NgoroNgoro Crater, Tanzania
NgoroNgoro (sometimes Ngorogoro) is a large volcanic crater between Arusha and the Serengeti. It's very similar to Etosha in Namibia in that it is a large salt pan that has an abundance of wildlife and not a lot of cover for them to hide in. So spotting animals there isn't quite as challenging as on the Serengeti or in Kruger National Park. But there was a lot to see. We were there for one day, and among other things saw 17 lions.
It's a volcanic crater, so you start at the rim, looking down.
Then you descend into it.
Here a cub bites its mom's leg. You can see one of the other game vehicles in the background.
I've seen this a few times that whenever a lion approaches another, the approaching one rubs its head along the torso of the other. This might be easier to accept if a cub was't at the same time biting your face.
The cubs were cute and very small. When they sat down it was hard to get a shot of their faces without the grass getting in the way.
Buffalo, on the other hand, are just ugly.
This hippo was loving the swim. It kept rolling over and curling its toes.
The strangest thing I've ever seen. A warthog is chasing a hyena out of a mud hole. It was a hot day and the warthog wanted the mud. The hyena is very pregnant and not very mobile, but still - hyenas eat warthogs. That's a pretty ballsy thing for the herbivore to do.
This is my favourite ostrich picture. The bands of colour in the background are the various salt pans of the crater floor.
