August 22nd, 2016

Day 144: The Serengeti – Day 4

Since we had to drive all the way back to the Ngorongoro Crate from the Mara River in the northern Serengeti by the end of the day, we had an early start for our last day in the park. The game drive back through the park was fantastic, with many animal sightings. We exited the park on schedule at lunchtime and made our way to the Sopa Lodge on the crater rim by late afternoon. While the Wilderness Camp was our favorite accommodation in Tanzania – by far! – we still enjoyed the luxuries of an unlimited hot shower, a massive buffet, and even an educational presentation!

 

Up with the sun on our final day in Serengeti National Park

 

Following our bow & arrow armed escort to the dining tent for breakfast

 

Spotted Hyenas! Lots and lots of them – today was Hyena Day

 

In addition to the dozens of Spotted Hyena, Joseph pointed out a lone Striped Hyena mingling with the pack. Smaller, and more solitary then the spotted variety, the Striped Hyena is actually a rare find

 

A fresh kill! Looks like we were an hour too late!

 

Even though there are plenty of hyenas in the area, this lucky vulture has the carcass to himself for a moment

 

Wildebeest! As far as the eye can see!

 

Once we return to the southern part of the Serengeti we find more trees and more giraffes

 

Lions, relaxing in the shade

 

Just as we are about to drive off from the pride of lions, Igor spots another female coming out of the tall grass by the side of the road. She walked directly in fron of our car, and we got a close-up of her face – tough broad has been in a fight, judging by her busted nose

 

Elephants! It’s been a few days since we’ve seen Africa’s giants

 

We arrive at the park entrance gate around noon – just in time for lunch, and just under the 72hr mark (even though we were in the park on 4 calendar days, admission tickets are sold in 24hr increments, so we actually only paid for three days! Since admission is more than $100pp/day, it was very important to be punctual)

 

Joseph spots a minivan in the distance and tells us that is a Kenyan safari. “You will probably be in a minivan too,” he informs us. Ugh, hope not! We’ve gotten comfortable in our pop-top Land Cruiser! As we drive back through Maasai land, we see more giraffes commuting in the distance

 

After we check-in to the Sopa Lodge at the Ngorongoro Crater, we take long, luxurious, hot showers before heading out to catch the sunset.

 

There was a huge crowd hanging out near the pool, which had the most open view of the crater. As we were jostling for a good spot, a waiter came up to us and asked if we would like a seat on the empty top deck – score! We ordered some drinks and enjoyed a clear view over the dozens of heads below.

View from the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater

Sunset at the Ngorongoro Crater

 

Just after the sun sank below the hills, we noticed that a PowerPoint Presentation was about to start in the upstairs conference room behind us. We were invited to sit in on a free presentation about the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Tanzanian national park system. We weren’t expecting much from a hotel presentation, but we were actually really impressed – the guy knew his stuff! We walked away to dinner afterwards with a better understanding of how the caldera was formed, and how the animal population within the crater differs from the Serengeti. (No tree means no giraffes. Even though grassland is usually good for cheetahs, the ridiculously high number of lions a hyenas make it too dangerous for cheetahs as they risk injury when bigger predators try to steal their kill. And sadly, only about 15 Black Rhinos in the entire crater, although there are anti-poaching teams and security cameras set-up all around the crater to protect what is left)