Some call it the Garden of Eden, others call it the eighth wonder of the world. All we know is that the Ngorongoro Wildlife Conservation area in Tanzania is certainly a paradise. It has a blend of landscapes and flora and fauna that is unsurpassed in Africa. It’s home to both animals and man — the Maasai.

The Ngorongoro crater, formed by a huge volcanic eruption in the distant past, is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. The crater’s steep slopes give way to open grasslands that provide the main food source for the larger grazing animals — wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, eland, impala, and many others. Its enclosured landscape boasts of the African Big Five — lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, as well as the cheetah. Lake Makat lies in the middle of the crater, and plays host to flamingoes and other water birds like storks and pelicans.

We started our journey from the city of Arusha, and after a four-hour drive, reached our lodge on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. A quick shower and a breezy lunch — and we were off for our first game drive down the crater. In order to minimise pollution, only a limited number of vehicles are allowed down the crater on any day.

As our vehicle crawled along the outer ridge of the Ngorongoro crater we saw a Maasai village with its cattle grazing on one side and the wild herbivores grazing on the other. We knew that the carnivores were lying in wait somewhere in the grasslands below.

First we drove down to Lake Makat where several hundred flamingoes had flocked together. It was a beautiful sight — the blue of the water, the green of the grassland and the pink of the flamingoes — all blending smoothly into each other.

Just as we were about to leave the lake, we spotted movement in the distance. On a closer look through the binoculars it was a hyena sleeping in front of the flamingoes. As we moved along, we saw a rhino munching away on the grass. This was a big two-horned African rhino in its full glory. Good start, we thought!

After about half an hour, we found a big herd of zebra and wildebeest running away in frenzy. Soon, we spotted the reason — a lioness prowling around about 200m away.

Strangely, the lioness did not move towards the zebras. It moved parallel to the zebras, and crossed a little hillock. We thought she had given up. Soon however, she appeared back on the road, this time closer to the herbivores. She crossed the road in front our vehicle and crouched down by the field, about 50m from her prey.

It was now obvious that this was her way of stalking her prey — not from the front, but from behind. Our driver-cum-guide, Stanley, told us that there must be more lions trying to surround the zebras, but we couldn’t see them.

As we passed Lake Ndutu in the west, we saw a huge pride of lionesses with their cubs relaxing by the shimmering lake, enjoying the warmth. The sun was fast coming down, and we had to go back to our lodge for the night. The lodge had a delectable spread for dinner — a mix of traditional African, Continental and Indian cuisine.

The next morning we awoke to an unbelievable sight from the balcony of our room — the rays of dawn reflecting upon a layer of cloud and mist over the crater. After a quick breakfast by 7am, we were off for our game drive.

The vegetation at Ngorongoro is mainly short grass, and that makes it quite easy to spot wildlife. We saw plenty of impala, wild buffaloes, elephants, baboons, zebras and many different birds, including an ostrich couple. A whole family of hyena was basking in the sun after taking a mud bath.

Suddenly, we heard something on the radio — it was in Swahili, so we didn’t understand, but Stanley started driving quite fast. After about 15 minutes, we saw what we could never have believed if we had not witnessed ourselves. A pride of six lions — three adult males, one young male and two lionesses —confronting a herd of wild buffaloes.

The lions were trying to breach the buffalo-herd and get to a just born calf. Before our eyes, we saw the buffaloes standing in four lines like an army, ready to attack if any of the lions even moved.

Every few minutes the frontline receded and a new group of buffaloes moved in their place, all the while retreating bit by bit. The defence kept up. One of the lions tried to attack from the side and he was tamed by one of the buffaloes.

Another lion was chased by a buffalo and literally fled with its tail between its hind legs. After some time the calf and its mother receded to a safe distance. And the entire herd had retreated quite a bit from the lions.

The buffaloes won that round of confrontation and we remembered why they are one of the Big Five — who will attack when cornered and fight to the end. Stanley smiled at us and said, “We will come back sir, just you wait.” We didn’t understand what he meant — but we did soon afterwards.

Lunch was by a lake full of hippos and beautiful birds. The sun’s reflection on the clear water of the lake gave it a divine look. As we started after lunch we spotted a pair of black-maned lions, very rare, and two cheetahs.

Just then, a frenzy of noise erupted on the radio and Stanley was on his way. He drove to the same spot where we had seen the lion-buffalo face-off. But this time around, the tables had turned. We saw three lions feasting on the remains of a buffalo. The rest of the herd had moved on. It was amazing to have seen this unbelievable drama unfold in front of our eyes.

We spent some more time at Ngorongoro and we were lucky to have seen so much wildlife on the same trip. But it is such a beautiful and magical place and it is indeed a paradise on earth as far as wildlife viewing is concerned.

Ready reckoner

Getting there: Ngorongoro is a four-hour drive from Arusha. There are chartered flights to Arusha from Dar-es-Salaam. One can go to Ngorongoro, Serengeti or Mt Kilimanjaro from Arusha by 4X4 jeeps or matadors.

Staying there: Accommodation with meals, safari etc. in the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge will cost about $655-$1,450 depending on season.

Exchange rate: 1 USD= 48.09 INR