Lake Masek Area, Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area stretches far beyond the crater and up to Serengeti National Park. The conservation area is multi-use zone where the the animals are protected from poaching but additional human uses such as livestock grazing are allowed. One of the advantages for the conservation area over the national parks is that off road travel is permitted outside of the crater area which allows one to get up close to the animals.

We stayed near Lake Masek which is at the western edge of conservation area. Traveling through the conservation area, we saw the wildebeest migration which is an amazing site to behold. One of the wildebeests died and vultures were fighting over the carcass and ripping it apart which is a scene I've never even seen on TV. It must be a rare site as usually the larger predators get there first. Another rare sight was a honey badger who moves like the badger in the famous YouTube video.