My alarm goes off. I fumble in the darkness to silence it. No light shows through the bare window. We arrived in darkness, racing through the gate to Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania, before sunset closure. It's 5am and we dress hurriedly. We know that we are less than half an hour away from the immense depth of the crater that we could only sense through the dark fog the night before.
It was my second visit to the Ngorongoro Crater. The first time was memorable for the 10-minute steep ascent to the crater floor and our time observing lions lazing in the sun only arm's reach from the car.
For my second visit, I wanted more. I wanted to see lions on the hunt. This meant a sunrise start which, for me, is usually difficult. Yet, for some reason, early starts in Africa come more naturally. Waking with the sun is a whole lot easier with lions waiting down below.
Descending the 610-metre crater wall, we passed Maasai herders on foot with their cattle. In the car I was gripping the seat in front of me. I can only imagine how difficult the descent must be on foot, yet they made it look effortless.
We were soon rewarded for our early start. On the crater floor a lion strutted past our car, without a second glance towards us. As I struggled to get a photo of his perfect mane, I felt my friend tug on my sleeve. All our windows were open. I found myself staring at the glistening coat of a female lion. Slowly, a pride of lions stalked past us, eyes locked on their prey.
With a mixture of horror and excitement, we realised that the grazing herd of zebra were the target. Lions kept appearing from behind the vehicle in front of us. We counted 15; some crept through the long grass, while others crouched in the shadow of our vehicle. Three female lions arranged themselves in formation to keep watch from all angles. The zebra herd were still blissfully unaware, munching grass and flicking flies with their tails. On a silent command from an unknown leader they sprung into action. Leaping across a small stream, they bounded towards the zebra.
The male lions stayed behind while the females corralled the zebras. Others waited on the periphery to pick off a straying zebra. Luckily it returned to the safety of the herd and galloped into the distance.
The lions milled around for a while, deflated and hungry. The excitement over, we felt the same. As we drove on, we came upon two lionesses finishing off a gazelle. Vultures circled overhead. Hyenas waited for leftovers.
The Lion King’s Circle of Life played in my head and all was right with the world.
