So here are the remainder of my photos from Ngorongoro Crater. Again, I cannot stress enough how incredible the crater is – I will highly recommend visiting if you’re ever planning a safari in Africa.
We were incredibly lucky to see some of the animals were saw during our day exploring the area. Not only did we see a herd of elephants extremely close-up, but we also saw a number of lions within a few metres of us – one actually laid down in the shade right beside our car.
We saw the first lion on the side of the road. A few cars were parked in a row, so we drove over to see what the commotion was about. We asked another group what was going on and they said that there was a lion in the river bank beside the road. We waited hardly a few minutes, when the lion emerged. She walked up towards the vehicles, coming about 10 metres from them, had a look around for a minute or two, and then returned to her spot in the shade. We couldn’t believe it – it was as though she had come up simply so we could take a few photos of her.
Further down the road we saw three other lionesses together basking in the sun and standing in the shade of a car. We parked about 5 metres from this car and were able to take some fantastic shots. Then the lion leisurely walked over to our car and laid down in the shade. We leaned over the car, but our guide warned us that it was a cat and cats can jump. But we were so amazed that a lion was less than a metre from us. And of course, it was an incredible experience.
After admiring the gorgeous landscapes filled with numerous wild animals (zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, hippos and more) and having a relaxing lunch by the lake, we had to bid a teary farewell to Ngorongoro Crater. But we left with some fantastic photos and even better experiences.