Ngorongoro Crater Day 2 Part 1 - lions and elephants
An early start after a heavy night
03.11.2018 - 03.11.2018
View
Tanzania for Lyn and Chris' 40th Anniversary 2018
on Grete Howard's travel map.
As often happens here on the south-western rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, a heavy mist hangs in the air as we leave this lovely camp behind and head off to “see what nature has to offer us this morning” (one of Malisa's favourite sayings).
Malanja Depression
After a season with abundant rain this year, this part of Malanja Depression has been transformed into a lake. Malisa tells me this is the first time surface water has collected here like this since 1997. There must have been a terrific amount of water here after the rains, seeing as we are now right at the end of the dry season and yet a considerable sized lake remains.
Giraffe
Spotted Hyena
It seems that in my drunken stupor last night, I left my camera on Tungsten White Balance and EV+2 from shooting the stars (or rather attempting to), resulting in a rather blue, overexposed image this morning. Thankfully it can be largely corrected in Photoshop.
Grant's Gazelle
Ngorongoro Crater
As we head towards the Lemala Descent Road, we see the crater bathed in a glorious sunrise.
We are heading down into the crater this morning for a second visit.
By the time we get to the bottom, the caldera is shrouded in mist and full of dust unsettled by vehicles and animals.
Grant's Gazelles
Red Billed Queleas
Helmeted Guineafowl
Laughing Dove
Ostrich
Egyptian Goose
Thomson's Gazelles fighting over a female
It's pretty serious stuff with a lot of effort and loud crashing of horns. They often fight until death.
They look so cute and harmless, but they can be quite ferocious when the affections of a female is at stake.
Wildebeest
Male wildebeest have specially modified glands situated under the eye called pre orbital glands, and here he is rubbing his face on the ground leaving a scent to mark his territory.
He seems rather pleased with himself
African Spoonbill
Wildebeest
They remain totally unperturbed by the hyena in their midst.
Lions
Two males and one female, just lying around doing absolutely nothing.
Occasionally one lifts his head to see if there is anything worth getting excited about before settling down again.
Spotted Hyena
There are a few of them dotted around.
Lerai Forest
Once an area of dense forest, Lerai is now more like a woodland glade, mostly because of the destructive actions of elephants such as this guy.
We spend ages watching him decimate everything in his path until a ranger on foot comes along and (unintentionally) scares him away.
Olive Baboons
Elephants aren't the only animals who live in Lerai Forest.
Scraping at the bark of the tree to get to nectar or maybe insects
Strangler Fig
It is hard to believe that this mass of hanging branches is all one tree.
Little Bee Eater
Bateleur Eagle
A colourful raptor with a large wingspan and very short tail, although this guy does look like he has even lost what little he had from before.
Nubian Woodpecker
Black Faced Vervet Monkey
Call me infantile, but I am forever fascinated by their blue balls!
And evidentially, so is he.
Elephant
As we try to make our way to the Lerai Picnic Site for breakfast, we are waylaid by a youngish (some 30 years old maybe) bull elephant on the road.
He munches his way right past our car – if I was so inclined I could reach out and touch him. He seems completely unfazed by us.
We finally manage to get to the picnic site for our breakfast. And so ends Part ONE of today's adventures. Thank you Calabash Adventures for this great opportunity to see such amazing wildlife.
Posted by Grete Howard 01:06 Archived in Tanzania Tagged monkey elephant africa tanzania eagle battle birding photography crater lions giraffe flooding ostrich ngorongoro hyena woodpecker spoonbill geese caldera wildebeest goose east_africa bird_watching scent tungsten game_drive olive_baboons blue_balls spotted_hyena malanja_depression grant's_gazelle bee_eater ngrongoro_crater ang'ata_camp lemala_descent_road seasonal_lake white_balance fighting_for_female marking_territory orbital_glands vervet_monkey strangler_fig lerai_forest Comments (6)