Ngorongoro Crater 11/4/1993 Floor is Miniature Wildlife Preserve

What Crater Lake Would Be Without Water
By Bob Van Leer

(ARUSHA, TANZANIA, EAST AFRICA - Nov. 4, 1993) - A tour of the Ngorongoro crater this morning was the highlight of the day. This bowl-shaped crater is about 10 miles wide and the floor is about 5600 feet above sea level with the rim height averaging 2000 feet above this. The crater is the relic of a gargantuan volcano that collapsed into itself. This is what Crater Lake might look like without water. The crater floor is a miniature Serengeti. Most of the floor is open grassland and shallow lake and covered with a wide variety of wild animals easy to see and photograph. Generally, they don't seem at all bothered by vehicles. To them the vehicles are a zero sum - they don't bother the wildlife and they aren't good to eat. Our lodge is right on the edge of the crater rim which gives an incredible view of the crater. I could see an elephant in the small patch of forest below the lodge, the only trees in the crater. Access to the crater floor is by four-wheel-drive. For width, the roads are actually better than some of the logging roads in Curry county. But the grades are steep and there is no pavement. 

On the way down in the morning we mixed in with the Masai taking their cattle and goat herds down to water. Some of the Masai used to live in the crater but were removed by the government. An accommodation was reached whereby the Masai can bring their cattle down to drink but can't leave them there to graze. At this time of the year there is no water left in the highlands. It takes the Masai an hour and a half to bring the cattle down to water and another three hours out of the crater. The Masai is a tribe that continues to keep to its old ways in daily living and dress. Tribe members wear long, flowing robes of bright colors, with reds and purples most common, and carry spears. Masai are herders and their capital is in their herds of sheep and goats. This time of year this land is essentially a desert. The land is parched and brown. Yet in the middle of this desert you will see a small herd of goats and cattle with an occasional burro and sheep. These herds are always accompanied by a Masai in traditional bright dress looking, from a distance, like the only flower in the desert.

  After touring the crater we stopped and visited a Masai village (for a price of $5.50 per tourist) and were able to take pictures and hear something about the tribe. In selling things to our party, the Masai were so aggressive as to be threatening to some of our members. A classic case of culture clash.  On the crater floor we saw a number of rhinoceros, the last of the "big five" of African game animals for us to find. The others are: elephant, lion, leopard and Cape buffalo. In the crater were zebras, wildebeests (thousands), hippos, hartebeest, hyenas, warthogs, Tomson's gazelles, topi and lions. From the information we receive, most of the animals have no problems of survival except the elephant, and especially the rhino, because of poaching. We watched a lioness attempt to kill a zebra but she missed. We are told lions miss a kill about three times out of four. One of the lions we saw walked so close to our vehicle it was prudent to close the doors.

  Other wildlife we saw were: crested cranes, flamingos by the many thousands, and a five-foot python. As we were about to leave the crater floor we ran across three bull elephants in the forest shade. After lunch back at the lodge our safari was complete and it was time to return to Arusha over the same bone-jarring road we came out on. This road is tough on equipment and people alike. It was a good trip - only one flat tire among our three vehicles. Tomorrow we will do some visiting in Arusha and then, in the afternoon, catch a plane for Dar es Salaam, the capital and largest city in Tanzania. A problem with this is we have been here since Monday and have made a number of purchases. All of these must now be packed into our suitcases to board a plane. One item I purchased is a Masai spear. This spear won't fit into a suitcase and I may have some explaining to do as to why I want to take such a weapon on board the plane as carry-on luggage.