Happy belated Memorial Day! I hope you all had a chance to lie back for a while and enjoy the simple things. Here in Tanzania my group has been as busy as ever. We've recently returned from debatably the most famous conservation area in the world. The NCA (Ngorogoro Conservation Area) includes Ngorogoro Crater, The Serengeti plains which contains Oldapai (Olduvai) Gorge, and the Northern Highland Forest Reserve.

An over view of Ngorogoro Crater

Riding in the serengeti plains

Olduvai Gorge

Down into Oldupai

The NCA was established 1959 in order to preserve the indigenous people living there, conserve the natural resources there, and to promote tourism. With 8,292 Square Kilometers, 2 million migratory species, and the archeological site in Oldupai Gorge are I’m sure it’s able to. Ngorogoro crater was formed when the Nubian(African) plate and the somalian plate drew apart (continental drift) allowing an upheaval of molten rock forming volcanos, leaving the area with a layer of molten rock under Ngorogoro but close to the surface. After some time due to multiple disturbances in the rock stucture the underground lava lake drained. The weight of solid rock and fresh eruptions  forced the rock structure to colapse leaving a massive caldera known as ngorogoro crater. 

Our safari into the NCA first took us through rigid and rough terrain to the Serengeti plains where we took in the scenic Oldupai Gorge.  Afterwards, we traveled down into the historical quarry, received a short  presentation on the momentous discoveries there by the Leakeys’ then left for the plains

Can't get enough of oldupai

Visiting Olduvai Gorge itself was an awe inducing experience it took quite some time to pull myself away from the tranquil majestic view we had next to the Oldupai Gorge Museum. I’ve included pictures of the museum, the actual Gorge, and our trip descending the mountainous range around Ngorogoro Crater. Our safari also took us through the serengeti plains, but unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries upon touching down in the crater. I plan to update the blog with more pictures from our safari in the Serengeti plains a bit later this week, so look forward to some great shots of the many species of animal there.

During the weekend we also visited the Garden of Snakes featuring reptiles and a few other animals indigenous to Africa.  Here are also some photos from that.

Ngorogoro  pic #2

Riding down into Serengeti plains

Man's "firsts steps" preserved