We were up bright and early and looking forward to our game drive today. We made the long trek from our room to the main lodge for breakfast...a delicious buffet feast. The pool and the crater are beautiful this early in the morning. Unfortunately, the crater seems to be constantly shrouded in a thick haze...
After breakfast, we all piled into to the Land Cruisers and started our descent into the crater...
Cape Buffalo...
Grey Crowned Crane...performing a mating dance. Both sexes dance, and immature birds join the adults. Dancing is an integral part of courtship, but also may be done at any time of the year...
Hyena running towards some Thompson Gazelles...
Lots of Wildebeest...
They have done controlled burns to encourage new growth...
There had been reports of
Black Rhinoceros near this wet, marshy area (the guides are constantly on their radios) so we made a "b-line" there. We could see two Rhinoceros but they were way in the distance, really only visible via binoculars...and Steve's telescopic lens on his camera. See the two of them on the right...
There were plenty of birds...
Couldn't identify them...
And tons of Hippos!
They like to fling their poop around with their tail...ewww....disgusting animals...
Some kind of a duck?
Then some Lions were spotted in the distance, not far from a herd of Cape Buffalo...
Hmmm...two Lions, this could get interesting....
We drove around to another spot so we could get a better look at the Lions and Cape Buffalo...
Male and female Ostrich,,,,and some Thomson Gazelle on the right...
Another Hyena....
Now...what we had been waiting for...the interaction between the Lions and the Cape Buffalo. There was a stand-off between the two groups...first of all the Buffalo are chasing the Lions...
Then the Lions stop, turn around...and chase the Buffalo...
Then the Buffalo chase the Lions....
Oops...now the Lions are chasing the Buffalo...
Then Buffalo chase the Lions...
Lions turn on the Buffalo..
Then...once and for all, the Cape Buffalo chase off the Lions. It was very interesting to watch and quite entertaining!
We just happened to watch a TV program last night on the crater that said that the lions are so interbred that they are unhealthy and have become more of an opportunistic scavenger than a hunter. They chase off any outside lions that try to enter the area. The kings of the crater are the hyenas!
Time to move on....
Lots of Wildebeest...
Dry soda lake in the distance...
Wildebeest, up close...
...and personal...
Thompson Gazelle...
A panorama shot...
There's another Crowned Crane...
...and more....
Warthog...
We're headed for the trees...
A stop for a pottie break...and some Maasai selling their goods. The guides say that if you have to pee outside it's called bushy bushy...
Cape Buffalo rolling in the mud...
Dust Devil...
Grant's Gazelle...larger than the Thompson Gazelle...
We're heading for the forest...
Hanging Weaver bird nests...
And then it was Elephant time...first of all, we came across a group....
And then this fellow, all by himself...
Yikes...he's headed for us!
He came quite close then turned....
There was a tree across the road that looked appetizing...
Oh that's good!
So amazing! We could have watched him for hours...well, we did watch him for quite a while!
Checking some birds in the stream...
Hamerkop...
Cape Buffalo having a rest....
Hartebeest...
Three lions, a male and two females one of which is laying on it's back, legs up...
See the elephant in the distance?
Time for a break at Magadi Lake...and an opportunity to stretch our legs...
It's a popular spot for the tours. That's a lot of vehicles...
A nice fellow from the States offered to take a group photo for us...
More Hippos...
Time to head off back to the Sopa Lodge...
Another pair of Ostrich...
And time to start climbing out of the crater....
Back at the lodge...
We were back at the lodge around 2:30...and immediately went into the restaurant for a late lunch. Since there was just our group for lunch, instead of the usual buffet, we were given a menu with a few choices. Good food...and a cold beer...along with a wonderful view of the crater...a great way to end our game drive for today!
After lunch, most of us spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside (some in the sunshine, some in the shade) using the internet...yes, we all had our devices and were getting caught up with the outside world!
A few pictures were also taken. This is such a beautiful lodge!
Hazy views of the crater...
This monkey ran into the lodge and was quickly evicted...
After a while, we went back to our room, showered and went back up to the lodge for happy hour.
Joann, Jean, Brian, Steve, Esther, and Gordon...
And watched the sun go down...ahhh....beautiful...
As darkness descended, we all headed into the restaurant to enjoy another delicious buffet dinner...and our last night here at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge.
We were up bright and early and looking forward to our game drive today. We made the long trek from our room to the main lodge for breakfast...a delicious buffet feast. The pool and the crater are beautiful this early in the morning. Unfortunately, the crater seems to be constantly shrouded in a thick haze...
After breakfast, we all piled into to the Land Cruisers and started our descent into the crater...
Grey Crowned Crane...performing a mating dance. Both sexes dance, and immature birds join the adults. Dancing is an integral part of courtship, but also may be done at any time of the year...
Then...once and for all, the Cape Buffalo chase off the Lions. It was very interesting to watch and quite entertaining!
Checking some birds in the stream...
Your photos are awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks for tagging along Gene.
DeleteGreat pics of all of the animals. I love the elephants.
ReplyDeleteThanks. The elephants are so fascinating to watch.
DeleteThose Crowned Cranes are really cool!
ReplyDeleteSo much wildlife!
Delete