Ngorongoro Crater

Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater, another World Heritage Site, is a natural amphitheater created about 2.5 million years ago when the cone of a volcano collapsed into itself. It was thought that the original volcano was higher than Kilimanjaro and internally combusted due to inactivity. What survived is a 259 sq km crater, 22.5 km across at its widest point, and surrounded by a 600 meter circular rim. It’s the largest intact caldera in the world, containing everything necessary for the 30 000 animals that inhabit the crater floor to exist and thrive. About half of these are zebra and wildebeest. Unlike those in the neighbouring Serengeti, these populations do not need to migrate thanks to the permanent supply of water and grass through both the wet and the dry seasons.
Visitors on safari are almost guaranteed to get a good look at some if not all of the Big Five. This is the perfect situation for the lion who lord over the crater; it reputedly supports the densest population of lion in Africa. There are also some leopard, cheetah, hyena, large herds of buffalo and Tanzania’s few remaining black rhino. The crater’s elephants are mostly old bulls with giant tusks. The females and calves prefer the forested highlands on the crater rim and only rarely venture down into the grasslands. There are no giraffe. Because of the crater’s steep sides they can’t climb down, and there is a lack of food to munch on at tree level.
The crater floor is mainly grassy plains intercepted with a few tracts of sturdy woodland. The main water source is Lake Migadi in the centre of the crater; a soda lake that attracts flocks of pink-winged flamingos and plenty of contented hippos who remain partially submerged during the day and graze on grass at night. The views from the rim overlooking Ngorongoro Crater are sensational, and you can pick out the wildlife as dots on the crater floor. Safaris descend the steep road into the crater just after dawn. Thanks to the army of pop-up minibuses that go down each day the animals are not afraid of Toyota Land cruisers or the camera-touting tourists that pop out the top. It’s not unusual for a pride of lion to amble over and flop down in the shade of a minibus! Whilst there are wilder game viewing experiences, the Ngorongoro Crater offers an excellent opportunity to see a lot of animals at close quarters in a densely packed area. All the minibuses have to be out by 6pm so at least the animals have the crater to themselves at night.
There are a number of lodges at the top of the crater and a campsite. If you’re camping remember that the top is 600 meters higher than the crater floor and its very chilly at night. The Ngorongoro Crater is not a national park but a conservation area. The reason for this was to protect the local Masai’s grazing rights, (they’d already lost grazing land when the Serengeti was annexed as a park in 1951). Even today in the crater, despite the heavy presence of lion, you’ll see the occasional red-robed Maasai herdsman tending his rather nervous-looking cows.