11-24-17

"Look...over there!"

"A zebra!"

We love zebras!

Zebras are smart.

Wildebeest! They aren't so smart. :-0

Interesting fact with the wildebeest in Ngorongoro crater...they don't (can't) migrate. The animals that live in the crater are surrounded by a high natural wall that feels like a fence. Because of that the wildebeest act more like grazing farm cattle.

They aren't as skittish.

We could easily drive up close to get a good photo of their bearded faces.

The zebras were more tame too. In many ways Ngorongoro felt more like a wildlife zoo. Better than what you see in the states but not as thrilling as seeing the animals in the Serengeti. The Serengeti is where the animals are truly wild & living out their animal instincts.

Even with that being said...I would NOT go up to pet a cape buffalo or lion in Ngorongoro Crater!! LOL. Speaking of Cape buffalo I forgot to mention that during our 2nd night sleeping in our lovely Serengeti bed there were Cape Buffalo sniffing, snorting and grazing just outside our tent. It woke Bob & I up at midnight & we were terrified. Cape Buffalo are some of the most dangerous animals and they will charge if startled. Bob & I lay paralyzed...scared & completely quiet. My heart was pounding so hard I thought the buffalo would hear it & run us down in the tent. The buffalo heads were inches away from our heads while we lay in bed. Only the thin brown textured canvas of our tent divided us. Well...we survived (or I wouldn't be writing to tell the tale...hahaha). When Bob finally peeked out of our tent at 6:00am three buffalo were lying down on our front porch. Bob came right back in our tent & we waited for them to leave (which they did about 30 minutes later). Phew! I have a new movie title for our experience...

"Sleepless in Serengeti" :-)

PS: Google cape buffalo attacks on Youtube. That will give you an idea of where our imagination was going! That morning at breakfast Emanuel said "yes...cape buffalo are some of the most dangerous animals but they would never come in our tent." Hmmmm... I guess that was supposed to comfort us. :-)

Hakunna Matata! The warthog! They are so funny to watch. Just like in "The Lion King" movie you immediately picture the warthog singing as he walks along. PS: We rented "The Lion King" to watch on our plane ride back to the states. It made us happy. :-)

Hungry hungry hippos.

Lots-o-hippos! Bob counted 90 hippos in this pond. that has to be a record. In addition to the hippos we saw male & female lions, lion cubs, hyenas, gazelles, secretary birds, ostriches, other colorful & interesting birds and several elephants. We didn't see any rhinos up close (just the 2 through the telescope last night). It was a great day in the crater!