Ngorongoro Crater: The 8th Nature Wonder of the World

Ngorongoro Crater

The 8th Natural Wonder of the World

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area boasts the nest blend of landscapes, wildlife, people and Archaeological sites in Africa. Often called an African Eden’ and the eighth wonder of the natural world’, it is also a pioneering experiment in multiple land use.

Ngorongoro Crater Ngorongoro Crater

The Crater alone has over 20,000 large animals including Some of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhino.

Nowhere else in Africa does such a varied cast of animals gather to graze, live, hunt and die. On one of Ngorongoro’s Crater you will encounter some of the 30,000 animals in the crater’s diverse range of habitats: swampy wetlands, open savannah, woodland and lake - all within the steep rock walls that climb through thick forest some 600m to the rim.

The Ngorongoro Crater, one of the eighth wonder of the world, is set in northern Tanzania, s rin rt of t e Seren e plains to the north-west and with the towns of Arusha, Moshi and Mount Kilimanjaro, to the east, and forms part of t e uni ue Seren e ecosystem. A major ecological sur ey of t e Seren e eser e ic t t e me included the Ngorongoro) by Dr. Bernhard Grizmek and his late son in the 1950’s resulted in the establishment of the oron oro Conser on Area in 1959. At the moment t e conser on area is administered by the oron oro Conser on Area Authority, an arm of the Tanzanian government, and its boundaries follow the boundary of the Ngorongoro Division of Ngorongoro District. It has also been believed to have been taller than the famous i im n ro efore its in c e volcano collapsed and formed an unbroken caldera crater, 610 meters deep, 13 mile (20km) wide about two million years ago.

THE CRATER GAME VIEWING IS TRULY INCREDIBLE, THE LANDSCAPE AND VIEWS OF THE SURROUNDING CRATER HIGHLANDS ARE OUT OF THE WORLD.

e conser on re co ers about 3185 sq miles (8250 sq km), the crater covers about 100 sq miles (260 sq km). It is also home to over 3000 i erent s ecies inc u in t e endangered black rhinoceros; the crater has a forest and lake which support the ecosystem in the park. Ngorongoro crater has been listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site.

e oron oro conser on area is where the world-famous archaeological site of Oldupai George is allocated. The discoveries of fossil footprints on lava rock as well as ancestral humans which are believed to be 3.8 million years old can be seen at the museum. Two main eo o ic ri s run t rou the Ngorongoro area. Nine volcanoes in the Ngorongoro highlands were formed during the past four million years. One of these, Oldonyo Lengai

ount in of o is s c e Over millennia the ash and dust from e c eru on s een carried by the winds to form t e fer e soi s of t e Seren e Plains. The earliest sign of mankind in the Ngorongoro is at Laetoli, where hominid footprints are preserved in volcanic rock 3.6 million years ago. Further north on the tourism circuit, Olduvai Gorge has yielded a wealth of hominid and animal remains.

THE MAASAI COMMUNITY OF THE NGORONGORO CRATER

For thousands of years, a succession of c e er in people moved into the Ngorongoro area, lived there for some me n t en mo e on some mes force out y ot er tribes. About 200 years ago, the Maasai arrived and have since co oni e t e re in su st n num ers it t eir tr i on way of life allowing them to live in harmony with the wildlife and the environment. The Maasai are allowed to take their animals into the Ngorongoro Crater for water and grazing but not to i e or cu te t ere Elsewhere in the Ngorongoro, they have the right to roam freely. Visitors normally stop the Maasai cultural homestead, one on t e ro to t e Seren e on P r n not er c ose to t e Seren e So o e t the Irkeepusi Village.

BIRDS WATCHING IN NGORONGORO CRATER

The mixture of forest, canyons, grassland plains, lakes and marshes provide habitats for a wide range of birdlife. White storks, yellow wagtails and swallows mingle with the local in it nts s ts s e i stor s i is ru n rious species of ducks. Lesser min os y in to fee from their breeding ground at Lake tron Dis nc e r ss n birds – ostrich, kori bustards and crowned cranes-abound.

SAFARI AND WILD LIFE EXPERIENCE

Ngorongoro Crater, a deep volcanic crater is the jewel in Ngorongoro crown. It is t e r est un oo e n unbroken caldera in the world. The Ngorongoro Crater is 19.2 kilometer in diameter, 610 meters in depth and 304 square kilometres in area. The rich pasture and permanent water of the Ngorongoro Cr ter oor su orts r e resi ent o u on of i ife of up to 25,000, predominantly grazing animals. These include wildebeest, Zebra, Gazelle, u o e n rte eest and warthog. The swamps n forest ro i e i on resources for hippos, elephants, waterbucks, reedbucks, and

bushbucks, baboons and vervet monkeys. Bull elephants of the Ngorongoro Crater regularly descend to the Ngorongoro Cr ter oor e r e ree in herds wander throughout the forest rim ere t ey n the most suitable food. The steep inner slopes provide a habitat for dikdik and the rare mountain reedbuck. Jackals thrive in the crater and bat eared foxes live in the short grass areas. Predatory animals in the Ngorongoro Crater like leopards, lions, cheetahs, several c ts i e o t e un nt wildlife; large packs of hyenas roam the Ngorongoro crater, making their own kills and scavenging from others. Lions in r cu r re un nt in t e Ngorongoro Crater. Thanks to t e n o c in tro s t e black rhino in the Ngorongoro Cr ter re re e y s fe n the numbers are increasing with me oron oro Cr ter is one of the few places in East Africa where visitors can be certain of seeing the rhino in its natural environment. Birdlife in the Ngorongoro Crater is superb. The mixture of forest, canyons, grassland plains, lakes and marshes provided habitats for a wide range of birdlife.

THINGS TO BE SEEN AROUND NGORONGORO CRATER

Things to be seen around Ngorongoro Crater are Laetoli and Olduvai Gorge, Lake Magadi, Lerai Forest, Gorigor Swamp, The Grassland, Oldonyo Lengai, mo Cr ter n m i Crate, Lake Natron, Gol Mountains (Oldonyo Gol Hills), Nasera Rock, Oldeani Mountain, e y si n Seren e P ins

BEST TIME TO VISIT NGORONGORO CRATER

Many people wonder when is t e est me to o to t e Ngorongoro Crater. The Crater is ye r roun es n on s most of the animals remain in the crater year-round, ensuring great si n s no m er en you decide to visit the Ngorongoro Crater.

LAETOLI AND OLDUVAI GORGE

At Laetoli, west of Ngorongoro Crater, hominid footprints were preserved in volcanic rock 3.6 million years ago and represent some of the earliest signs of mankind in the world. Three separate tracks of a smallbrained upright- walking early hominid, Australopithecus Afarensis, a creature about 1.2 to 1.4 meters high, were found. Imprints of these are displayed in the Olduvai museum. More advanced descendants of Laetoli’s hominids were found further north, buried in the layers of the I00 metres deep Olduvai Gorge.

c ons m in y y t e archaeologists, Louis and Mary e ey yie e four i erent kinds of hominid, showing a gradual increase in brain size and in the complexity of their stone too s e rst s u of Zinjanthropus commonly known as ‘Nutcracker Man’, who lived about 1.7 million years ago, were found here. e e c on sites e een preserved for the public viewing n or con nues urin the dry season, coordinated by the Tanzania government’s e rtment of n ui es