Ngorongoro

Our last day on the road.

Up at 5.15am to be in the crater for dawn. Apart from seeing the park - spectacular - we were looking for rhino. We hadn't seen any on the previous days and the crater has a good population of black rhino.

A couple of hours were spent touring around, and then we stopped at this hippo pond for our picnic breakfast. A wonderful spot. Once the guides were sure the hippos were all in the water and it was safe, we were able to get very close.

After another couple of hours searching post breakfast, things were starting to look glum. We'd come across a cheetah - great, because they're tough to find - but no rhino.

Then finally we came across a mother and adolescent male. Great to see. They approached and crossed the track about 25 m from us. Later one of the guides told me it was the closest he'd ever been to rhino. Our patience had been rewarded.