ngorogoro crater Archives - Five Zero Safaris

A full day in the world famous Ngorogoro Crater is quite an experience for the cameras! There are so many animals, with loads to see and photograph, that it literally doesn’t stop. Starting off with male buffalos chasing a mating pair of lions really sets the tone in the crater, as not long afterwards we found several more lions looking interested in some wildebeest. The real treat for the day was a sighting that started relatively tamely, with 4 black-backed jackals feeding on a wildebeest carcass. By the time we had left (around 3000 images later), more black-backed jackals had joined, kicking off the first round of fights, 60 or so vultures had flown in and were starting to harass the jackals, which were in turn chasing the vultures, 2 golden jackals came charging in and chased off the black-backed jackals, and finally, a large hyena ran in and settled all the squabbling, by taking the entire kill and running away. Magic photography! A pair of mating hyena popped up for us, and some black rhino sightings capped off another great day on safari.

Major sightings of the day:

Buffalo chasing lions

4 female and 2 young male lions

1 female and 1 young male lions

Large elephant herd

Too many male elephants to count

Too many buffalo to count

Too many hyena to count

2 male lions

Jackals, vultures and hyena feeding on wildebeest kill

Mating hyenas

2 sightings of black rhino

5 lions

7 black rhino in one sighting

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Making our way out of Lake Manyara and across to the famous Ngorogoro Crater, we had non-stop sightings, and the cameras made the most of it! A large male lion started us off, quickly followed by a herd of elephants. The birds were again non-stop throughout the day, and a very brief look at a female leopard gave us another large mammal for our lists. Arriving at the crater itself is quite surreal, because you are right up on the rim of the crater (caldera to be exact) and inside a cloud, which creates a dense forest high above the warm plains below. It is a stark contrast to what waits below the cloud – the flat, open and heavily populated plains. We finished the day off with several sightings of lion, as well 4 black rhino. The lodge has the most wonderful view over the crater floor, and with a good pair of binoculars, you can start your safari from you private balcony.

Major sightings of the day:

Many sightings of male buffalo

Many sightings of male elephant

Male lion

Herd of elephants

Female leopard

Serval

Herd of buffalo

12 spotted hyenas hunting

4 black rhino

Male and female lion

2 golden jackals