Day two of our safari adventures began early and we were on the road at 7 a.m. The drive took us an hour or so to reach the entrance of the Ngorongoro Conservation area.

From here we could see the Ngorongoro crater however the fog made it slightly hard to see its full magnificences. 

The Crater felt somewhat reminiscent of The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We began our descent into the crater which took about half an hour. 

The road passed through some beautiful, lush forests areas with great scenery.

Along the road while we were descending into the crater, our driver and guide Omare  stopped the vehicle in front of a small stone monument.

He explained that Micheal Grzimek was the first person to make comprehensive maps of the number of wild animals and their migration routes so that the borders of the Serengeti could be better established. He dedicated his life to the protection of African animals and the enlarging of the Serengeti National park.

On 10 January 1959, the plane piloted by Michael collided with a vulture and he lost control. He was killed in the crash. He was buried the same day on the top of the Ngorongoro Crater. Later the government of Tanzania erected a stone pyramid over his grave.

We arrived at the base of the crater and immediately we could see many different animals in close proximity to each other.  It truly was like another world. There was a solitary elephant as we reached the base of the crater. Then as we looked a little further we saw a large herd of Wildebeest.

We saw thousands of wild animals living in the massive crater left by a huge ancient volcano. The actual crater is relatively small, when you consider that it is home to the most variety of animals per square meter than anywhere else in the world!

We saw a pride of lions that were on the hunt. They actually came very close to our safari jeep. Male lions proclaim their presence by urinating on bushes, trees, or simply on the ground, leaving a pungent scent behind.  The male lion walked right beside our jeep and actually marked our vehicle. 

We saw an array of animals including elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, lions, zebras and others. The Ngorongoro crater is one of the few places in Africa where rhinos are found, although we did not get to see any. They are an endangered species, so there are very few of them. Another animal not found in the crater are giraffes. They are unable to descend into the crater due to the build of their bodies. Their legs and long necks, hinder them from the steep walk down into the crater.

After our morning safari drive around the crater, we stoped at a picnic area next to Lake Magadi. This place was a  popular spot for the many different birds. Omare set up a nice shaded spot beside the jeep with a table cloth and everything for our picnic. 

We even had a few birds come over for a visit. There is no feeding of animals. It is strictly forbidden and against the law.  The birds were not troublesome, they just walked around and did not bother anyone.

After our picnic lunch we headed over to see some pink flamencos and hippos before starting our ascend out of the crater.

We began our 30 minute drive up the crater side to reach the top. We reached the top of the crater rim and stopped to take one last look at this amazing place. 

We drove further west through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area towards the border of the Serengeti National Park.  We arrived at a cross road with a large monument that was quite interesting. We stopped to check it out and to take a break.

The Olduvai Gorge monument consists of large-scale sculpted models of Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis skulls resting on a stone platform. The monument is located only a few kilometres from the Olduvai Gorge and represents the discovery of the skulls which were dated to be about 1.75 million years ago. The discovery indicates that the first humans evolved in Africa. So in essence Olduvai Gorge is like the Biblical Garden of Eden where the first man in this planet is believed to have been created. It was hard to believe we were in the area of the origin of man!

We continued on our way towards the Serengeti National Park and eventually arrived at the park border. 

We then continued on our way. The roads in the conservation area and National Parks are not exactly smooth. 

We drove stopping along the way to see some of the wildlife until we reached our camp for the night. We arrived late in the evening and it was already dark. We were greeted by a Swahili welcome song and then we settled into our tent for the night.

Our tent camp which was called The Whisper Serengeti Tented Camp was quite comfortable. Out king size bed had mosquito nets and we even had an ensuite washroom!

The night was quite interesting because we could hear animals close to the tent and even heard lions roaring in the distance. It was an amazing second day!!

“Hakuna njia panya ya kwenda mahali pa thamani”