Inside the Incredible NGORONGORO CRATER

The name seems impossible to pronounce, and the sights inside are likewise almost impossible to believe.The Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest caldera, formed when an active volcanic exploded and then collapsed inside of itself. The drive to the rim of the crater was fantastic enough, on a winding road through thick forest that was as beautiful as it was unexpected after all the grassland and savanna we’d seen. Once we reached the rim, we stopped to take in the view and the obligatory selfie. Then we began the descent inside, and were incredibly surprised by what we found.

To tell the truth, I didn’t think we’d see anything inside – the crater below us looked barren of wildlife or any kind from the distant rim. But when we reached the bottom, the place came alive, teeming with wildlife or every kind that is simply impossible to see from the higher elevation. Often called “The Eden of Africa”, it mesmerizes the visitor with so many animal species living inside, once again seemingly oblivious to the safari trucks that drive among them. Jotting down the animals we saw, my notes read much like a modern zoo… serval cats, jackals, lions, hippos, zebras, elephants and giraffes. The bottom of the crater contains a beautiful blue lake which surprisingly had flocks of flamingos, their dramatic pink color stemming  from a certain kind of algae in the water that they eat. It was just a paradise of wildlife, coexisting in African splendor. The crater was so huge that we drove and drove and drove across its base, finally exiting on another side to move on to the Serengeti.

The drive down was almost as thrilling as the ride up was beautiful – the road just a narrow track that the drivers almost seemed to race along, the passing of two vehicles such a nerve-wracking experience that it was best not to look and just try instead to take a quick nap! Once out of that area the washboarding of the dirt roads jolted us awake as our guide tried to make time on ground that was brutally rough on the tires. We got to camp late due to the engine overheating… repeatedly we had to stop and let it cool down enough to continue. There we would sit each time as darkness deepened around us, and I couldn’t help but wonder what we would do if for some reason the engine decided not to restart, and we found ourselves stranded in the wilderness at night! It didn’t help that we passed an abandoned vehicle that looked like it had been involved in a horrific wreck of some kind, the windshield broken out and the body heavily damaged. The view added to the feeling of complete isolation, even as we wondered what had happened to the people inside. Our spirits lifted when we spotted a bright light in the distance and were hopeful that it was the camp we were headed to… only to find out it was a large fire that had been set for some land management purpose, as we passed it by on our left and drove on in the night. Lazarus was uncommunicative, concentrating on delivering his passengers to their destination and probably pondering where he could take the truck for service after doing so! So we were surprised when we suddenly arrived at a very rustic camp surrounded by the close wilderness, water buffalo grazing all around us. Oh, the relief of having safely arrived where our dinner was waiting for us, and we gratefully headed in to enjoy it, talking the whole time of the wonders we had witnessed that day.

“The Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden… Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air…”

(Genesis 2:8,19 NKJV)