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Why the
Ngorongoro Crater
is outstanding
tips & insights
 Consensus
choice
Seasoned safari-goers consider the Ngorongoro
Crater to be one of the world's two greatest safari destinations (the other
being the Serengeti National Park during migration).
Many
animals
The Ngorongoro Crater has an unrivaled high density of big safari animals including lions, elephants, hippos, cape
buffaloes, zebras, wildebeests, and the endangered black rhinos. It has a
year-round population of approximately 30,000 large safari animals.
Where
are the giraffes?
You won't see any for two
reasons. First, the giraffe has long, spindly legs,
which makes it difficult for it to climb into and out of the steep-walled Ngorongoro
Crater. Second, nature designed the giraffe's long neck for nibbling on the
leaves of tall trees, its chief food. Although such trees exist in sufficient
number in the other major game reserves, they are rare here.
Always
there
One of the Ngorongoro Crater's major
appeals is that the animals will likely be there en masse when you are. There are
no
seasonal shrinkage of the game population (except during droughts). Reason: There is little need
for animals to migrate. The crater's lakes, ponds and streams supply ample water
- and the grasslands
provide sufficient year-round food for grazers. In turn, this creates food for
lions and other predators.
Great
sightings
Another tourist appeal
is the openness of its vast grasslands - this increases your game viewing.
Immense
The crater is 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. Its
ring-shaped wall is as high as a 200 story
building and hems in the 260 square kilometer (105
square mile) flat crater floor where a year-round
population of approximately 30,000 large safari animals roam.
If you built stadium seats on the
crater's sloping wall, you could comfortably sit over 30 million spectators.
Not
a real crater
Technically, the Ngorongoro Crater
is a caldera, not a true crater because its circular
wall is the remnant of collapsed sides of a dormant or extinct volcano. Its peak once
rose 8000 kilometers (26,000 feet) above sea level.
Bring
a sweater or jacket
The rim is about 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) above sea
level, so expect chilly evenings and mornings even though you are near the
equator.
About the Ngorongoro
Conservation Area (NCA)
Geography
The Ngorongoro Crater is part of the vast NCA. It is only a tiny fraction of that land mass.
Neighboring
lands
The NCA borders Kenya and the Serengeti National Park.
The western NCA is a natural extension of
the Serengeti. Many of the animals in the
Serengeti migration slowly pass through it from
mid December through early April.
Olduvai Gorge
This famous anthropological site, like the Ngorongoro Crater, is a component of the NCA. Click
the "See Olduvai Gorge" button below for my description of the Olduvai Gorge.
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