Rhinebeck
• my dyed fiber drying on a rack with the rest of the class. My fiber is the one on the right of the photo in the front. 
• spinning the first singles with the fiber in the back. 
• bobbins with both singles on them
• the finished fiber in the center right

Progress on the sweater. I am further along on it. I am almost ready to separate the sleeves from the body.

I started spinning an Into the Whirled club braid that I got as a gift. I am doing a fractal spin. I divided it in half lengthwise along the braid and then split one half lengthwise into three. One ply will be the half that is intact and the other ply will be the 3 skinny strips one after the other with the colors in the same order.

 The fiber divided into the component parts and the beginning of the first half on the bobbin.

 As I was spinning the second layer on the bobbin, I realized why these colors looked so familiar. They were exactly the colors of the superb starlings we saw in Tanzania.

See you in the Ngorongoro crater next time!