The day started out early in the mist and cold. A short drive took us to the top of Ngorongoro crater. As we drove inside and to a lower altitude, the rim is at about 2400m, we could start to see the grazing animals on the base of the crater. Many wildebeest, zebra, warthog, Thompson and Grants gazelle. As we drove close to the lake in the middle we could see the flamingo forming a pink circle near the bank all the way around. The pictures really tell you more than writing here ever could.

We woke some hyena who had been napping next to the road. Not far from them we saw two black backed jackals, they were sound asleep and we didn't bother them.

Then came the turn of the big herbivores, elephants everywhere and we even got to see the rare hook-lipped or black rhino. These are the rhino with an attitude problem and are technically the ones apart of the big five. Although smaller than a white rhino their aggressive nature made hunting them far more dangerous.

Everyone in our van was amused by the zebra lining up to scratch their belly on a rock. There is a video of this.

Next came four lions chilling out. Apparently there are five prides within the crater and its normal to see many more than four. We guess the bad weather kept had them hidden away. Still it was nice to see this group rather than none.

We had a quick toilet stop, there was a toilet block although it was not fenced off to the surrounds, and continued driving. We saw some hippo including a little baby, Ella loves seeing their stumpy little legs running trying to keep up with mum. Not long after this possibly one of the biggest elephants, his tusks were huge, of the trip walked right behind our 4wds.

From the biggest to the smallest, we found a baby Thompsons gazelle in the grass. It was probably less than a day old, there is some video of it bounding in the grass.

Our lunch stop was near a water hole filled with hippo. Some much braver than us walked up quite close to a baby out of the water, despite the warnings from the nearby mother. When our driver started yelling at them they got the idea and came back to safety. The poor little hippo had been attacked by something and probably wasn't going to survive. Hippos get sunburnt very quickly out of the water which is why they graze at night. One day out of the water can be enough to dehydrate them and kill them.

After lunch we finished in the crater and left for the Serengeti. We had a couple of hours to drive which included passing through the great migration. There was wildebeest as far as the eye could see. It was easy to see the path they were taking. Wherever the grass was short was where they had been and where it was long was where they were heading.

In the Serengeti we saw a large pack of elephants. The little ones were playing, the teenagers were wrestling and the adults were eating. As the light faded we saw that some 4wds were stationed near a tree on the other side of a river. It was too far away to see what they were looking at but we had to stop to change a flat tyre. While stopped we could use the binoculars to look in the area where the 4wds were. Even with the zoom of the binoculars the figures were difficult to make out. It was a leopard.... a mother... with a cub. Wait there is something else moving... two cubs!! Ellas fantastic camera work managed to get some photos despite the distance.

Once the tyre was fixed we tried to catch up with the other 4wd in our group which had gone around to the other side of the river. We arrived to be informed that leopards had just come out of the tree, possibly to hunt. So our 4wd drivers split up to scout for the leopards. Our group went back to the flat tyre spot while the others looked near the tree.

For those who don't know my soccer team knows Ella as lucky charm, we also had a Swiss/Irish girl who also claimed to be lucky in our 4wd. Their luck really shone through as the mother leopard appeared on the road in front of us. The other 4wd had to race around the river to get to us. We got to see the mother leopard snarling, at first we thought it was as us but it was actually at a hyena. The hyena was stalking around trying to steal a kill if possible. Then when it couldn't find food it made a bee line for the cubs. At one stage the leopard lost sight of her cubs and got real upset. She even charged the hyena growling and snarling. This was all a bluff as leopards aren't strong enough to take on a hyena. One bite from their strong jaw could stop a leopard from hunting and thats the end.

Once the leopard realised her cubs had climbed a thorny acacia bush she was happy to keep a close eye on things. The hyena walked under the bush but was too stupid to see the cubs hiding. Eventually the hyena got bored and wandered off. The cubs came out of the bush to rejoin mum and head off into the sunset.

The perfect end to possibly our best day on safari. Ngorongoro is stunning, we really could have spent two days driving around it rather than half a day.