Monday, December 3, 2012

Ngorogoro Crater, Tanzania...

 
Well I know I've written all about the terrible parts of the trip, but we did have a few highlights as well. I thought I would share this one. On the way back to Mozambique, we spent one day driving around the Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania. It is an extinct volcano, and inside the crater, wildlife is concentrated, because it is not easy to get out. You will be able to see from the pictures. It is the most beautiful setting and we were able to see animals that we had not seen before in the wild, such as cheetah and black rhino. It really was incredible.
 
 
The back side of a cheetah.
 
 
Hyena
 

 
The front side of the cheetah.

 
A little oasis, full of hippos.

 
I love this picture, because is shows the full scope of things in the crater, the blue sky, the crater wall, open fields, the lake, and then forest with elephants of course. Everything in such a condensed area, it really causes you to marvel at God's creation.


This guy was one of the first animals we saw once we got down to the bottom of the crater. He just walked across the road right in front of us. He was huge and appeared to be quite healthy!
 

 
This is a view of the crater from the rim, before we descended.
 
 
A big heard of wildebeast and zebra grazing in the fields.

 
 I like this picture because the land cruiser looks quite small in comparison to the large male elephants crossing the plains.
 
 
 
 
Sunbathing lions.

 
The very rare and endangered black rhino.


 
A pod of hippos staying cool.