We catch our first glimpse of 10 mile wide Ngorongoro Crater, a caldera which is home to any game that can negotiate the crater rim.  Giraffes, being too top-heavy to scale the barrier, are not seen here, but for all other game, it's like a Garden of Eden.  Once they arrive, they tend to stay.  It's cool and there's plenty to eat -- they eat each other, after all, and there's plenty of them.

Pink flamingos wade near grazing zebras.

Poaching has decimated the rhino, making it a rare sight -- the horn brings high prices as an ingredient in male potency preparations.

Mother and Baby rhino pose for a family portrait.

White-bearded wildebeest are abundant.  These are meat and potatoes for the carnivores, as they are plentiful and not too bright.   We would be in awe of these animals in the Serengeti, where we would witness a "Great Migration".

Wildebeest and zebra travel together, complementing each other's senses in detecting predators, zebras having better vision and wildebeest better sense of smell, so we are told.

Speaking of meat and potatoes, look at the size of that belly!   This thirsty lion is gorged on hefty helpings from the Crater's food chain. 

A warthog family stops for a drink, and though their religious affiliations are unknown, they do reverently kneel on their front knees while they feed.