"Ngorongoro Conservation Park " a Ngorongoro Travel Page by Zanzibargirl

Considered the 8th wonder of the world, Ngorongoro Conervation Area lies within the walls of the 23 km wide 600m high walled Volcanic crater. There are more than 20000 animals within the crater and it was amazing to drive through, everywhere you looked there were animals in what I think is the most scenic game drive you could do in Africa.

Located between the Serengeti and Lake Manyara the crater formed a natural ampitheatre for these animals about 2 million years ago when the cone of a volcano collapsed in on itself. I visited during one of the best times of the year... they to go from March to May, so in March it was jam packed with wildlife. However one of the great things about the crater is that there is always alot of wildlife as there is very little migration, with year round sources of food being abundant for the animal population here.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area varies in altitude from 1,020 to 3,578 metres above sea level and the Maasai still inhibit the lands of the crater.

The highlight of my day in the Safari was without a doubt spotting some of the Lions of the crater. There are estimated to be about 100 in the crater, and about 4 lioness and their cubs literally walked right across in front of our vehicles. They were incredible. Not to mention the bull elephant that crossed our path among many other animal encounters of all walks of life. I've never seen so many animals in all my life... and here they all were up close and in the wild in just one day. I will never visit a zoo again!