Early rising to get the truck packed up before our land rovers arrived at 0700 to take us for a game drive in the Ngorongorongo Crater. First we had to go to the Ranger's HQ as there was something wrong with the paperwork. Given that we are in our 4th week travelling through Africa we think this is pretty good going! It took 45 minutes to sort out.

We both loved the crater, we thought it was stunning. Every turning seemed to open a whole new change in Eco-systems - from salt lakes to fresh water springs, from grassy savannah to lush thick rainforest, from marshland to dry sandy stretches. Tessa was expecting more animals - however we guess that as the wet season has only just ended many are still out within the Serengeti as there is plenty of food sources a available to them there. During the dry season many come to the Crater as a food oasis.

Having said that we saw wildebeest, zebra, warthogs and gazelles as well as numerous hyena. Within the crater there are three different types of jackals and we saw two of them - golden and black backed. There were pink flamingos in the distance and bustards strolling along next to the vehicle. We stopped for a short photo break at a fresh water lake fed by a spring that had hippo's bathing. As we began to exit the crater on the other side we saw a herd of female elephants with their young and a huge troop of baboons wandering down the very steep road.

We met the truck in a small town and had lunch at a local restaurant ... Omelette filled with chips - gourmet! The rest of the afternoon was spent driving to Arusha. The campsite we were staying at was packed and the bar next door was having a party night. Ear plugs out!