To stay overnight within Ngorongoro Conservation Area, we needed a special research permit, because visitors can only stay during the day and there is no camping allowed. This is how we as researchers are able to camp at Olduvai Gorge, which is within the conservation area, for the rest of the trip.
Last night it rained. What happened to the dry season?! The rim of Ngorongoro Crater is a tropical montane forest and gets a lot more rainfall than surrounding Serengeti and Tarangire national parks, resulting in lush greenery year round.
Within the crater of the former volcano is an incredibly diverse ecosystem with the highest concentration of large predators in the world. I wasn’t expecting to see any predators, and was shocked when we saw a spotted hyaena walking out in the open.
Later, a lion attempted to sleep in dense grass just meters away from the road. It had two puncture wounds on its side, spaced just perfectly apart to be from a fight with a horned animal.
Just a few minutes later, we stumbled across an entire pride! My favorite part about seeing the pride was watching their interactions with other animals. A nearby herd of grazing gazelles appointed a “guard gazelle” that kept diligent watch on the lions, making sure they wouldn’t attack the rest of the group. The guard gazelle was so good at its job! Even though the lions were very obviously lounging around, it never took its eyes on them. It was incredible and so surprising that we got to see one lion, let alone an entire pride.
We saw an amazing variety of wildlife, more than I could even list here. Flamingo, hippo, buffalo, baby gazelle, elephant, pelican, jackal, the list goes on.
On the way to Olduvai Gorge, we saw several large herds of Maasai giraffes browsing on low acacia trees. We arrived at the Olduvai research station and set up camp. Our tents were set up in time for a beautiful sunset over the gorge. The first thing I noticed driving to the camp was the distinctive succulent-type plant that the gorge is named after: oldupai.
The Olduvai camp consists of five buildings: a lab, an open air eating area, two dorms for senior researchers, storage space for fossils, and bathrooms. The electricity is only turned on at night. Water is trucked in from the town of Karatu, so we‘re only allowed to shower every other day.
Tonight’s soup is butternut squash,
Carina
