All You Need to Know About Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro crater is one of the most safari destinations to visit in East Africa, commonly known for its variety of wildlife-packed volcanic craters. The crater expands for an area approximately 265sq km which is right around 610 meters down and 19km across. The crater edge is an astonishing 2286 meters above ocean level. The base of the crater has a small soda lake, known as Lake Magadi. It is assessed that a wide variety of animals that are found on the crater make it one of most loved and visited Game Park on the continent! Made a world heritage site in 1978, the crater as well as the neighboring region makes a reasonable safari escape that ought to never be ignored by each tourist inside East Africa.

Ngorongoro Crater

The large part of the crater is part of the ecologically rich Ngorongoro Conservation Area that includes mountains, alkaline lakes, rainforest, and then the massive grassland plains covering an overall area of 8300sq km. This wildlife region was viewed as a region of the Serengeti National Park, unfortunately, as a result of the need for grazing from the nearby Masaai, the region was then renamed to become a conservation area.

Geographic Formation

The Ngorongoro plains and its crater were formed by volcanic eruptions that happened around 2 million years ago. This large crater stands as the world’s largest unfilled and complete caldera. From the standpoint along the crater’s edge, one can behold sweeping vistas teeming with vast herds of elephants, buffaloes, rhinos, and an array of other wildlife.

Olduvai GORGE

Located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the famous historical landmark, Olduvai Gorge, holds significant importance. It was here that Dr. Leakey discovered the fossils of mankind, laying the foundation for the theory of human evolution and affirming Africa as the birthplace of humanity. Over time, a lot of fossils have been unearthed at Olduvai Gorge, including those of age-old elephants, large horned sheep, and huge ostriches. Among the remarkable discoveries are the human footprints which are considered to be of three million years. This amazing museum, showcasing both replicas and authentic artifacts from Olduvai Gorge, adds to the site’s allure, making it an interesting destination to explore in Tanzania.

Ngorongoro crater animals

Ngorongoro Crater Animals

The crater is blessed with a variety of wildlife nearly hosting over 30,000 different animals. The crater bottom supports a wide variety of animals for example wildebeest, buffalo, eland, zebras, warthog, large herds of elephants, and a small population of the surviving black rhino. Predators such as lions, jackals, leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas are favorite vistas due to the variety of prey animals around the crater. The high crater edge cliffs on the other hand stop animals like the giraffe, topi, impala, and large herds of antelopes from this particular abundant grass.

Ngorongoro crater photography

The simple fact is that the scenery of the park makes wildlife observing and photography from the caldera more unique and even gratifying. The steep slopes of the crater, often making indigo shadows, build a spectacular backdrop for your photographs. The animals are the foremost target of the photo safaris, they are different, unexpectedly tame as well, and familiar to safari cars and trucks.