Ngorongoro Crater

We just cannot say enough about this World Heritage Site and what we all call the 8th wonder of the world. Our customers are always awestruck by this unique eco-system and our guides never tire of going there. The main feature of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the Ngorongoro Crater, which is the world’s largest unbroken unflooded volcanic cauldron.

The steep sides of the crater mean that it has become a natural enclosure for a very wide variety of wildlife, including herds of zebra, gazelle, giraffe, wildebeest, rhinoceros, lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo (The Big 5) infact most of the species found in East Africa. However you will not find impalas , topis, oribis, giraffes , or crocodiles in the Crater.

The Crater was formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself some two to three million years ago, is 610m deep and the floor is 260km² (102 square miles). The original volcano has been estimated to be between fifteen to nineteen thousand feet high.

We like many consider Ngorongoro Crater to be a natural enclosure for a very wide variety of wildlife, however about 20% of the wildebeest and half the zebra populations migrate from the Crater in the wet season.

The major water source is the Munge Stream, which drains the Olmoti Crater to the north, and flows into the salt lake Magadi.

The Lerai Stream drains the humid forests to the south of the Crater, and it feeds the Lerai Forest on the Crater floor – when there is enough rain, the Lerai drains into Lake Magadi as well.

The other major water source in the Crater is the Ngoitokitok Spring, near the eastern Crater wall. There is a picnic site here open to tourists and a huge swamp fed by the spring, and the area is inhabited by hippopotamus, elephants, lions, and many others. The Maasai people no longer live in the Crater, although you can see them walking their heards of cattle amongst the roaming Elephants and Lions during the day. Before dusk they will leave to the the conservation area around the crater.