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The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the world’s greatest natural spectacles. Its magical setting and abundant wildlife offers an enthralling experience and superb safari opportunities. On the border of the Serengeti National Park to the north and west, a drive to the east will take you to Arusha at the foot of Mount Meru, within view of Mount Kilimanjaro. Arusha is known as the gateway to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Northern Parks. Known as ’Africa’s Eden’ and celebrated by many as the ’eighth wonder of the world’, the 600 metre deep crater is home to a permanent population of more than 30,000 animals including lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino and elephant. Nights on the crater rim (2,400 metres) where you find the lodges, can get icy cold, and one of the great pleasures is to sit around a roaring fire, drink in hand, re-living the day’s game viewing.
A quite unique aspect of the crater is that the local Maasai graze their cattle on the floor, it not being unusual to see Maasai cattle and buffalo grazing together, with a lion kill just a few hundred metres away. There are known to be around one hundred lions in the crater and over twenty black rhino.
The crater forms just a small part of the 3,200 square mile Ngorongoro Conservation Area and it is highly recommended that visitors also head North West to visit the regions other craters - Olmoti and Empakaai and the fascinating Ol Donyo Lengai, a periodically active volcano that the Maasai believe is the home of their God.
Both the Ngorongoro Crater and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are home to some of the most beautiful parts of Tanzania, steeped in history and teeming with wildlife. Besides vehicle safaris to Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge and surrounding attractions, hiking treks through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are popular options. Whichever you choose to visit, the Crater Highlands are an unforgettable part of the Tanzanian experience.
