Perched on the Rim

View from the rim of Ngorongoro Crater.

That tall plant in the foreground is member of the aloe family, perhaps an Aloe arborescenes. On the crater floor in the distance you can make out the outline of the shallow alkaline body of water, Lake Magadi. The steep drop from the rim to the floor is about 2,000 feet (and is a breathtaking experience by 4-wheel vehicle on a switchback road!).

Ngorongoro Crater is world’s largest intact volcanic caldera.

I shot this image on the occasion of my first visit to the region back in 2017.

Stilt

I spotted this Black-winged Stilt in the slapping waves of Lake Magadi in Ngorogoro Crater, Tanzania. The sharp beak, black-white contrasting feathers, and long spindly legs make this bird memorable--and well suited for mud foraging.

Lake Magadi is a soda (or alkaline) lake, favored by stilts and other African waders.

(I wish you could see how goofy long his legs are. You would know why he is called a "stilt"!)

Caption: My eyes look like this when . . .

. . . the wife comes at my face with tweezers.

Grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum).