Good Morning friends!  Jambo from Tanzania.

It is 6:00 am at Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.  We have been on the go for several days without internet service. So I am sitting here having a cup of tea as morning dawns over this beautiful land. The clouds hang heavy over the rim of the 2 million year old crater, now home to a diverse array of wildlife, living together in natural harmony.

We left Arusha on Saturday morning and made our way to Tarangire National Park. 

Tarangire boasts one of the largest concentrations of elephants in the world, along with all manner of other animals.

We head out for our visit to the Park. There are 16 of us and we are broken down into four groups, each with our own jeep, driver and guide. I like our group. It consists of me and Shelda (my sister) , Sandy, who I met last year in India (from Texas) and a new friend, Deborah, from California.

Our driver is Adam, a very nice young African man who fills us in on anything we want to know about the country, the vegetation and the animals.

The vehicles are equipped with removable tops, allowing photographers to stand and, with their cameras balanced on beanbag, a shoot from the roof or the side windows. I haul out my big daddy lens and get ready.

We head into the Park super early in the morning. We must stick to the roads (dirt paths through the dry grassy plains.)

The first animals we see are wildebeest and Zebra. As we continue, we see elephants, giraffes. 

The first animal we encounter is the Zebra. They tend to co-habitat with the wildebeest. The Zebra is arguably the most photogenic, with its geometric black and white stripes.

Sandy, Me, Deborah and Shelda at our Jeep, ready to head to Tarangire.

Testing out the big daddy lens... ready to go!

Tarangire has one of the largest concentrations of elephants. The red color is from the red soil that they roll in. It is dry season here so the grasses or dry across the plains.

There are many types of antelope and gazelles.

We watch a family of lions waiting near the water hole for the zebras, gazelle or other prey. They are watchful and ready. They are hungry. Adam tells us lions only have to eat every three days.  We watch them chase a waterbuk. It is family of lions with two adult females and two cubs. The waterbuk gets away.

The zebras are beautiful and so picturesque.