As we approached the crater rim the road started winding upwards and the vegetation turned to lush tropical forests with thick fern undergrowth and wide leaved creepers winding around tree trunks. We were travelling through the clouds to the rim of the Ngorongoro caldera to an elevation of 7500ft.
Ngorongoro was apparently a peak over 14000 ft like Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is thought to have erupted over two million years ago losing almost half of its height and depositing millions of tons of ash and lava into what is now the great Serengeti plains. Ash is very fertile and over the years formed rich grasslands which are now home to some of the largest herds of plains game in the world.
Ngorongoro itself remained the largest unbroken caldera in the world. The crater floor is 2000ft below the crater rim. The floor is roughly 10 miles across with an area of about 100 sq miles. The crater offers several lakes and an abundance of grass year round for its herbivorous herds to remain within the crater. It also has the highest concentration of lions. Lake Magadi within the crater became alkaline and attracts large flocks of Flamingo.
Once we reached the rim road we got a spectacular view of the crater floor. We could see almost the entire crater. I thought to myself if all these animals are in the plains below, I am sure we will find at least a few. I was very skeptical about my luck in wildlife viewing. I was sure someone will yell out "Lion!" and I will go "where? where?" and the lion will be gone.
The jeeps were stopped and parts of the roof came off so that we could stand up and pop our heads out. Far below in the crater I saw something that looked like a slowly moving swarm of black flies. The drivers confirmed that they were wildebeest herds. This was looking very promising! The kids (and many of the more excitable adults) were told to finish up all their yelling and cooing and chatting up here. We had been requested to not wear strong perfumes and keep mum on this game drive.
The drive into the crater was exhilarating. With wind in our hair we waved at recently circumcised boys in traditional black shukas herding their cattle. There are still a few Maasais who live within the crater walls.
The first burst of excitement came on sighting three Wildebeests. These creatures are quite ugly is the first thought that came to mind. They have shoulders higher than the rump, black mane and are generally black-gray in color. They belong to the antelope family. Males are generally bigger and sport horns.
They have a very good sense of smell, but poor eye sight which is rather unfortunate when there is a predator around. All cameras, binoculars, video cameras started rolling following the antics of the star threesome.
We next ran into some Zebras (which did not get us as excited as we were already spoilt having sighted them a few times before. The Zebra's stripes are supposed to be unique to each animal like our fingerprints. We later learnt that the Zebra (basically the African wild ass) developed these stripes as an adaptation to deter the dreaded Tsetse fly which spreads sleeping sickness. The Tsetse fly has numerous eyes and gets confused by the stripes and does not land on the Zebra. The Grevy's Zebra found elsewhere in Africa has slightly different stripes to ward off another insect. Apparently in some areas where the threat of the Tsetse fly is diminishing, the Zebra is losing its stripes. But they are certainly exquisite creatures. Rather unfriendly we were told and tend to kick and bite on the slightest provocation.
As expected the next herbivore was the Gazelle. These beautiful delicate creatures are a lot smaller than the Zebra and the Wildebeest. We spotted both Thompson's and the Grant's Gazelle. I was amazed that having seen an animal and noticing its distinguishing feature once I was able to accurately identify it again whenever I saw one through out the trip.
These three animals (the wildebeest, zebra and the gazelle) are the most abundant in the African plains. They form large herds and migrate together. The wildebeests have a keen sense of smell and can smell fresh grass which starts off the migration<. The Zebras with their keen eyesight lead the migration. They also relish tall grass making way of the shorter grass loving wildebeest. The Gazelle comes last and eats the shortest and the most nutritious grass.
I was not quite ready for the sight that beheld us when we rounded a bend around a hillock. The jeep ahead of us was right in the middle of that swarm of wildebeests that we had seen from the crater rim. Thousands upon thousands of them. As we moved ahead we got caught up in the sea as well. It was fascinating to see bulls chasing each other defending a moving territory, calves quite grown up now, bending on their knees to nurse. The herd stretching as far as the eye could see. This was definitely a Great African Safari moment!
Just as I was thinking to myself the prey is here, now where are the predators? Del our driver exclaimed Lions!
Stay tuned.
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