Like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers the unique ecosystem created by the world’s largest intact and inactive volcanic crater.
Spanning some 100 square miles, the crater floor is a carpet of grasses, while around it the walls of its ancient volcano rise to heights of 2,000 feet. They provide a natural defense for the 25,000 herbivores which call the crater home, including the critically-endangered black rhino. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the best place to see black rhino in Tanzania.
In fact, all the members of the Big Five are present within the crater. Together with one of Africa’s densest lion populations, this ensures safari game drives in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are never short of action.
Additional reasons to visit the Ngorongoro Crater are for its birdlife, with over 500 species recorded. Lake Magadi is frequented by lesser flamingo, while secretary birds, ostrich, and crowned cranes all live on the crater floor.
Away from the incredible wildlife of the crater, Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important archeological sites anywhere in the world. It was in the gorge that Louis and Mary Leakey unearthed examples of early man thought to date back two million years, including highly evocative footprints at nearby Laetoli.
For the ultimate Ngorongoro Crater experience, be sure to stay at a crater rim lodge. Their views stretch for miles across the crater floor, and choosing the only accommodation within the crater means you get to see and live it when most others on Ngorongoro Conservation Area safaris are long gone.
Recommended Ngorongoro Conservation Area Tours
Tanzania Travel Guide
Tanzania Tours & Safaris / Tanzania FAQ / Tanzania Weather / Tanzania Accommodations
Top Tanzania Travel Destinations
Arusha / Gombe Stream National Park / Lake Manyara National Park / Mahale Mountains National Park / Mount Kilimanjaro / Nyerere National Park / Serengeti National Park / Tarangire National Park / Zanzibar
The Big Five
African Elephant / Cape Buffalo / Leopard / Lion / Rhino
