Ngorongoro Crater is simply one of the most spectacular places on our planet. It would be impossible for me to completely convey the feeling one has when first laying eyes on it after having driven half mile up to reach the crater rim and then descending the same distance into this magnificent geologic feature that is unequalled anywhere else. The “crater” is actually a caldera (collapsed volcanic mountain) and is the largest, complete, dry caldera in the world. It is ten miles in diameter, and the walls are 2000 feet high forming a Garden of Eden with thousands and thousands of animals who don’t migrate but rather stay in place in this self-contained ecosystem with diverse enough habitats for everyone. It has the Big Five (rhino, elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, and lion) and one of the densest populations of lions in Africa. The animals here live their entire lives in the crater as they have no need of anything else.
I have been driving into the crater several times a year for over the last 12 years and it has never once gotten old for me. For those who know me, there are many things that I love to do, but taking a group into the crater and guiding would have to rank up there with one of the most enjoyable and most incredible things I have done in my life. I’ve said many times before that is someone told me that I would be driving a Land Rover in East Africa to places like Ngorongoro and some many others here at this stage in my life, I would have thought them simply daft. Yet here I am still loving every minute of it.
We left the shortly after our target time (6 am) to get to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area gate leading up to the crater shortly after it opened considering it was high season, and I expected lots of vehicles. I had five passengers – Cat having been the crater before with me, and Joe, Jack, Patrick, and Julian, all of whom had never been on a game drive before. Getting through the gate with our quote, or invoice, that had been prepared with the help of my good friends, Leonard and Pendo, has always been a bit nerve wracking as it seems the rules change every time I’m here. I am typically the only non-Tanzanian standing in line, though there seem to be more people doing “self-drive safaris” than in the past. I am always asked, “have you driven here before,” or “are you familiar with the crater?” Today’s time checking in was one of the smoothest, thankfully, though I was still asked the same questions.
The drive up to the crater rim is one of my favorites, if not the favorite, drives in the world. Ascending through a primordial forest of trees rising hundreds of feet out of the ravines to find sunlight is just spectacularly impressive. At every hairpin turn on the switchbacks, the elephants have carved away the clay to get to the minerals they so desperately need. Arriving at the overlook, when we’re not fogged in at the rim, is daunting as you’re looking at a giant cavity in the ground ten miles across and nearly half a mile deep. Everything is laid out in front of you, but it is not until you finally reach the bottom that you can perceive the sheer immensity of the space you’re in. Even then, it is still difficult to grasp the magnitude of the crater, but after we spend the day exploring, you will finally understand.
The photos I’ve posted in the blog were all taken by my passengers (I was driving, of course) using an extra camera and lens I bring just for such an occasion. The photos are that much more impressive considering they are all novices at photography. Please enjoy.
