Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area stretches from Serengeti National Park in the north to the Great Rift Valley in the east and covers more than 8,000 km². It includes the Ngorongoro Crater, Ndutu, Olduvai Gorge, Empakaai and Olmoti craters and Ol Doinyo Lengai mountain. Often called the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’, the crater is the world’s largest intact, unfilled volcanic caldera, and its fertile floor supports thousands of animals all year — one of the best places to see the Big Five on a single game drive. Unlike a national park, the area lets wildlife and the Maasai live side by side.

Quick facts

• Established 1959; UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979
• Total area about 8,292 km²; crater about 260 km², 19 km across and 610 m deep
• Elevation 1,800–2,400 m
• About 190 km (3.5–4 hours) by road from Arusha

History

The crater formed some two to three million years ago when a huge volcano — possibly as tall as Kilimanjaro — erupted and collapsed. The area was separated from the Serengeti in 1959 to protect wildlife while allowing Maasai pastoralists to keep their way of life.

Wildlife and birds

Over 25,000 large mammals live in the crater, including lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and black rhinos — one of the few places in Tanzania where endangered black rhinos are regularly seen — plus wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, eland, hippos, hyenas, jackals and serval. More than 500 bird species have been recorded; Lake Magadi on the crater floor draws thousands of flamingos in some seasons.

Activities

Full- and half-day crater game drives, birdwatching and photography, Maasai village visits, the Olduvai Gorge museum, hikes at Empakaai and walks at Olmoti crater, and picnic lunches inside the crater.