Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Discover the Largest Intact Volcanic Caldera on Safari in Tanzania.

Need to get into the one-of-a-kind world of Ngorongoro Conservation Area? A spot with lush green fields, acacia forests, and buzzing marshes full of animals? All of this is in a volcanic basin that is 610 m (2,000 ft) deep. This huge floor of the Ngorongoro Crater is home to more predators than any other place in Africa. It is also one of the most amazing places to live anywhere.

Over 25,000 animals live in this remote volcanic crater. All five of Africa’s “Big Five” can be found here: lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, and even the rare rhinoceroses. This blue-and-green paradise is also full of animals that eat grass. You can see gazelles, zebras, wildebeests, elands, hartebeests, and warthogs.

In your 4×4 Jeep, you’ll drive down the steep crater walls to a magical environment where you might see pink flamingos or lions on the hunt. This is the gift that nature has given to the surface of the world’s most complete volcano crater.

How Ngorongoro Crater Came to Be

A huge volcano, about 5,800 m (19,000 ft) tall and about the size of Mt. Kilimanjaro stood there. About two to three million years ago, the big volcanic mountain blew up and then fell on top of itself, making the hole we see today. After all was said and done, the floor is 260 sq km (100 sq mi) in size and 19 km (12 mi) wide.

Over time, woods on the rim of the crater fed streams that went down into the caldera, where marshes and forests grew. The plants brought grazers to the area, which then brought their natural enemies, such as lions and leopards.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area has the following types of habitats:

Those moving streams fed natural springs on the crater floor, which made the many places where plants and animals could live and thrive. You can look for monkeys, baboons, and great bull elephants in the Lerai Forest. You can have lunch at Ngoitoktok Springs and watch the hippos while you eat.

Don’t miss Lake Magadi either. When it rains, many bright pink flamingos live there. There are many different kinds of birds that live in the marsh areas. Watch for the egret, firefinch, starlings, ostrich, and predators like the buzzard, eagle, and white-backed vulture. They will make noise and flap their wings.

The best parts of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Explore the crater floor. This is where you’ll go on a game drive through the crater’s habitats and see lots of grazers and predators, as well as lots of birds flying around in a thick, busy swirl of wildlife.

Meet the Maasai—Take some time to get to know the Maasai, who live in this area. You can go to a town near the edge of the crater and get to know the people who live there and learn about their way of life.

Sunsets: This is a very special treat for all tourists. In the late afternoon, you’ll head back up the crater walls just in time to see one of Ngorongoro’s famously beautiful sunsets.

Best safari lodges & tented camps at Ngorongoro Conservation Area

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