Capturing the Moment

Drinks overlooking the crater   Everywhere we had gone on this trip we were intrigued by the people. We danced with Samburu people in northern Kenya, shared baby pictures and family stories with our guides, and were hosted like royalty by the different camp staffs. They would always find some way to surprise us, but this next surprise blew everyone away.   About an hour before sunset our group met Irene, the camp manager of the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. She told us to dress warm but that was about it. She took us on a walk through the lodge grounds, into the bush, and out in a beautiful clearing which overlooked the entire Ngorongoro Crater floor. Blankets and cushions wrapped in the traditional Maasai colors were set up and drinks and food were being prepared on site. It was the perfect setting for our private happy hour in the bush...but then it got even better. The entrance of the Maasai Close up of Maasai warriors   Just like last night, the first th...

Taking a Game Drive into the famous Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa Sunrise over the crater   One of the highlights of any visit to East Africa is a chance to explore the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. It is the world's largest inactive, unfilled volcanic craters at around 2,000ft deep and 100sq miles in area. It was voted as one of the seven natural wonders of the world, not in small part to the fact that the huge crater is packed with wild game. Dubbed a UNESCO world heritage site in 1979, everything from prides of lions to herds of buffalo can be seen living down in the crater year round.   We started out from the Crater Lodge at 6:15am, determined to get down into the crater before the rest of the dawdling safari goers. This worked out in our favor, especially since it was New Years Day and most people were still sleeping off the big night before. On our way a couple of our cars had a brief encounter with a serval. It was hunting next to the road and ...

Finding the mysterious shifting sands, exploring the cradle of mankind, and ending at the most unbelievable location for a New Years Eve we will never forget.    This was all done as we shifted our focus and location from the vast plains of the Serengeti to the collapsed volcanic crater known as Ngorongoro. Again it was tough to leave the people behind at our remote tent camp in the Serengeti. But there was more of Tanzania that I wanted the Dillons to see so off we went. Magnetic sand The enigmatic shifting sands   There were two choices for our travel between the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. We could fly into the Lake Manyara airstrip and take an hour and half drive on good roads to get to our lodge, or we could do an all day drive heading out of the southeastern Serengeti, and hitting up shifting sands and the Olduvai (Oldupai) gorge on our way to the Crater. Mary thought the family would be inspired by seeing where the Leakey's discovered ...