Tanzania Day 9

Today we left the Serengeti national park and went to Ngorongoro reserve, where the big caldera is that is home to many, many animals.  The caldera was formed when there was a huge volcanic eruption and the crater hollowed out by the eruption is now a fertile plain with a small lake and other ponds that provides home to Tanzania's wide variety of animals.  The descent down into the caldera is just shy of 2000 feet.  We had great luck viewing animals today.  On our way out of Serengeti we ran into a lioness lying by the side of the road, close enough that we could practically touch her out the jeep window.  She had a couple of friends with her, hidden in the grass, but they got up while we were there so we enjoyed yet another close encounter with lions.  When we got to the caldera we saw more lions, this time about 5 lionesses also along the road.  In fact one of them was lying in the road and all the Jeeps were having to move around her.  She finally got up and ambled over to one jeep and laid down right against the right rear tire and proceeded to drape herself around the tire which meant the driver of the jeep couldn't move his car.  He tried honking the horn, revving the engine, trying to rock the car gently to see if he could get her to move and at least while we were there she seemed to have no intention of moving.  You are not allowed to frighten or hurt the animals so somehow he had to figure out how to encourage her to move on before he could do so!  We drove all through the caldera and saw wildebeest, zebras, hyenas, warthogs, hippos, and the big thrill of the day, 2 rhinos - a mother and child. We also had a sighting that is very rare of a serval cat, a small cat that looks somewhat like a cheetah but smaller. They are very elusive so it was a real thrill to see him.  He was very pretty.   We also saw baboons playing in the trees near the road that heads up out of the caldera.  We stopped for lunch beside a lake, which also had hippos resting in it and as we sat on the grass with our lunch a large bird swooped down and stole one of our party's lunch sandwich!  The whole time we were there it kept swooping down trying to steal our food.  We had to keep our lunch boxes closed and try to get the food to our mouths before the bird figured out what we had!  It was very entertaining!  

After 7 hours of driving and game viewing we finally wound up back at the lodge we were in last week before we went to the Serengeti.  I was thrilled to be back in civilization with a hot shower, a hair dryer and a bar with gin!  We were all exhausted from the long drive.  The roads are so unbelievably bumpy and rough and the Jeeps rattle and bounce so you feel like you've been inside a tin can with a bunch of pennies being shaken constantly for the whole time.  It's a truly bone rattling experience and we arrived very tired and extremely dusty.   This lodge is really nice and feels positively luxurious compared to 4 days of camping in the Serengeti bush!