Traveling
  • 2018 Europe XXVII
    • Day 1 - Arrival in Luzern
    • Day 2 - Luzern
    • Day 3 - Bern
    • Day 4 - Last Day in Bern
  • 2015 Round the World (Pages in Progress)
    • 2015 Cuzco, Peru
    • 2015 Sacred Valley
    • 2015 Machu Picchu
    • 2015 To the Rain Forrest
    • 2015 Cayman Lodge #OffTheGrid
    • 2015 Rain Forest - Day 1
    • 2015 Rain Forest - Day 2
    • 2015 Lima, Peru
    • 2015 Berlin
    • 2015 Warsaw, Poland
    • 2015 Krakow, Poland
    • 2015 Ho Chi Minh City - Day 1
    • 2015 Ho Chi Minh City - Day 2
    • 2015 Bus Ride to Cambodia
    • 2015 Phnom Penh
    • 2015 Floating City, Cambodia
    • 2015 Angkor Wat - Siem Reap, Cambodia
    • 2015 Angkor Wat - Sunrise
    • 2015 - Battambang, Cambodia
    • 2015 - Bangkok, Thailand
    • 2015 - New Zealand Bike Tour - Days 1 and 2
  • August 2015 Europe (in progress)
    • Day 2 - Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
  • Brazil - World Cup 2014
    • Argentina vs Swiss 2014 World Cup
    • Santos - The Lifeguard Study
    • Sao Paulo
    • More Santos and the BBQ
  • 2015 Birchwood Henderson Bicycle Race
    • 2015 Birchwood Henderson Bike Race - Morning Session
    • 2015 Birchwood Henderson Bike Race - Afternoon Session
  • Africa Trip - February 2013
    • 2013 Days 15 and 16 Zanzibar
    • 2013 Day 14 Safari Ends
    • 2013 Day 13 Tarangire
    • 2013 Day 12 Ngorongoro
    • 2013 Day 11 Serengeti to Ngorongoro
    • 2013 Day 10 Serengeti
    • 2013 Day 9 - Drive to Serengeti
    • 2013 Day 8 - First Day on Safari
    • 2013 Days 5, 6 and 7
    • 2013 Day 4 Cape Town
    • 2013 Day 3 Cape Town
  • 2014 New Zealand - North Island
    • Auckland
    • The Drive to Napier
  • 2013 Baltic Countries
    • 2013 Valnius
    • 2013 Riga, Latvia
    • 2013 Tallinn, Estonia
    • 2013 Tartu, Estonia
    • 2013 Stockholm
  • Barcelona - April 2013
    • Dali Museum
    • Futbol Club Barcelona
  • Nature Valley Grand Prix - Stillwater, MN 16 June 2013
  • 2001
  • Misc. Minneapolis
  • 2014 Red Bull Crashed Ice
  • Birchwood Team 2016

2013 Day 12 - Ngorongoro

2/16/2013

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This morning we saw a Rhinoceros, completing Tanzania’s “Big 5” animals during this trip.  The Big 5 are animals prized by poachers for their skin, hoofs, tusks, teeth and horns, they are all dangerous animals.  The Big 5 are the Elephant, Buffalo, Rhinoceros, Lion and Leopard.  We saw 4 of the 5 today, the Leopard is not found in Ngorongora Crater.  The Leopard and Rhinoceros are the most difficult to see, the Leopard is the only one of the 5 that we’ve only seen one of.

We saw about a dozen animals today in Ngorongoro Crater, I made notes of Grant Gazelle, Wildebeest, Warthog, Rhino, Buffalo, Black Bucket Jackal, Lions, Élan Antelope, Elephant, Zebra and Golden Jackal.  We also saw a variety of birds.

Ngorongora Crater is a volcanic crater with a 99 acre salt lake, many of the animals like the salt.  Vegetation in the crater is primarily grass.

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2013 Day 11 Serengeti to Ngorongoro

2/15/2013

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I’ve never been a big fan of zoos, this trip is only showing why keeping animals in small areas is just wrong.

Today was a drive through Serengeti National Park then into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area with a stop at a Maasi village.  The Maasi are an indigenous people, originally nomadic.  They raise cattle and don’t eat of otherwise harvest the wild animals; this is why they are allowed to live in the conservation area.

I’m not sure my list is complete but I noted seeing Impala, Buffalo, Zebra, Wildebeast, Leopard Turtle, Black Faced aka Vervet Monkey, Crocodile, Olive Baboon, Hippo, Giraffe, Honey Badger, Hyena plus a number of birds.

The numbers of Zebra and Wildebeast were amazing; they covered the ground as far as one could see.  These 2 animals travel together because they need each other.  The Wildebeast has eye on the side of its head which limits its vision while the zebra has eye in front giving it forward vision.  There will always be a zebra in the front of a migrating herd.  Other senses of the Wildebeast help to protect the herd from predators.

The Maasi village we visited welcomes paying customers.  The houses are very small, made of branches and dung.  They are polygamous, the number of wives one is allowed depends on how many cows you have, 10 cows for 1 wife, 20 cows for 2 wives.  Our guide listed up to 40 cows for 4 wives, he said he has 2 wives.

After visiting the village we continued on to our lodge which overlooks Ngorongoro Crater.

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