Ngorongoro Crater Safari

Journey to Kilimanjaro

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Ngorongoro Crater Safari

Written by Tina Sibley in April 2022

Serengeti to Ngorongoro

This morning, we packed up camp and set off after breakfast for another game drive in the direction of the other side of the park and towards our next destination which was the Ngorongoro Crater.

The highlight of the morning was an incredible sighting of a black rhino. It was quite close and I managed to get some great video of it with my phone. It was enormous and was moving quite quickly. So that was number 3 of the big 5 ticked off.

At the junction where the Serengeti finishes and the Ngorongoro National Park begins, we got off the bus and had our photos taken at each of the two big signs. There were also some Maasai women there who were happy to have their photos taken with us. They were selling souvenirs and if we didn't buy any, we at least gave them something for posing with us.

On the way to Ngorongoro, we passed a monument to an archeological find of very early man. The monument features two giant concrete skulls—each 6 feet tall and they represent the two most famous contemporary hominin species, dating back 1.85 million years. It was very interesting and we stopped for a talk about them.

As we journeyed towards the crater, we entered an area populated by the Maasai. We saw many of them tending flocks of goats, sheep and cattle and we also passed Maasai villages. We had received a talk about the Maasai from Iddy, one of our Kilimanjaro guides. Iddy is Maasai and was very happy to share the culture of his people with us so we learned a lot from him.

We finally got to camp at around 6pm and just had time to set up our tents before dark.

Camp at Ngorogoro

Tonight's dinner was inside the dining hut rather than around a camp fire. After dinner, a couple of the others reported seeing buffalo on the outskirts of the camp, which surprised me as we had climbed up out of the park area. It was also quite cold, so Tanya and I thought it might be a good idea to take our mattresses and sleeping bags into the hut. Apparantly this wasn't allowed though, so the ranger sent us back to our tents!

At about 1am I needed the bathroom so exited my tent and did the usual sweep with my torch to see if the coast was clear. It was. I stepped away from my tent and something told me to look behind me. As I looked behind my tent, my heart jumped! There was a GINORMOUS buffalo standing there looking at me - only about 25 metres or so away! I nearly retreated back into my tent, but I really needed to visit the bathroom. I stood there for a while and the buffalo seemed to be ignoring me, chomping away on the grass. He had certainly seen me as he looked in my direction when I shone the torch around, but otherwise he was continuing to eat grass, so I decided to head for the bathroom, doing my best to move slowly. My poor little heart was racing like crazy.

I got to the bathroom - and back again and settled back into my tent. He was so close, I could actually hear him chomping.

After a while, I realised the comping was getting closer.... and closer..... and closer. I heard him chomp his way right down the side of our tent - on Tanya's side - then he moved across the front of our tent and even hit one of our pegs with his foot. Then I heard him chomp his way up my side of the tent. At one point, he was right next to me - right by my head - only about a foot away from me, with just a thin strip of canvas between us. I could barely breathe!! Eventually, he moved away again. I could also hear other chompings and I realised that there were maybe three buffalo enjoying the grass in our area of the camp!

Eventually, I got used to the idea and finally got to sleep.