Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Crater is amazing! It's rim is 304 km and the floor is 256 km squared. It was a long and bumpy descent down to the crater floor, but when we got there, my Dad said that it was like being on the moon becasue it is a flat crater with mountains all around.
We saw lots of different animals including four of the Big Five. We saw a heard of Cape Buffalo, a young lion lazing by the road, some 'retired' elephants (about 50 years old) and two black rhinos which are an endangered species that I did a project on in school. Also we saw a flock of several thousand lesser flamingos and a Kori Bustard which is the world's heaviest bird. Something else that we saw was an injured potted hyena who had teeth marks on his head. Out guide Stanley said that they were probably from a lion protecting his kill. As we headed out of the crater we had a brief break down of our jeep and a crazy cross country ride to reach our lodge before dark. When we finally got to Ndutu Lodge there was a Genet - it looks like a cross between a lemur and a cat - and now I want one as a pet!

Tarangire National Park

November 28th was the first day of our safari. We went with our guide from Kibo, Stanley, to Tarangire National Park. Taraangire's symbols are baobab trees and elephants because there are so many of them in the park. We saw so many different animals and birds there too. Some of my favorite animals were the wart hogs because they look silly when they bend down on their knees to eat, and when they run with their tails sticking straight up. Also I really liked the dikdik because they are a very small antelope. Did you know that they have glands by their eyes they secretes ooze that they use to mark their territory. They are only about 2 feet tall at the shoulder. I also liked the water back, also part of the antelope family, because he has the markings of a toilet seat on his back end as if he's been sitting on the toilet.
One of the highlights of the first day of safari was when we came in close contact with a male 'bull' elephant who had five "legs" (one was his male equipment and it almost touched the ground) When we got close he became really mad at us and flapped his ears and trumpeted a warning to back off. But then he gave up and backed off and retracted his 'fifth leg.'
My favorite birds that I saw were the tawny eagle because he was so big, and the helmeted guinea fowl because they look silly with their blue head and big red horn in the middle of his head.