Sunday 26 April
Our last night in the Serengeti and now we are heading home, but first we have a game drive in the Ngoronoro caldera before we reach our accommodation at the Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge.
We leave early at 7 am and shortly after we reached the main road we saw giraffe, zebra, elephants, impala etc. After a couple of hours of African massage we start to see the beginnings of the mass migration. It is hard to explain the number of wildebeests in particular. They cross the road in front of us and on both sides of the road the numbers stretch almost to the horizon. There are masses of zebra also but the wildebeest dominate. We force our way through the mob and continue on. Then there is a lion laying down just off the road.
There are another two massive groupings of wildebeest as well as others further out on the plains. We see another lion and then some ostriches. We eventually pass through the Nabi gate and move into another part of the Serengeti where the landscape changes from tall grass to low grass and almost no trees or shrubs. This is because the covering of soil is shallow and beneath the soil is rock.
We then enter Ngorongoro conservation area which is the outlying area of Mt Ngorongoro and here the Maasai live with their cattle and sheep and goats. Now we are starting to climb up the slopes. We reach the caldera gate about 10.30 and start our descent into the caldera. It is an amazing sight. We are half way down and we see a lion in a tree surveying the area. Once we get to the bottom the wildlife are everywhere! Cape buffalo, warthogs, gazelles, impala, elephants, hippos, rhinos and lions, as well as many colourful birds. While there is open grassland at the bottom, in some areas near the bottom of the slopes is a rain forest environment and here we find baboons. What a way to finish our tour of Tanzania.
After a very close experience with a lion resting on the side of the road we have a picnic lunch and then drive up and out of the caldera. We leave the unmade roads behind us and arrive at our accommodation around 4 pm. It is a beautiful place with lush gardens and a beautiful view out over the forests.
Tomorrow we head to Kilimanjaro airport where we will stay overnight before starting our flight to Johburg.
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