Serengeti National Park/ Ngorongoro Crater

We made it to the World Famous Serengeti and the equally impressive but poorly marketed Ngorongoro Crater (I guess Ngorongoro doesn't roll of the tongue). Serengeti is Masai for "never ending plain" and these first three photos, Hyena, Elephants and Acacia Trees, should give you a feeling for the vastness of it all.

This was intense game driving from early morning to sunset in hot, dusty conditions. I would strongly recommend this area to anyone looking to see great game but would caution that conditions are anything but luxurious.

We came across a pair of Lion cubs about 5 minutes into the park.
And we saw Leopards. (Trust me, there is a leopard in this photo. He's looking right at you from the center of the shot - click on the picture to enlarge)
And a Cheetah with a Kill.

And a Wildebeest (again, that's really how it's spelled) fight.
And a heard on the move - Click on the photo to enlarge, there are hundreds of wildebeest stretching across the photo.

And Pink Flamingoes.

And Buffalo with little birds on their heads.

But the best part was the Lion kill. We came across three lions, one male, two females, in the process of consuming an antelope. I will never again concern myself with the various methods humans use to kill our food before eating it. At least we kill our food before eating it. These photos should give you an idea of how close we were (I'm the one on the left). The sound effects were incredible, I'll leave it at that. I wouldn't want to gross anyone out by describing the celery snapping sound of the legs being broken or the gaseous release when the fluorescent green stomach was ripped apart, that would be gross. I guess I could describe the uncomfortably powerful sound the lions made when they wanted to let you know to stay away. Without even removing the hindquarters from his mouth, this lion shook the souls of all passengers when he grumbled. It was a noise that made you close the windows and check that the doors were locked. The sound was a grunt, like men watching football make when communicating "yes, I would like another slice of pizza", but bigger. I'm unable to come up with an accurate description, so I guess you'll just have to go hear it for yourselves.

Check out the look of satisfaction on this guy's face (and the leg hanging out of his mouth!).

Though I had my doubts about the Serengeti during the first few hours of day one, in the end it lived up to its reputation and again, I would recommend it to others.

There's a shot in the Estonian section that demonstrates how the animals would walk right up to the vehicles.

Ngorongoro-tolkes lehma kell(kuna kohalike meelest on see lehma kella helina haal). See on endine vulkaani auk, mille laius on nyyd 20 km ja mae seinad on 600 m.

Servalt alla vaadates ei nainud me yhtegi looma ja soit auku tundus olevat motetu. Kui olime aga alla joudnud ymbritsesid meid pidevalt igasugu loomade (Zebrade, Buffelite, lovide ja igasugu muud) grupid.

Serengeti on yks suuremaid ja tuntumaid parke Aafrikas. Seal kaisime aga vaiksemate soidukitega, kust oli voimalik isegi katuselt valja ronida ja kaelkirjakuga tott vahtida. Jarjekordselt nagime tohutult loomi kuid nyyd ei vaevunud me enam fotokat votma kui just loom ei olnud auto korval ja miskit ponevat ei toimunud.






Seekord tegin pildi kui paike oli juba loojunud. Kuigi tahti pole naha on taevas ikkagi ilus.