African Safari - 2026
Saturday 10 October'26 - Ngorongoro/Lake Manyara (Tanzania)
I know you'll be surprised but another 0730 start. We made a long, slow and arduous descent into the crater. The road , whilst "bricked surfaced" was only marginally better than the dirt tracks we have become used to and it was under ominous clouds. However, once we had reached the crater proper, it was clear with the clouds remaining along the mountains. Apart from the usual suspects within the "welcoming committee", there are so many bird variety's. Unfortunately, the very small ones are the prettiest but are so "flighty", I'd need a week in a bird-hide to grab photos of them. Of the ones I did manage to get an Augur Buzzard, a Grey Crowned Crane, a Marabou Crane and a Kori Bustard (the national bird of Tanzania). After that, we crossed a water course that was being enjoyed by many different birds. The water course was heading towards the lake through some dense scrub, were we had a pleasant surprise and to be honest, the 20 minutes we spent watching these guys was NOWHERE near enough!
Next on the agenda was to head to the lakes shore to get a better look around. As it was lunchtime , we headed to the hippo pools for some R&R (and bathroom break) before returning to the crater plains for some more animal spotting and we were not disappointed... I learnt some interesting facts today; zebras and wildebeests co-exist well because zebras have great eyesight and wildebeests have a fantastic sense of smell. So together, they form a fairly formidable "watch team" against their predators. When zebras are grazing by themselves, they will stand head to toe, side by side or as the locals call it; "I got your back" position. As I mentioned earlier they have fantastic vision, 180' in fact so by standing in that position, they effectively have a 360' visual of their grazing area.
It was then time to start our climb back up the mountain range towards our next over night stop, Lake Manyara Serena Lodge. But not before a quick photo stop with 2 baboons who appeared to be enjoying themselves. Like all the accomodation to date,
more than adequate. The staff are so helpful and the the service for food and drinks can not be faulted.
