Safari Update - Ngorongoro
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 03:49AM I think my guests were itching to see the Ngorongoro Crater, as everybody was rearing to go very early this morning, with no stragglers. I rarely have people who are late for game drives, and today was absolutely no exception.
We spent the bulk of the morning with lions, wildebeest, zebra, hyena and black rhino, however the absolute highlight was a pair of adult male lions right next to our vehicle. It is difficult to explain the feeling I get when I am only a few feet from such large predators, and today really hit it out of the park. They were walking, lying down, sitting up, you name it. We had different looks every few minutes. Our heading into lunch had many happy smiles on faces, for sure.
After lunch the awesome weather continued, as we had warm, direct light early, then soft light and spotty cumulus clouds for the afternoon, and then warm light at the end of the day. The highlights for me were 2 sparring male zebras, as well as 2 adult cheetahs only a few feet from our window. I blew hundreds of frames on my D3 as the zebras reared up onto their hind legs and tried to bite each other.
Ngorongoro is one of those wildlife destinations that rarely disappoints, and today was another day in paradise. I won’t see the crater again for another year, as I have other safari destinations planned for the rest of this year: Botswana, Rwanda and Kenya.
Tomorrow we are heading to the Serengeti, and will be staying at Kusini Camp in the southern end of the park. Rumor has it that the wildebeest have moved north from Ndutu, and we hope to see them somewhere between Kusini and the Moru Kopjes.
Ngorongoro, Tanzania, safari in Safari Reports
Reader Comments (4)
Andy: There is something about the power of having a male lion so close. Last summer, we came upon a mature male that had just fought with a young male and driven him out of the pride. A bit tired and slightly bloodied, he lay just a few feet from me as I fired away. I still can feel his "glory," if you know what I mean. Terrific photo of the zebra. Increasingly, I find that I am looking for more action in my photography. What a great shot!
Hi Andy,
Love it. Great action ... and you can really feel the power of the Zebras. You're really into the square crop monochrome stuff lately, yeah? I feel bad I haven't been following other people's photography quite as much lately, I would love to have seen the transition from 2:3 color, as well as hear about any thoughts on your new preference. Or perhaps, it isn't your new preference and I've just happened to see only the blog posts with images like that! :)
Awesome shot. Best one posted this trip. Like teh box format. Hope more to come. Good luck. K
Are these guys fighting for their territory? In fact they are nomads throughout their lives. So the fight might well be for the females :). Females again became important :). THe picture is a classic snap. Great Picture. Thumbs UP :)