"Ngorongoro Crater - Eighth ..." a Ngorongoro Travel Page by jackfruit

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) covers some 8,300 square kilometers in northern Tanzania. It boasts of the finest blend of landscapes, wildlife, people and archaeological sites in Africa. It is also a pioneering experiment in multiple land use where the nomatic pastoral Maasai grow crops and live amongst the wildlife of the region.

Ngorongoro Crater is part of the NCA. The landscape of Ngorongoro is shaped by rifts and volcanoes. Ngorongoro Crater is in fact a caldera, not a crater. A crater is a volcanic depression. A caldera is a form of crater that is formed by the collapse of the volcanic mountain. Ngorongoro caldera was created by a volcanic collapse of the mountain that stood there a few million years ago, the height of which can be imagined today by staring at the steep crater walls. It is the world's largest caldera that has remained unflooded.

Today, the crater hosts a spectacular array of wildlife, the most famous of them being the elusive Rhino. If you are lucky, you will spot one or more of the 18 remaining rhinos in this crater. We were lucky enough to spot a mother-baby pair!

Lions, water buffalo, zebra, elephants, thompson's gazelle and warthogs are just a few of the wildlife that call Ngorongoro thier home. Giraffe is the only animal that doesnt reside here, due to the steep walls of the caldera.

Although the Maasai arent allowed to live inside the crater boundaries, you might see maasai herdsmen in the crater during the day - Maasai are allowed to graze thier cattle in the crater for a few hours a day.