On January 17th we traveled from our beautiful camp site in the Yaeda Valley with the Hadza to the Bougain Valley Lodge in Karatu for the next three nights. After some unwinding by the poolside, students continued working on their final group book article projects. Each group consists of 2 wildlife students and 2 photography students who will write an article about a topic of their choice, accompanied by 10-20 captioned photographs. The final book will consist of all the group articles. There are groups covering the Baobab tree, the Hadza tribe, and water holes, just to name a few. On that Sunday, we went into the city of Karatu and shopped for souvenirs and presents for our friends and families.
After working hard on projects and resting up from our long stretch of camping, we headed out to the Ngorongoro Crater on the 20th to see the “honey pot of wildlife photography and viewing”. Ngorongoro is a World Heritage Site and the largest caldera in tact. The crater is three percent of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and about 10 miles wide. Even though it is a small section of the conservation area, the crater is an absolute oasis. Every direction that we looked, it was teeming with wildlife. It was amazing to see the animals so close and also to be able to observe their behavior in such a beautiful environment. We were able to see buffalo, elephants, black rhinos, and lions - 4 of the big 5! Our trucks were less than 10 feet away from two lions asleep in the grass next to each other. One of our guides, Maggie has told us that no matter how many times you see an animal it is always beautiful to see nature; this felt especially true today. At the end of our safari, we camped on the rim of the crater. When we arrived, there was a large bull elephant grazing less than 20 feet from the edge of our camp and in the morning we are heading to the Serengeti.
After working hard on projects and resting up from our long stretch of camping, we headed out to the Ngorongoro Crater on the 20th to see the “honey pot of wildlife photography and viewing”. Ngorongoro is a World Heritage Site and the largest caldera in tact. The crater is three percent of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and about 10 miles wide. Even though it is a small section of the conservation area, the crater is an absolute oasis. Every direction that we looked, it was teeming with wildlife. It was amazing to see the animals so close and also to be able to observe their behavior in such a beautiful environment. We were able to see buffalo, elephants, black rhinos, and lions - 4 of the big 5! Our trucks were less than 10 feet away from two lions asleep in the grass next to each other. One of our guides, Maggie has told us that no matter how many times you see an animal it is always beautiful to see nature; this felt especially true today. At the end of our safari, we camped on the rim of the crater. When we arrived, there was a large bull elephant grazing less than 20 feet from the edge of our camp and in the morning we are heading to the Serengeti.
Before entering into the Ngorongoro Crater, UD students stopped at a viewpoint to get an idea of how large and beautiful the crater really is. Photo by: Colleen Donnelly
UD students sited and photographed two young sleeping brother lions right next to the road in the Ngorongoro Crater. Photo by: Megan Fortman
A cape buffalo, covered in dirt from a nearby waterhole, grazed on grass in the Ngorongoro crater. Photo by: Colleen Donnelly
