Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Olduvai Gorge to Serengeti

We bade farewell to the crater and headed west toward Serengeti, continuing our trek across the north of the country. As we left, we found a herd of giraffe near the rim of the crater, making up for the lack yesterday. We also passed a local herdsman with his camels; apparently some people tried to populate camels here instead of cattle. We next stopped at the famous Olduvai gorge, site of the Leakeys’ excavations and the discovery of so many early hominids. There is a small but well-done museum, including casts of the famous footsteps. We drove through the gorge near the site of the Lucy skull discovery, then proceeded into the desert that makes up the western part of the NCA. One intriguing stop was at the “shifting sands”, a dark sand dune of magnetic sand that is slowly moving perhaps a meter a year, but retains its shape due to magnetic force. It was fascinating to see it rise from the golden flat sands around, seemingly coming from nowhere. After a long drive, we made it to the entrance gate, but unfortunately so had many other people! A long wait later, we entered the famous Serengeti. We were greeted almost immediately by two cheetahs, a mother and cub, sitting by the side of the road under a tree enjoying a late lunch. The mother would watch for trouble (apparently Land Cruisers don’t count) while the cub ate, but every now and then would dip her head for a quick bite. The cub seemed rather focused on his food, but looked up occasionally just long enough for a quick photo. This evening we stopped on the eastern side of the park in a tented lodge, a way station midway to our next camp on the far northwestern section of the park. The lodge was lovely, but was somewhat infested with rock hyrax, notable mostly for their outsize cry that echoed off the rocks.