Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro Conservation Area: Background Info

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area spans vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests. Established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, with wildlife coexisting with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists practicing traditional livestock grazing, it includes the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest caldera. The property has global importance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally threatened species, the density of wildlife inhabiting the area, and the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra, gazelles and other animals into the northern plains. Extensive archaeological research has also yielded a long sequence of evidence of human evolution and human-environment dynamics, including early hominid footprints dating back 3.6 million years.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a vast an untouched protected area teeming with the densest wildlife populations on earth, breathtaking landscapes, mountains, world’s largest unbroken caldera, history of human evolution, and so much more. One has to visit to see and believe it.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area: Destination Preview

The Experience: Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania, once a gigantic volcano, is the largest intact caldera in the world. Some maintain that before it erupted, it would have been higher than Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Today, long since having collapsed and eroded, it is an extensive highland area with the famous 600 m deep Ngorongoro Crater as its focal point. Nearly three million years old, the ancient caldera shelters one of the most beautiful wildlife havens on earth.

Take almost 30,000 large mammals and place them inside the crater of an extinct volcano. Add about 264 square kilometres (102 square miles) of wetlands, forests and grasslands, and the result is the Ngorongoro Crater. This world-famous safari destination offers its visitors superb game viewing in an unbelievably unique setting. Nothing can fully prepare you for the moment you first gaze down into the Ngorongoro Crater.

Wildlife

The Crater’s resident lion population is arguably one of the highest densities of prides in the world. This is one of the Ngorongoro Crater facts that makes it such a popular safari destination. Consequently, the lions here have a complete disregard of safari vehicles – they will hunt within metres of a vehicle and even seek respite from the sun beside one! Completing the team of predators in the Crater are spotted hyenas, cheetahs, leopards, jackals and bat-eared foxes.

You are guaranteed to see a lot of animals on safari in the Ngorongoro Crater. The fertile floor of the caldera is mostly flat, open and covered in nourishing grasses that support large numbers of grazers like zebra, wildebeest, Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, buffalo and tsessebe. East of Lake Magadi, a shallow soda lake in the Crater, you will find the Ngoitokitok Springs and Gorigor Swamp where pods of boisterous hippo marinate the days away. Ngorongoro Crater is also a fantastic bird watching destination, home to over 500 species including ostrich, secretary bird, kori bustard and greater flamingo.

Birdlife

The Ngorongoro crater is one of Tanzania’s top birding spots. With over 500 species documented, both the Ngorongoro highlands and the crater offer superb birding opportunities. The highland forest has a diverse and intriguing birdlife. The white-eyed slaty flycatcher and the Livingstone turaco are among the species to be observed. The crater is home to a variety of specialist grassland birds. Just know that, for bird lovers, the Ngorongoro crater is one of the best places to meet your birding expectations, and that you will never be disappointed because the region provides all you need to enjoy your birding experience.

Although birdlife is generally good throughout the year, from November to April migratory birds from Europe and northern Africa are present, and many resident birds are in breeding plumage. This makes it the best time for bird watching. The best time to watch wildlife is during the Dry season, which is June to October.