Ngorongoro

In fair terms, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is one of the most beautiful places in Africa, and the most spectacular settings of phenomenal splendor. In short, it is breath-taking in its beauty. Covering an area of some 8,292 sq km, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) was established in 1959 as a multiple land use area: Designed to promote the conservation of wildlife and other natural resources; to cater for the interest of indigenous resident pastoralists; And to promote and develop tourism.
This is a unique area in the whole of Africa.
It is about 190 kilometers west of Arusha and the area is situated between latitudes 2° 44’ and 3° 26’S and between longitudes 35° 00’ and 35° 55’ E. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area lies at an altitude ranging from 1,350 meters to 3,600 meters above sea level. It is bordered on the west by Serengeti National Park; on the south by Lake Eyasi escarpment and agricultural communities of Karatu, Oldean, and Mbulumbulu; and on the north by the Loliondo Game Controlled Area, the Salei Plains and the Lake Natron basin.
The Serengeti ecosystem comprising the the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Maswa Game Resreve, Maasai-Mara National Reserve and other conservation Areas around it, supports the greatest concentration of wildlife left on earth. The short grass plains of the Conservation Area are the wet season grazing grounds for the majority of the Serengeti‘s migratory herds.
Two of the most important archeological and paleontological sites in the world: Oldupai Gorge and the Laetoli Footprint Sites at Ngarusi, are found within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. As a result of all these features, UNESCO has accorded the Ngorongoro Conservation Area the status of a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. The area also includes the Northern Highland Forest Reserve which is vital water catchment area providing water for use both within the Ngorongoro and the surrounding farm country. Admittedly, the highland forests of the Ngorongoro are also an ideal habitat for rhinoceros, elephant and buffalo.
The physical features include: extensive plains, highland plateau, volcanic mountains, scenic craters, as well as a superb mountain forest. The conservation area derives its name from the famous Ngorongoro Crater the sunken cap of an extinct but truly stupendous volcano which is regarded as one of the wonders of the world.

Major attractions

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area has a number of “exceptional resources” of world class. They range from topographical to cultural features; from ecological to faunal resources, and the like. However, the most striking feature in the area is the Ngorongoro Crater of course. Descending in the Crater is strictly by four-wheel drive vehicles. On reaching the crater floor, vegetation bloom in acres of flowers: pink, blue and white alpines, candle white lilies, sheets of buttecups, blue hyacinth, marguerites, flame gladiolus, and carpets of clovers emitting their sweet aroma in the air. It is as many travel writers have described it “A Garden of Eden”. With an area of about 250 sq km, the floor occupies almost four percent of the total conservation area. The floor lies 610 meters below the rim is 16-19 km across. The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact and unfilled volcanic caldera and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area's main tourists’ attraction. It is the largest and most scenic crater in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with a large concentration of wildlife. It is also one of Africa's Seven Natural Wonders due to its breathtaking natural features. The Ngorongoro Crater is known as a home to over 25,000 animals, including the big five; elephants, buffaloes, rhinos, lions and leopards mostly which mostly habitants is the Lerai Forest. Other animals found in this crater include hippos, hyenas, warthogs, zebras, elands, gazelles, wildebeests, just to name a few. This makes Ngorongoro Crater probably the best site in Tanzania to spot and watch the big five as well as other wild species more easily. The other topographical feature is the Lake Eyasi Escarpment and Basin – a beautiful area of high scenic value. The area is home to two non-Maasai indigenous residents tribes, the Datoga and Hadzabe. The Empakai Crater, a caldera in the extreme north-east of the Conservation Area, is another spectacular place with evergreen forest remnants surrounding a beautiful lake which is seasonally occupied by large number of flamingos. On the other hand, the God Mountains (Oldoinyo Lengai), comprising the broken hills covered with sparse Acacia-Commiphora are found in the north-central part of the conservation area. On the eastern wall of God Mountains is the Olkarien Gorge – a major nesting area for Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture.