The next day we drove down into the Ngorongoro Crater. A 6 am get up start meant a misty pea soup foggy drive down into the crater some 700 m below from where we were camping overnight on the crater's rim. It was cold overnight being so high. We were warned so no complaints from this quarter!

Yes, I started the morning wearing my beanie, 2 layers of merino and 2 jackets but quickly took off layer at a time as the sun rose.

I was expecting many more animals than we actually saw. Anyway it was a privilege to descend into this huge hole in the ground ie crater and be amongst the animals.

Way, way in the distance was a rare black rhino. This was 1 of 18 in the park. Even by using a digital zoom my picture just shows a wee dot in the distance so ....

The various prides of lions that we saw again intrigued me. They were so close to the road and were so use to the vehicles they simply ignored us and went about their way of doing not much!

Then in the middle of the crater was this wonderful lake whose toilets were a welcome sight by some.

The wildebeest were gathering in their hundreds for their annual migration to the Masai Mara.

I certainly preferred the Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Crater but both were marvellous places to see the animals in their natural environment. Visiting a zoo again no matter how good it is will not be the same again.