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The Great Migration and into the Ngorongoro - Part I

On the March Our guide Wolfgang said today should be quite a long one. We headed out early from the Ngorongoro O'Ideani Mountain Lodge. ...

Thursday, November 23, 2023

The Great Migration and into the Ngorongoro - Part I


On the March
Our guide Wolfgang said today should be quite a long one. We headed out early from the Ngorongoro O'Ideani Mountain Lodge. Along the way we stopped just off the main road so we could peer under a road culvert. As Wolfgang suspected, the shaded culvert was cluttered with a pile lion cubs, mostly snoozing. 
Six mostly snoozing cubs


Awww... look at the cute murder kittens....














Today's objective is to view the earth's largest group of migrating animals. Each November/December the migration starts off in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The migration moves west, then north, headed for Kenya's Mara River. The Migrating animals are mainly Wildebeests and Zebras. Here is a 2.33min video, featuring Wolfgang filling us in about migration basics.                                            
                                                                
On the road again, we passed through one of the entryways of Serengeti National Park. 
In the following photo I appear to have just been released from captivity, but there you go. 
We were headed for the Ngorongoro Crater. Along the way, Wolfgang pointed out a local village. Each group of houses were inside fencing together, as were areas for housing livestock. The fenced areas are called Bomas. Imagine having your own compound (think Kennedys) and it involving no mortgage payments because the land has been in your family for eons. Cool, eh? 


Arriving at the Ngorongoro Crater all were able to stand at the edge of the cobblestoned roadway and look down into the enormous Ngorongoro Crater. 


While our guide went to the Ngorongoro HQ to sort out paperwork for our entry, all were able to get out, stretch the legs and explore a bit. 
Crater-top view of the Ngorongoro 

Looking up from the bottom of the Ngorongoro
The Ngorongoro is a World Heritage Site. This is not the first UNESCO site I've ever visited, as they are found world wide. I kind of wished they had stamp-able passport books in the manner of the U.S.'s National Park passbook because I'd  have quite the stamp collection by now. 

The Crater is chock full of wildlife of all sorts. 
Least and Greater Flamingos
Red-billed Ducks napping in the foreground

Hyena, hoofing it through the muck

Cape Buffalo with its companion Red-billed Oxpeckers

Double-banded Courser

Early on it proved to be a very 'birdy' day. Honestly, other than the birds pointed out by Wolfgang, I wasn't able to ID most of the feathered beings until late in the day with my internet ID guides.
Sacred Ibis (L) and African Spoonbill (R)

Kori Bustard

Black Rhino and Impala 
It was lunch time and Wolfgang drove us the short distance to Magadi Lake. There were all sorts of birds everywhere I looked.  Marabou Storks floated by overhead for their size they obviously break the universal laws because nothing that frickin' huge should be able to achiever flight. 

One of the storks tried to invite itself to lunch with an amiable tourist.

Male Ostrich



.
A Black Kite kept flying low over the picnicking humans
Folk had to guard their lunch

Greedy birds. And one weaver bird tried to hitch a ride, hoping to wind up at the local KFC (Kenyan Fried Chicken), hopefully as a guest and not an entree.
Hitchhiking Baglafecht Weaver Bird

There were plenty of other birds for me to stare at while I ate my lunch.
Fan-tailed Widowbird

Great White Pelican

Rufous-tailed Weaver











And sitting lakeside a Little Bee-eater

But wait! That's not all. Wolfgang drove us up and out of the Ngorongoro Crater.
A last look at the Ngorongoro Crater
Tonight our lodging is at the Ngorongoro O'Ideani Mountain Lodge. Wolfgang assured us the hotel was the finest of all the hotels we will have experienced on this trip. Did I mention back in the States it is Thanksgiving day? Dinner is going to be quite the surprise whatever we are dine on.