We arrived in Nairobi after being flown from Victoria Falls back to Johannesburg for a night, then another flight to Nairobi for another night. We felt pretty sure we could have completely avoided both stopovers by flying direct to Tanzania from Victoria Falls, but I guess we're not travel agents. Maybe we should be!

Anyway, our driver turned up to the Nairobi Hotel over 1 hour late, then it was a 4 hour drive to the Tanzanian border, then another 1.5 hours to Arusha for lunch. We arrived late for lunch and enjoyed a cold buffet before getting back in the car for another 4 hour drive up to Ngorongoro Crater. A direct flight to Ngorongoro would have saved 9.5 hours of driving.

On the way to our lodge we passed many Maasai herdsmen with their massive herds of goats and cows. We also passed many boys that they call "bush boys". Apparently at 13 years old they are circumcised and then sent to survive in the bush for 40 days. They dress in black and paint their faces with white patterns.

The Neptune lodge at the crater was absolutely stunning. A massive cabin with two open fires and a huge balcony overlooking the scenery was beautiful. The lounge area was full of plush, comfy chairs and fireplaces and we spent many hours in there enjoying more than a few drinks, which were included in the price. We spent 2 wonderful nights here and loved every minute.

The Ngorongoro crater was breathtaking. There are several different landscapes in the one crater, allowing the abundant wildlife to live here all year round. There are lakes, plains, rivers and forests which are chock a block full of elephants, zebra, gazelles, lions, hippos, hyenas, baboons, jackals and all sorts of birds, even flamingos!

We saw an unfortunate incident where a hyena had inadvertently wandered into a rival pack of hyenas. They attacked him and wounded him, leaving him laying on the ground. We arrived just in time to see a pair of male lions chase away the pack and then one of the lions attack the wounded hyena. It was very powerful and a little distressing at the same time.

While we were in the crater we saw a couple of lionesses stalking a dazzle of zebra. Apparently after we left them they chased one down and killed it. Lidia didn't want to go and see the aftermath so we kept moving.

We also saw two hippos fighting which was very scary. They are so huge and dangerous.

Ngorongoro crater was one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Africa and it certainly did not disappoint.