The colors in the crater are amazing. There is the bright blue sky, with white puffy clouds floating around. On the ground there is various shades of green grass and when the shadows from the clouds dance around on the ground it comes alive. The crater is about 12 miles wide and is the world's largest intact caldera. Before its collapse the volcanic mountain may have been taller than Mount Kilimanjaro. The rim of the Crater is roughly 7,600 feet elevation. The only animals that you will not find in the Crater are Cheetahs, giraffes and female elephants. Only the males go down into the Crater. They use the same roads as the tourists take. If you recall the roads in and out are one lane and if you meet one, he has the right-of-way.
The first day in the crater was amazing as has been every part of this journey. A list of animals I saw here and this is not a complete list but to give you an idea:
rhino
3 kinds of jackels: striped, golden and silver backed jackels
Thompson's gazelle
hartebeast
zebra
cape buffalo
grants gazelle
hippos
wildebeast
crowned eagle
crowned crane
ververt monkeys
ground hornbill - which was flying
black kites
yellow billed stork
spoon billed stork
flamingos
stilts
spotted hyena
maribou stork
cattle egret
leopard in a tree
lions
egyptian vulture
egyptian goose
abdim's stork
hydidas stork
Kori bustard
secretarybird.
We got picnic lunches from the lodge both days and ate in the Crater. There were Black Kites(birds)that flew around at the picnic area and would swoop down and try to steal the food. We ate lunch rather quickly.
I have to say this was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
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