Travelogue Tanzania 2009
Our Programme

24.03.2009 – Day 4 – Tarangire National Park to Ngorongoro Crater

This day started with a little discussion about our programme as there were discrepancies between what we had been told in Germany and what the local agency had planned for us. But the problem was solved quickly and we got the additional morning game drive to Tarangire National Park.

There are a lot of ostriches in the parks but they normally keep quite a distance to the tourists. This one was at least close enough for the 300mm lens.

We had a lot of giraffes today. They don’t mind thorn, actually they do not seem to eat anything else than the leaves of this thorny kind of tree.

Then we drove towards Tarangire River. Though the river did not carry any water at this time there seemed to be a lot of humidity. It was there that we had our first contact with Tsetse Flies. I always thought that they were a kind of mosquito but actually they look more like a horse fly. And they bite you even if you use a 50% DEET solution, they absolutely don’t mind. So, wear bite-tight cloths, a mosquito net over your head and leave there territory as soon as possible

Another impressive Baobab. This one was hollowed out by poachers.

On the inside you can see the hooks the poachers used to hang up the meet of the killed animals

And then Samuel spots our first lions. They were lying lazily under a tree. Samuel drove us directly next to them, leaving the road. Strictly speaking this is not allowed, but well, they were our first lions.

Our first lion, lazy under a tree and a bit puzzled what we were doing there.

Then we left Tarangire National Park and drove to the famous Ngorongoro Crater, the worldwide largest volcanic crater which is not filled with water.

By noon we left Tarangire National Park and drove to the famous Ngorongoro Crater, the biggest volcano crater of the world which is not filled with water. As the walls of the crater are quite high and covered by jungle it is quite difficult to enter or leave the crater for most of the animals and so they stay here most of their life not migrating as their relatives on the outside.

jungle on the outside of Ngorongoro Crater

View into Ngorongoro Crater

We checked in at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge and rested a bit, waiting for dinner and enjoying the great view.

Sun set at Ngorongoro Crater

After dinner the staff started with a little African serenade. It appeared to be spontaneous and hearty and we hope that’s what it was.

When we left dinner hall to go to our room other staff members were expecting us to accompany us. There were buffalo within the premises, they said. And really, only a couple of meters from our room, eating behind a bush, there was a big buffalo.

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