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Safari Adventures
As dawn breaks and your jeep starts crossing the switchbacks down into Ngorongoro Crater, you know you're going to have the wildlife day of your life. Have your cameras ready!
The Ngorongoro Crater has been called the 8th Wonder of the World, and with good reason. It is an unspoiled Eden, where one can easily see most of the Big 5. Rhinos, buffalos, elephants, lions, and giraffes are all often within a few minutes of descending into the Crater.
The idle Ngorongoro Crater is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. The crater is about 3188 metres above sea level, and was formed several million years ago by the collapse of the cone of the volcanic mountain into the empty magma beneath the crust.
The crater is about 610 metres deep, 20 kilometres in diameter, covering an area of 325 square kilometres. This area now has one of the largest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. Designated a World Heritage Site, the Ngorongoro is home to endangered species like the Black Rhino. The crater walls act as a natural cage, the depth making it difficult for some animals to leave; however, most have no need to leave due to the abundant resources inside of the crater.
As with most lakes in the Rift Valley area, the small lake in the crater is a soda lake, and is the seasonal home for thousands of flamingoes. The crater floor is a self-contained world apart, likened to Noah's Ark for its preservation of animal diversity in a relatively contained area. An estimated 30,000 animals make their home here. There are numerous habitats within the crater that support a distinct ecosystem. From the yellow-barked acacia forests of Lerai to the swamps around Ngoitokitok Springs, this represents a multiple land use area and a distinct phenomenon of this vicinity is the wildlife.
The Ngorongoro Crater is part of a larger ecosystem called the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, on the Naabi Plains that unfurl between the Crater and The Serengeti, lies Olduvai Gorge, popularly known as "The Cradle of Mankind". It was here that Dr. Luis Leakey and his wife Mary, first discovered the remains of Zinjanthropus Bosei, a distant ancestor of Australopithecus Bosei believed to be 1.8 million years old! There were also fossilised footprints, remains of ancient tools and bones from various prehistoric species, which are now extinct.
