It was an incredible experience to drive through the legendary safari for three days and spend the night there in a tent. On the first day I was able to observe the many animals of the Great Migration of the Wildebeest, while on the second day I was able to see a cheetah hunting. Yesterday it was mainly the “endless expanse” and a pride of lions that impressed me.

After the exhausting days in the Serengeti, I’m looking forward to another highlight of the trip: the excursion to the Ngorongoro Crater. Breakfast is waiting for us again at 5:30 a.m. The night was very cold and despite all the people at this campsite, a hyena was again making a lot of noise.

We are lucky. It is not raining and it looks like it will remain a dry day.

With the first rays of sunshine we reach the crater rim. There is actually a huge, extinct volcano here, with only a few entrances to the base. We are at an altitude of 2,300 meters.

There, 600 meters below, lies a small, enclosed paradise in which some animal species, such as giraffes, do not even occur.

There is only one road down and one up to the deep, huge crater. We are one of the first to reach the entrance gate. But then it turns out that a bolt on the Land Cruiser’s suspension has broken. Gabriel is contrite. He cannot drive down into the crater with us.

Something in this universe seems to want to prevent us from entering the crater. The entrance ticket was almost a problem the day before, which caused our trip there to fail.

We quickly decide to ask the people in the next Land Cruiser if we can go with them. The tourists are an elderly couple from Luxembourg who even speak German with their guide. They take pity on us and luckily we are allowed to go with them. Gabriel stays behind to organize the repairs.

We quickly get on well with the Luxembourgers and are able to enjoy the trip despite everything. The crater is breathtaking. When we get to the bottom, it looks like the Serengeti, only on a smaller scale. There is a small steppe, there is a lake, there is a jungle. The only difference is that there is a huge wall all around you.

The lake is low. We can get very close to a group of flamingos and observe them. Their pink color really shines.

There are also a few young birds in innocent white among the colorful adults.

All travelers are crazy about seeing the so-called “Big Five.” Some idiot big game hunter once decided that these five species of animals were a must-see. And since then, there has been a competition among tourists to see who has received each of these animals like a “trading card.“

Elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards and buffalo are included, but giraffes, zebras, hippos, wildebeests, cheetahs and all the different antelopes are not. The tour guides are naturally keen to offer their customers as many of the “Big Five” as possible. I find this unnecessarily stressful.

As I said, in this crater you can find the Serengeti in miniature, from the steppe to the jungle.

The tracks run through the crater area like a net, leaving the animals only limited space to retreat.

After all, most cars leave the crater at lunchtime, as the afternoon costs twice as much.

We drive into the jungle looking for a leopard, but instead we find elephants and baboons!

We don’t need to look for elephants. A fat bull bursts out of the undergrowth right in front of us and makes us brake the vehicle quickly.

Unmoved, the monster stomps across the street to plunder an acacia tree.

We raise our heads in the hope of seeing a leopard. We drive slowly through the forest and past all the trees that have ideal branches for a spotted big cat. But there is a roadblock ahead of us.

A huge group of baboons is strolling leisurely along the gravel road like a small army. The monkeys are taking a break and we can watch them picking lice and playing.

After the baboons let us pass, we move on and leave the jungle empty-handed. I was also lucky enough to see a leopard in Sri Lanka in February.

Unfortunately, there is no leopard for us today. But that doesn’t matter, there are so many other beautiful animals.

Then we get the news that Gabriel has repaired the car and is waiting not far away. We change vehicles again and say a warm and grateful goodbye to the Luxembourgers and their guide.

We don’t have much time left to drive around the crater with Gabriel, as it will soon be midday and time to leave. But there is still a lot for us to see.

Then the road is closed again in front of us. Large and small water birds, a colorful mix, are sitting there waiting for something. There is a small river below, in which there seems to be a lot to eat.

I recognize marabous and pelicans, some herons, spoonbills, ducks and ibises down there.

The Bird Hot Spot

We drive back out into the steppe, where large herds of wildebeest are resting. We also see vultures and a jackal pulling the last shreds out of a carcass.

The earth is burnt. Gabriel explains to me that the gamekeepers regularly set controlled “cold fires” to ensure that green grass can grow here again soon.

We see zebras, wildebeest, buffalo, Thomson’s elk, warthogs and many elephants. But there are also too many cars. While in the Serengeti you only see another vehicle every now and then, here there are always cars in front of or behind us.

Curiously, we see a single lion in the grass from a gathering of vehicles. Twenty cars have gathered around it, flashing their lights. We quickly turn around and drive somewhere else.

Gabriel surprises me again with his incredible powers of observation. “There are rhinos over there,” he says. Where, please? I can only see dots in the direction he is pointing. Over there is the lake and individual animals.

He hands us his binoculars, through which I can now see two rhinos between wildebeest and buffalo.

Unbelievable. Only a few people see a rhinoceros living in the wild these days. It’s a moving moment.

I try my best to take a few photos with the telephoto lens. But even if I manage to hold the camera and lens still, the hot air shimmers and distorts the image. The clear image stays in my head forever.

I have long dreamed of visiting the Ngorongoro Crater. Looking back, I have to say that I was very impressed by the animals, especially the rhinos.

But I found the number of cars and tourists crowding the animals in such a small space very repulsive and in the future I would stick to driving through the vast Serengeti.

Once we reach the top of the crater rim, we now have a great view over the vast Ngorongoro Crater in the midday light.

Before we finally leave the crater and the national park, we stop at a memorial for all the people who lost their lives protecting the national park. At the top of the list is a German.

Michael Grzimek died in a plane crash in January 1959 during the filming of the successful documentary Serengeti Shall Not Die. Together with his father Bernhard Grzimek, he campaigned for a long time for attention to be drawn to the unique wildlife of the Serengeti and for it to be declared a nature reserve.

Finally, we have to start the journey to Arusha again. It really was six unforgettable days. Tomorrow morning we will be heading to our last stop: Nairobi! We will spend the night in a hotel for the first time on the whole trip and enjoy the shower.

Leo, the tour organizer, meets us for dinner and explains to us how the problem at the Ngorongoro Gate came about. We have a lovely evening. The next morning we take the bus to Nairobi!