Giants of the wild

Hippos keep cool by splashing water on themselves...

... or rolling over completely

The Ngorongoro conservation area covers thousands of square kilometers but the real treat is to be found on the bottom of the crater. It is homo sapiens who is a visitor here. No humans live on the crater floor - not even the Maasai; civilization (lodges, airstrip, police station) is confined to the crater rim.

Earlier that day. A long row of four-wheel-drives hobbles down the eastern access road. It is rush hour on the slopes of the Ngorongoro caldera, and when a couple of elephants want to cross the road, a genuine traffic jam develops. One of the elephants is stuck on the wrong side of the road, its way blocked by the jeeps. It raises its trunk, flaps its large ears and trumpets a threat. The driver of the car in front of us turns on the engine and the answering roar makes the elephant think twice about attacking this beast of steel. Once a path is cleared, the

Elephants mostly stick to the rim forests but solitary bulls sometimes make their way to the crater floor

elephant quickly crosses. On the opposite side it grouches loudly with a couple more snorts before it disappears into the dense undergrowth.

During the drive down the caldera slope I worry that we will be stuck in a convoy of cars all day long, but fortunately as soon as the caravan hits the crater floor, the cars disperse. Every driver has his own route through the park. We start on the plains where once again zebra, buffalo and wildebeest are abundant.

Buffalo moved into the crater in the mid-70's; in 1987 they numbered 3,000

We tell Haruna, our driver, that the one animal out of the Big Five that we have as yet to see is the rhinoceros. He tells us chances are high we will see a black rhino today. "I'll find you one," he assures us.

And indeed he does. More than we could have ever hoped for.

Sometime late morning Haruna tells us a rhino has been spotted in the grass, a distance from the road. We make our way to the location, and indeed several hundreds of meters away a rhino grazes among the other grass eaters. When it turns sideways, we can discern the horns on its muzzle.

The rhinoceros in the Ngorongoro crater are the Black Rhino. About 20 of the animals live in the caldera. As we make our way toward the Lerai Forest in the south-west corner of the park, Haruna points to three dots on the horizon that slowly move through the grass. More rhinos, he says. Again, they are too far away to properly see them without binoculars.

Lerai is the Maasai word for the yellow-barked acacias

We have a bathroom break in an acacia grove, where all the jeeps stop and the passengers can stretch their legs. A buffalo skull lies beneath the trees, recognizable only by the shape of its horns. It's a chilling thought: in this very spot, with friendly green grass and bright sunshine, some predator killed and ate one of the huge cows.

Eat and be eaten...

The forest is small. It is the domain of elephants and during a short drive among the trees, we see several of the gray giants. Then a voice on the radio chirps excitedly in Swahili and Haruna turns around to us. "There's a rhino close to the road," he says. "Everyone, sit down." We take our seats and Haruna steps on the gas.

The Black Rhino weighs 800 - 1,100 kgs

Traveling as fast as possible on the bumpy road, we have to hold on to car seats and window sills for dear life. Behind, the road is hidden in the thick dust cloud that trails after us. All across the wide expanse of the caldera we see similar dust clouds, indicating other vans with people speeding up to see the rhino.

The presence of a rhinoceros this close to the road sends a surge of excitement through the caldera

We reach the appropriate spot and several vans are already parked beside the road, their occupants looking at the rhino that stands some twenty meters away from the cars. A few times it raises its head, staring at the jeeps and apparently trying to make up its mind about us. I wonder who is observing who here, but the animal decides not to let us bother it and it lowers its massive head again to continue eating the grass.

The Ngoitokitok springs are a lovely place for a picnic

Using the binoculars, we spot the other rhinos on the horizon. Three adults and a calf, possibly the ones we saw on the way to the forest. Then, to the right side of the road there is another group. I count them; we can see eight

Black kites are keeping watch in the fig tree

rhinoceroses from one single spot. That's almost half the park's population!

After all this excitement it's time for lunch. The picnic area is picturesque. It is situated in the southern part of the park, beside the Ngoitokitok springs. A few hippos are submerged in the water but they ignore the comings and going of men.

Black-headed weaver gathering up its courage

Baby python asleep in the top of a tree

The black kite is mainly a scavenger. The ones in the park have no objection to stealing food right out of an unwitting tourist's fist. The birds are large (53-58 cm) and their food-stealing can be dangerous to the victim. That's why everyone receives the stern warning to "eat lunch in the car". When we're done, Haruna says, we can step out, use the bathroom facilities and stretch our legs a bit.

The trees are filled with the black kites and smaller bird species. All are waiting and hoping for something to eat. They dive low over the cars and people, searching for food. A small, yellow bird, tries to gather up its courage and swoop into our car to pick up crumbs. In the end, it decides it's too risky and it flies away.

When a male hippopotamus is cast out from its herd, it has to survive on its own

Shortly after lunch, a row of vans alerts us to the presence of a pride of lions. Three females are accompanied by at least 15 kittens of various ages. They have caught a wildebeest and are having a lunch of their own. The cubs are first to eat, and several of them have gorged themselves so enthusiastically that their heads and shoulders are covered in blood. They will need some heaving licking and washing to get clean again.

Two species of flamingo visit Lake Makat; the Greater, and the more pink Lesser flamingo

The yellow-billed egret is a solitary bird