The Ngorongoro Crater is a hugely impressive place. It is the pride of the Ngorongoro Highlands that is home to numerous dormant and extinct craters and also Africa's only live vocano!

The Highlands are a place with a rich cultural history as well as a very interesting natural history. It is also a place where the Maasai live, as much as possible, in tune with their local environemnt. On the surface, this seems all very pleasant and "just right". It is, after all, the REAL Africa that people have come so far to see. But scratch a little harder and the brittle surface of happiness breaks up and whole new worlds begin to emerge. But, nevertheless, it is a name that everybody knows!

But alas, I did not bring my soapbox and it was with pleasure that we stood at the top of the descent road looking in. here the Crater opens up like the Proverbial Garden of Eden beneath you. Look carefully and you can see the vast herds of wildebeests and zebra far below. From here we could see the dusting of pink on the shallow soda lake. Tomorrow would bring lots of flamingoes. Those with eagle eyes can spot the male elephants and the small bachelor herds of buffalo too.

The Crater is the world's largest complete caldera 20km wide (for non-vulcanologists, a caldera is like the crater from where all the lava comes out. But not.) which makes for a massive bowl effect whose sides are an almost vertical 600m+ high. So there are only two roads. One going in, and down, and one coming out, and up. Because they are so steep, only 4x4s in low gear can make the journey.

The Highlands actually sit on top of the Great Rift Valley wall and hence, reach about 3500m at their highest point. Imagine a line in central Tanzania running up/down or north/south, as you prefer. Now, imagine that the piece of land on the left hand side, or on the west, rising upwards by 500m. The other piece of land doesn't move anywhere. On top of this raised land, put some volcanoes that have spewed up lava for eons and have now grown quiet. Lava cools and makes mountains. More lava cools and makes the mountains taller still. If you can imagine that, then you have imagined the formation of these highlands.

Now come the wet and heavy rainclouds from the nearby (for the clever clogs out there, this is a geographically relative term - nearby) Indian Ocean. These clouds hit these mountains and dump their rain. But the amazing thing about the Highlands is, is that the rain only really falls on the eastern side or the ocean side. On the western side, or the Serenegti side (you have to drive through the Ngorongoro Highlands to get to the Serenegti) not more than 20km as the crow flies, it is dry and parched. You can drive up one side of the Crater in thick, lush, rain forest and down the other side in dry, dusty and parched savannah. If you are in the middle of the Crater, down on the floor, one wall is emerald green and lush. Do a 180 degrees turn, and THAT wall is dry and brown!

Get here in the afternoon and having a look is like getting a preview of new movies when you go to the cinema! But first things first. Get to the camp and have a cuppa! It is bloody cold up here when the winds blows and nights are pretty darn cold. A pair of thermals are a must for a night on the Rim of the Crater!

Camping at the Crater and down we go

The mist comes across the Crater rim really early during the evening. So what is a cold night, becomes a cold and wet night. But with our little pocket hotel tent, we were snug, warm and cosy. But because there are no fences anywhere in the serengeti ecosystem (all 28 000km2 of it), you just have to ignore the sounds of buffalo? elephants? Zebra? Bush pig? Hyeana? Outside your tent. Bladders are drained of their very last drop before its lights out. Otherwise, the night bcomes an exercise of mind over full bladder matter and all those dangerous creatures out there!

Daylight squeezes from the grey misty sky and back into the Crater we go and down onto its floors. The road down is so steep that each and every vehicle has to engage its low range gears! Through the windshiels ahead of you the road clings to the side, snaking its way to the bottom. Having a look out the left hand side, and the road drops away into nothingness, and if you are not prepared for, it takes your breathe away in fright!

At the bottom, it was roof hatch up and away we go! Where we had missed the migration in the Serenegti, we were getting a mini one here. Tens of thousands of wildbeest and a not-so-insignificant number of zebra on the move between grazing grounds and the water. With low cloud and the pink flamingoes, it seemed as if an animal opera was taking place.

Not to be outdone, were the pride of lions moving from this area to that. Not really hunting, but certainly keeping a look out. The lone male cheetah seemed a little perplexed when the thompson's gazelles did not stay still. And the old male elephants were quite happy in the forest. A little bit of rain never hurt an elephant. And the hippos where very happy in their swamps of mud.

The only sensible ones were the hyeanas and most of them stayed out of the rain! It is pretty tough to get that red African mud off anything. Have a look at our vehicle!