Tanzania, Part 1: Ngorongoro Crater

In May, we took a short trip to Arusha, Tanzania. Peter had a conference, and I tagged along so that we could go on safari afterwards. From Arusha, we hired a guide and rented a car. After a short (2.5 hours) drive, we were at the edge of the Ngoronogoro crater (photo above and video and photo below.) We took the opportunity to show off our dancing skills:

Before we arrived at our hotel, we saw a troupe of baboons, including this mother and her new baby. The mama baboon was being groomed by someone - maybe her sister?. (This post is a an unsubtle hint to my own family about what I'll be expecting from them once we have our own little baby baboon...)





Friday night, we stayed at the Serena Lodge. Before dinner, some Masai people performed a traditional dance (in a very untraditional location for such a dance - the hotel lounge.)

The next morning, the view from the Lodge was spectacular:
But as we drove (or, rather, our guide drove) down the winding dirt road into the crater, things started looking a bit ominous:

Fortunately, the animals didn't mind the cloudy weather. Along with our guide and two friends, we rented a very cool safari-ready Land Rover with a top that opened up to allow passengers to stand up.
A few highlights of what we saw:
African buffalo are quite docile, but can seem aggressive at first because of their intense stares.
Zebras are apparently very playful creatures. In one small herd, several zebras nipped at each other and chased each other around.
Warthogs sometimes kneel in order to put their faces closer to their food:

This lioness is looking at a herd of wildebeest in the distance, thinking, Mmmm...dinner...

These two lions were most likely brothers.
After some big yawns and some leisurely grooming, they needed a big nap:
And lest you think that we were out in the wilderness far from other people, here's the photo we took watching all the people watching the lions.

Many thinks to our friend Clint for most of the wildlife photos.