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Title image - BAI takes you to:  Kilimanjaro
Why climb with Berg Adventures

 

Philmont Staff Association and Friends Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari Dispatch

June 25, 2011 – A Day Inside the Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is a nature reserve, international environmental heritage site, and one of the true wonders of the world. The floor of the extinct volcano is 16 kilometers by 19 kilometers encircled by the walls of the crater rim. It is a somewhat contained ecosystem where nature has had its way for millennia. We had the great privilege of spending much of today exploring Ngorongoro.

Eli Fry with expert driver and guide, David

Eli Fry with expert driver and guide, David

It’s a Berg Adventures tradition to be on the crater floor ahead of sunrise. Our group gathered in the lodge for hot tea and coffee, then climbed aboard the Land Cruisers for the drive down from the rim. Soon we found ourselves surrounded by wildlife, the nocturnal animals finishing up their night’s activities while those that wander by day were just starting out. Lions, rhinos, a civet cat, and great herds of wildebeests and zebras highlighted a list that grew by the hour.

We stopped for a box breakfast near a small lake with a raft of hippos just offshore. We had a good time visiting and enjoying each other’s company, and then it was time for Eli Fry, John Privitera, and Reed Ference to start the drive back to Arusha and an evening flight home. We have been through some remarkable times together, reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro and seeing some of the best of Africa’s wildlife reserves. Friendships have been formed that will last long after the trip is over.

The rest of us made our way back across the crater floor, stopping often to study animals through binoculars and camera lenses. Our driver/guides continued to be remarkably wise in the ways of wildlife, looking for tracks in the dust on the road, seeing animals far away, and answering every question any of us might have.

By mid-afternoon we were back at Sopa Lodge for a delicious sit-down lunch and more visiting. The last hours have been a time for relaxing, taking naps, reading, and beginning to look ahead to our journey tomorrow when we will drive to Olduvai Gorge to visit the ancestors, and then continue into Serengeti National Park, certain the adventures ahead will be every bit as satisfying as all that we’ve been experiencing.

Lynch, Lockwood, Archer family on safari

Lynch, Lockwood, Archer family on safari

Hippos afloat

Hippos afloat

Wildebeests out walking.  It’s what they do.

Wildebeests out walking. It’s what they do.

Zebra stripes confuse predators trying to pick out individual prey.

Zebra stripes confuse predators trying to pick out individual prey.