Safari Part One = Things that aren't Animals

Ngorogoro National Park is where we went on our safari. It's about 3 hours west of Arusha and we left at 4 am on Monday to get there early enough to see all the animals we could. It's named by the Masaai who live all around the area in their traditional villages and it's basically a term they use when they herd their cattle. They say "ngoro goro goro" to the cows to keep them moving and because they have so many herds there. The Masaai even live inside the park and it was really awesome to see a little bit of what their villages look like.

Ngorogoro Crater used to be a volcano thousands of years ago but it was MASSIVE!! The crater itself looked almost like it was man made to keep the animals all in one spot but it used to be an active volcano until it went dormant and collapsed. Now it's its own self-contained ecosystem and has pretty much every animal you can think of in it. 

The park also has Olduvai gorge that stretches for about 55 kilometers and used to be a river. It only has that name because a scientist in the 1930's came to the gorge and mispronounced the real name the Masaai gave it. It's called Oldupai Gorge named after the plant that grows alllllll over in it. They use it to make baskets and mats and things like that. To the West of the gorge and the crater is the Serengeti and we could see the start of it from the mountains around the crater. There are a bunch of patches of trees then open grassy plains and it was really breath taking. There was one point where we could see out into the open and there was a giraffe walking alone in the distance and that was one of the moments that made me realize it wasn't just a tourist attraction but really where these animals live. 

Words really can't describe how beautiful it is in this country... Reverse culture shock is setting in and I'm not even home yet!

The sun rising on our way to the park. There were some zebras and impalas on the way in as well just chillin by the side of the road.

Baobab Tree - now you can get a sense of how HUGE these things are

A map of the crater... we seen the whoooole thing.

A Masaai village on the way into the park. They live right next to all the animals especially in and around the crater - at one point we seen a masaai herding cattle within 50 feet of zebras and some ostriches. 

 Oldupai Gorge... beautiful view

Meeeeee

Me and the girls surfing around in our safari jeep... the roof came up so we could stand the whole time and after it was open we didn't sit down once.

A view of the road we drove up to get out of the crater when our safari was over... surprisingly it wasn't as scary as it looks :P

At the top of the gorge... this picture definitely doesn't do the view any justice.

Blurry one but these are some Masaai women walking down the road.. they're sooo decorative and I cant wait to find some books when i get home to learn more about the culture. The men wear similar clothes and always have their knives or clubs or spears on them.