The Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti

I was still finding things to look at such as a couple of two tone Land Rovers to add to my collection of Land Rover photos.

 I mo ed north to Arusha which is the jumping off point for trips to the Serengeti. We stopped at Snake Park which is a campsite but also has a Clinic that treats snake bites and a collection of snakes. There are several enclosures which house pythons, mambas and several owls, vultures, a goshawk and other birds. Campers can walk around the snake closures and visit the clinic. The profits from the bar helps to fund the clinic. Some of the upgrades available for campers.

 Marijke handling one of the smaller snakes. The African python is the largest snake and will attack and swallow humans so are best avoided.

 And in the local village, there were still more Land Rovers to see.

 A rather derelict example.

 Another version with a Maasai warrior standing nearby.

 A short wheel base version.

And then it was a drive into the the Ngorongoro Crater to have an early morning safari drive when the animals are the most active. W e descended into the crater which is a collapsed caldera at an election of over 1,800m with the crater rim over 600m high towering above the crater plain. And there was plenty toes such as this eland. 

And huge herds of wildebeest.

A cfresgted crane, the national bird of Uganda.

A Thomson Gazelle.

A hyena.

And a long shot of a hippo out of the water. Nut by the time that we got to a position to take a decent photo it had got back into the water.

And then we found a solitary lion. It had many scars across its back and flanks and so once must have been an Alpha male fighting off challengers but now he was so old and had been ousted from the premier position so must roam the plains hunting prey by himself.

A close up of his face.

You can see some of the many scars on his flanks.

A warthog that we disturbed as we drove past.

And we found a pride of lions as they wandered across the road.

And they were so unconcerned about us and we got some great pictures.

And sometimes they would take advantage of us and the lack of shade and settle down in the shade of our vehicles.

And further on there were small herds of elephants crossing the plain and ignoring us as they walked across the road.

And there were huge herds of zebras.

And hippos in the pools.

And shared with pelicans.

And then it was time to climb out of the crater and head off to the Serengeti. 

 And they were giraffes foraging in the trees.

 And zebras literally looking over the back of their companions for security against predators, and a chance to relax.

 And lions in trees.

 And then it was time for sunset over the Serengeti and time for our bush camp.