2nd – In the crater on the last day

As we would be leaving the crater at mid-day we departed earlier than usual. Breakfast was served at 0600 and departure when possible which ended up 40 minutes later. Getting out of the tent at around 0520 the sky was clear and you had – for once – an unobstructed view of the stars and Milky Way. Less than 10 minutes later it was all covered by a dense cloud cover. The sunrise was similar; beautiful colors and contrasts to start off with, and moments later it was all covered by clouds.

We drove off to the crater and before reaching the rim we came through several cloudy passages. After an hour, though, the sun had burnt through and the weather turned beautiful. We left mid-day and came back in Arusha 4 hours later where we checked back into the lodge.

We ended up seeing a rhino but unfortunately from a bit of a distance. We saw some lions, a lot of birds, zebras, wildebeests, buffalos and elephants. One saw a cheetah sneaking into some tall grass close to a herd of zebras, but they moved away before anything interesting could have happened. On the way out of the crater we saw 2 wildebeest fighting each other – that was a nice sighting to finish of an amazing safari.

Last time I visited the crater they had app. 25 rhinos. Now they have around 18; only 1 of them was poached, one died of natural causes and the last have been moved to other locations.

Tomorrow is spent on doing nothing; people are departing so they are picked up throughout the day to be brought to their next destinations. I have a flight at 2050 and another have one a few hours earlier – I might decide to join him to the airport; waiting there will probably not be much different from waiting at the lodge.

The zebra keeping a watchful eye on a lion passing by.

Rhino!

Grey crowned crane.

Two grey crowned cranes flying by.

Abdim's stork.

African sacred ibis.

Hippy keeping an eye out.

Yellow green vireo (I think...).

Speeke's weaver.

Pelicans.

Pelicans competing in the not-so-known discipline "Synchronized landing".

Great egret.

It's hard to see on the photo but these elephants were massive.

Close up.

Our last sighting in the crater; two wildebeest having a go at each other.