Day 9 - Ngorongoro Crater

26th Aug'2012 - Ngorongoro crater - We pack our bags as its our last day of the Safari, have an early breakfast and leave Rhino Lodge (one of the best places to stay) around 06:30 hrs. Its a chilly, foggy morning as we wind our way down to the crater floor.
We see a Masai congregation enroute - more like a guru-shishya session happening and Ame tell us that the youngsters are being taught about Masai culture.

Again the landscapes do not let me move ahead without a few pictures :)

As we move ahead, we come across a lot of Zebras and Wildebeests against the backdrop of the salt lake. 

A little later we spot a lioness walking along the lake side in the distance. She just keeps walking for about 10mins majestically and then finds a grassy patch before settling in.

We were hoping for a kill but no luck! She's too busy snoozing. We move on ahead and spot 2 young males sleeping in the grass - the same colour as the lions. All we can see is the mane of one of the Lions. We wait and then one of them decides to give us his blessings by lifting his head up and looking around.

As we move ahead, we spot a Kori Bustard - an amazingly different kind of bird. The earlier one I had shot was not a great pic, so was glad that I got a pretty decent one this time.

Ame was in a hurry (and I was miffed!!) but a little later we spotted a Bateleur Eagle. It swooped down and settled near the rocks on a water body. Lovely bird of prey!

Ame drives around at top speed and we're holding on for dear life (more of equipment). We do not know what's going on and he chooses to remain quiet. After a while he brings the vehicle to a stand still and points out in the distance. We focus and count - 1, 2, 3.....to 8...take a deep breath!

A pride of teenage lions led by a female lioness in the distance walking majestically towards us.

Ame asks us to get in the 4*4 quickly and takes us around to another place where this pride is taking positions to attack a Gazelle. Really excited we start shooting every movement that each Lion makes.

Unfortunately all shaky shots (our excitement got the upper hand). 

Just to give a brief, the lead lioness takes position followed by another one a little to her right. We see another one go further right behind the 2nd one. Then we see 2 taking position at the start of a hillock and suddenly realise that there's a 5th somewhere in the middle of the hillock. 2 more take position to the left of the 1st lioness. The 8th one seems to be injured as we do not see it and it was walking very slowly. A brilliant strategy to ensure the gazelle is not missed from any direction.

As the lead lioness went into the attack position, one of the vehicle driver's starts the engine and the gazelle gets alerted and spots the attackers. She makes a quick escape.

Disappointment writ large on her face the lead lioness slumps down! Then we see this amazing moment of camaraderie and affection.  The 2 lions behind the lead female come up to her and nuzzle her as if to say "It's alright. There'll be another one"! Absolutely amazing moment caught!

All the lions start walking towards the vehicles lined up...going right next to our vehicles and moving on further up the road with such grace and poise that it was difficult to comprehend they just missed their lunch (thanks to us humans!!)

We were already behind schedule, so we headed quickly towards Ngoitoktok springs for a picninc lunch we had carried with us. Just before reaching we spotted a gazelle trying to make its baby walk the first few steps. A far shot and a hazy shot but a must see!

After lunch we had some great Zebra shots which gave us a good laugh. Here are a few that I've named as - Conjoint, Siamese twins, Butt heads and Head butter respectively:D

As we rush out of the crater, I look behind and take some parting shots as we're being driven away. My favourite one is here.

Hey, the journey does not end here...but the Safari definitely does!

I hope you've had a glimpse of what I've experienced and what I've felt during the 9 days that we've travelled. We've been very lucky to see all that we saw and the people we've met has only enriched me and broadened my vision, taking me one step further towards doing things that I love to do.

Asante! (Thank you in Swahili) for your patience!

Please leave your feedback and comments on the blog about the writing and the photographs.

Copyright (photos) - Supraja & TJ

Credits - TJ, Sneh, Radhakrishnan, Isaac (Kenyan tour guide), Ame (Tanzanian tour guide), Minneh from Jocky tours (Kenyan tour operator), Emmanuel from Lilac adventures (Tanzanian tour operator) and all the unnamed Masai people who've made our stay comfortable and welcomed us with open hearts! Cannot forget the animals, birds, landscapes across Kenya - Tanzania!

Jambo! (Welcome) as we move on to our next destination - Zanzibar! in a little while:)

Day 1 - 2 - Amboseli National Park, Kenya

18th Aug'2012 & 19th Aug'2012 - Nairboi - Amboseli - We landed at Nairobi airport and were met up by our tour operator. Our driver and tour guide Isaac was introduced and we started our safari sojourn filled with excitement and anticipation. 
We were warned of our long drive ahead to Amboseli National Park - about 140kms away from Nairboi which would take almost 6 hrs to reach. It was around 8:30 am (Kenya time) that we left the airport. I had my request laid out in terms of breakfast (I need to be fed at regular intervals). We stopped around 11:00 am at a small cafe where we spotted a crow with a white neck and breast. I got to know later that it's a "Pied crow" and these are what is found across Kenya generally.

We moved on towards Amboseli (a few kms of bad road) and then turned onto the actual route to the National Park.

Sweeping plains, spectacular landscapes were my first thoughts....wow!

At the first sight of a Wildebeest, the 4 of us (me, TJ, Sneh & Radhakrishnan) screamed at Isaac to stop the car. A bewildered Isaac was not sure what went wrong until he saw us frantically clicking pictures of the Wildebeest and Zebra. He had a smile on his face......little did we know what was in store for us.

We checked in at Amboseli Kibo wildlife lodge for a quick-lunch and moved on to our first actual game drive.

We saw lots of Elephants, Thomson's gazelles, a few giraffe and a couple of Masai giraffe (darker than the regular Giraffe)

We were nearing the end of the evening game drive when we spotted a herd of elephants with babies amongst them. As they crossed the road in front of us, one of the teenagers was left behind and came charging towards the vehicles in confusion making furious noises. A call from one of the elder elephants redirected the teenager towards the path of the other elephants. Phew! Now we know what a "Close call" means!

As we headed back towards the lodge, we spotted a waterbuck and just about managed to grab a picture in the fading light.

As we headed out the next morning checking out of Kibo after breakfast, we spotted Crown crested cranes dancing. The pair was a very pretty picture posing beautifully. Too bad I can't put up many pictures here:(

Superb Starling male and Hildebrandt starling - brightly coloured birds, an Oriole? (not sure), Sparrows or finches (not sure) were also spotted. 

Male Ostriches trying to woo the female as also Grey Herons were some of the birds spotted during our trip at Amboseli. 

We also spotted an Eagle (not sure which one) in the twilight zone the previous day.

Interestingly, apart from the baby elephants,we also managed to catch sight of a baby giraffe, a baby wildebeest and a baby gazelle (have to check out what all these babies are called??) Honestly they do not look like babies at all!!

Before departing the early morning views of Mount Kilimanjaro (the prime reason for me being in Amboseli) and the snow-capped mountain view on our way out of the park gave me hopes that I was going to return soon.

But for now we were on our way to Lake Nakuru via Nairobi. Get set for another long drive to another spectacularly beautiful and amazingly different landscape.

Evening sky at Amboseli.