The Ngornongoro Crater - a memorable trip inside a mountain!

That's the Ngorongoro Crater!

We have heard of mountains, and volcanoes and also learnt about craters. We have also studied about volcanic eruptions releasing magma, molten lava and such other stuff.  But we were surprised to learn about volcanoes that while exploding, collapse inward and form huge basin-like structures. These are called calderas or cooking pots.  
The Ngorongoro Crater is a fine example of the cooking pot. It must have been a fairly big volcanic mountain 2 or 3 million years ago, but then it exploded and collapsed on itself, thus forming a basin that is around 600m deep and has a floor area of 260 sq.km!

Standing on the rim of the crater

Wildebeest!

Our first sight of this magnificent, natural wonder near Arusha in northern Tanzania, was breath taking!  It was nothing even vaguely similar to what we had imagined it to be.  We stood at the rim of the crater and looked down upon the sprawling open grassland forming the floor of the crater.  We could see tiny black specks dotting the green below.  We trained our binoculars on these black spots and realised, much to our amazement, that they were wildebeests and zebras!   We could also see a lake - called Magadi.  This is the water source to all the animals that live here.

Another view of the crater

We halted at the campsite and pitched our tents.  The camp site has been set up right on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and commands a panoramic 360 * view of the collapsed mountain. It has a wonderful, lush growth of grass.  Our two girls ran around, chasing each other, giggling and laughing and finally collapsing on the ground and rolling around in the grass.    The campsites are equipped with a common kitchen and a dining room apart from separate set of wash rooms for men and women.  Ceneal, (name pronounced as Kenail) our cook on the trip, got busy in the 'kitchen' and set up a wonderful meal for us. His hot soup accompanied by freshly roasted peanuts and popcorn was more than welcome to beat the sudden chill of the evening.  After dinner, while we slept in the tent, we suddenly heard chomping noises. We opened the flap a wee bit to peer out - a few wild bison were feeding on the grass right outside our tent.  We remained quiet within, lest any movement disturb the giants.  Our guide Milkauroy (pronounced as Milcure) informed us the next day that this was a common phenomenon.  The bison could not eat the lush sweet grass growing at the campsite during day time thanks to people like us being around. But at night, they would venture out from around the slopes and enjoy their midnight meal!

Don't mess withe me!

The striped herbivores!

Early next morning, even before sunrise, we drove down towards the crater floor to view the animals that had made this caldera their home.  A chill wind blew and made us all shiver despite our sweaters.  Apart from elephants, wildebeest, zebras ,lions, we got to see the African Black Rhino and the extremely shy cheetah during our 3 hour ride. A family of wart hogs, scampering around and frolicking, made for interesting viewing.  We could also observe several colourful birds like the Crowned Crane - Uganda's national bird, the delicate and gentle flamingos around the lake, the big-framed deer called Eland (this kind of resembles our native sambar deer), dik-diks (the smaller, dainty looking deer), Thomson's gazelles, a family of lions sleeping and totally oblivious to the several pairs of eyes staring at them in rapt attention.  We waited a while, hoping that the lions would move or look up but they continued to doze.. Finally, Milkauroy emitted a loud lion cry - a deep-throated roar.  The lioness, surprised, immediately looked up to see if the lion had indeed come and must have surely been disappointed to see good old Milkauroy instead!.

Enjoying our coffee in the middle of the Crater

We then stopped for a picnic breakfast near the lake and spent some time  exchanging pleasantries with the hippos! And what a royal breakfast it was!  Ceneal had packed sandwiches, cake and fruit for us.  Milkauroy set up the folding table and chairs.  He even spread a table cloth (the typical Masai shawl) and placed the plates and cups on the table!  A flask of hot water ensured that we could have coffee while the girls enjoyed their hot chocolate drink.  It was a truly memorable picnic, out in the open with several birds for company, and watching the hippos immersed in the swamp water with just their heads sticking out!

The girls near the hippo swamp

Our guide Milkauroy with the girls and the picnic table

On the drive back to Arusha, we enjoyed watching the beautiful landscape pass by - we were driving down a straight, ribbon-like road and it seemed like we would go and bump straight into Mount Meru that was sitting right at the end of the road!  That was a truly awesome sight!

The Ngorongoro trip was a wonderful experience  - the memories of which we will all cherish in our hearts. Did someone say, "Wanna go again? You bet! I am ready for it anytime!

To Arusha - approaching Mount Meru