October 11 – Our First Safari Day

Hi, it is Monday October 11th and I’m calling you from the Sopa Lodge at the Ngorongoro crater.  The crater is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  There was an active volcano millions of years ago and eventually it caved in on itself.  It is wonderful because the wildlife viewing is excellent.  We left our hotel at 6am this morning to get ahead of the other safari tours and it wasn’t long before we came upon 5 active lions searching for prey.  We saw birds, zebras, wildebeest and water buffalo

At lunch we shared a watering hole with a thirsty elephant and a photographer got a little too close and the elephant started to charge him.  We also saw hyenas, jackals, flamingos and two rhinos in the far distance.  Our first day was pretty good on safari because we saw 4 out of the 5 big game animals typically noted, lion, water buffalo, elephant and rhino we just need to see a leopard now.

We spent 9 hours in the crater today, it was an excellent day, it was cold in the morning and about 92 degrees in the afternoon, and it felt much like California .  For the safari it is Brittany and I with our guides Nicholas and Bosco.  The four of us are becoming really close and learning about each other’s culture and countries. 

So I’m learning lots and enjoying life and it’s a great time to be in Africa .  We’ll catch you up when we can.