Sept 15-16: A Lodge and a Camp ~ 2 short nights

We knew that the middle of our trip would be hectic as we had quite a long drive to reach the Serengeti by Friday.  So on Wednesday and Thursday, we stayed at 2 different places.

On Wednesday night we arrived at the Ngorongoro Crater Serena Lodge after dark.  We had a quick dinner ... I was dizzy and could barely stay awake.  We were up super early the next morning to explore the crater before everyone else.  Raphael was very clever to drive the OPPOSITE way than most vehicles so we did enjoy some solitude watching and tracking 2 lions.  In fact, I have some incredible video where this simba walked right up to and around our vehicle!

We were all unnerved by the TRAFFIC in the crater ~ there were 150 vehicles in the crater that day.  We had been so blessed to be off the beaten track, that to be with lots of other vehicles felt a little Disneylandish ...



We left the crater and DROVE.  And DROVE.  AND DROVE.  This was the worst road of the entire trip ~ thank God for my sports bra!  We reached Mbuzi Mawe Permanent Tented Camp after dark, but as we stepped out of the vehicle, we immediately heard a simba!

Please click below to view our pictures of the lodge and camp.

CLICK HERE to see D&D photo album

The Famous Black Rhino!

We did see it ... but way far away through our binocs.

Raphael made sure of that!