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William Cowger

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The ecosystem that includes the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorngoro Conservation Area and several other adjoining protected areas is almost twice the size of the state of Connecticut.

Serengeti National Park

A safari in the Serengeti is a soul-stirring experience of a natural environment that is as it might have been thousands of years ago.  Serengeti comes from the Masai word 'Siringit' meaning 'the place where the land runs on forever' and refers to the flat grassy plains which make up about a third of the park. It is these grasslands and savannahs that ensure that the area is jam-packed full of game.

The more than 3 million large mammals make the Serengeti home, and where ever there are large mammals there are predators. Lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, hyena and jackal have a bounty of prey and the entire ecosystem is as healthy and balanced as one can image it might 20,000 years ago according to National Geographic Magazine.

The Serengeti is well known for the wildebeest migration, when every year two million animals move clockwise around this 14,763 sq km national park in search of grazing and water. Although most predators are territorial, many follow the wildebeest and zebra closely and a Serengeti Safari is an ideal opportunity to view lions, cheetahs  and leopards and more rarely caracals.

Pin pointing and predicting the location of the wildebeest migration is challenging - but with a healthy resident population of animals, safari and game viewing within the Serengeti Game Reserve is great all year round.

Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area stretches from the Karatu Highlands to the Serengeti and covers an area of around 8300 sq km. Formed by the same immense geological upheavals as the Great Rift Valley, Ngorongoro was once a mountain as high as Kilimanjaro. About 3 million years ago, it blew up, covering the Serengeti in ash. The crater floor sank almost 1800 feet leaving the rim to form a natural enclosure that is often referred to as Africa's Eden.

While on a Ngorongoro Safari the most amazing experience is viewing the crater for the first time. As your vehicle slowly ascends through mountain forests you will feel it getting colder and colder. Eventually you reach the rim, and dropping sharply off in front of you is Ngorongoro Crater.

Ngorongoro Crater is the best self-contained safari destination in the world. The world's largest unbroken caldera. The rich pasture and permanent water of the crater floor shelters a large population of animals. In fact, the crater floor is one of the most densely crowded game areas in the world and is home to about 30,000 animals. The open grassland makes it easy to police, so it is also a stronghold for endangered species like black rhino and cheetah.

Lake Manyara National Park

Although small, it is one of the prettiest and most game rich parks in the country. Lake Manyara is a long thin park only about 330 sq km in size. Two thirds of the park consists of water, with the Great Rift Valley Escarpment rising sharply and dramatically along the western side.
 
Remember to keep looking up while you are in the park. Lake Manyara is well known for its tree climbing lions and there are also plenty of leopards. You'll need some luck to see them though, so don't be disappointed if they elude you.

Lake Manyara is a great safari spot for bird viewing and also has a healthy population of elephants and ungulates such as buffalo and wildebeest. Many animals can be seen grazing the new shoots on the floodplain and wallowing in the shallows of the lake, while further out pods of hippos bob.

The Photo Safari for photographers and observers

William E. Cowger 

of Troy, Michigan, USA

(248) 828-0666

Info@ThePhotoSafari.com