Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

“We were one of the first cars to drive the 610m down into the crater once it opened, and our very first animal sighting were 3 female lions. [...] They wandered next to our truck (I could have reached my hand out the window and pet one had I wanted to be stupid enough to take that risk), and crossed in front of our vehicle. We were captivated by the dynamics and behaviors they were exhibiting: the first two didn't seem to want the new one around them. All of a sudden, we heard these deep, guttural growls, as one lion tried to intimidate the other, the “new” one's body language became one of submission as she realized she was not welcome.”

“I’m normally not a tour person, but the downside to doing the crater on your own is you don’t have the pop-up top that allows you to stand and get a 360-degree view of the crater and animals, so you’re fighting each other for window space. We’d read in forums that the roads are also terrible, which I can confirm are incredibly true. They might be among the worst in Tanzania, which is honestly quite a feat since many of the roads are barely even roads, so you’ll spend more time worrying about the car than enjoying what you’re seeing if you self-drive.”

“We continued around and saw a family of warthogs playing before spotting a trio of rhinos in the distance. The free-roaming rhinos are supposed to be one of the highlights of Ngorongoro. It’s awesome that the park is protected enough that they’re free from poaching, but they were really too far away to enjoy. That doesn’t stop us from counting it towards #SafariBingo. We spent about five hours in Ngorongoro. We saw more black rhinos in the distance and were reunited with the lions from the morning coming down to a stream to drink, but it didn’t compare to the first encounter.”