The famous Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ngorongoro is located in northern Tanzania, at the western edge of the Great African Rift (or, as it is also called, the Great Rift Valley) – stretching from the Red Sea to Mozambique for 6,750 kilometers and crossing almost 20 countries.
The Ngorongoro Crater was formed over 2.5 million years ago by the eruption of a huge volcano.
The depth of the crater is 610 m. Its edges rise to 2286 m above sea level. The diameter of the Ngorongoro crater ranges from 17 to 21 km, with a total area of approximately 265 km². At the bottom of the crater is Lake Magadi, famous for the flamingo population.
In the language of the Maasai tribe, “Ngorongoro” means “Huge hole”. According to another version, the name Ngorongoro comes from the name of the leader of the ancient Masai warriors.
Bernhard Grzimek founded the Serengeti Research Institute in Frankfurt in the 1960s, which collected valuable information on the (migratory) behavior of numerous species and helped preserve them. Near the crater is the Olduvai gorge, where traces of the Olduvai culture were first found (which gave it its name). At the edge of the crater, zoologists Michael Grzimek (died 1959) and Bernhard Grzimek (died 1987), who studied the area, are buried.
The Ngorongoro Crater was formed over 2.5 million years ago by the eruption of a huge volcano.
The depth of the crater is 610 m. Its edges rise to 2286 m above sea level. The diameter of the Ngorongoro crater ranges from 17 to 21 km, with a total area of approximately 265 km². At the bottom of the crater is Lake Magadi, famous for the flamingo population.
In the language of the Maasai tribe, “Ngorongoro” means “Huge hole”. According to another version, the name Ngorongoro comes from the name of the leader of the ancient Masai warriors.
Bernhard Grzimek founded the Serengeti Research Institute in Frankfurt in the 1960s, which collected valuable information on the (migratory) behavior of numerous species and helped preserve them. Near the crater is the Olduvai gorge, where traces of the Olduvai culture were first found (which gave it its name). At the edge of the crater, zoologists Michael Grzimek (died 1959) and Bernhard Grzimek (died 1987), who studied the area, are buried.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is one of the major tourism sites in Tanzania with several tens of thousands of visitors per year who come mainly for the wildlife but also for the landscapes,The reserve is easily accessible and has an excellent tourist infrastructure. the population and the archaeological sites.This is one of the most famous nature reserves in Tanzania. And concurrently, one of the best safari destinations on the continent.
Access : Coordinates: -3.21, 35.46 / Location :
The Ngorongoro Reserve is located in northern Tanzania, on the border with Kenya, at the western edge of the African Rift Zone, 210 km from the city of Arusha.( Arusha is a city in north eastern Tanzania and the capital of the Arusha Region, ) / The easiest way to get to the park is from Arusha, which is the regional center. / By car from the city of Arusha : The park is 180 kilometers away, you can get there in about 4 hours. keep in mind that the entrance to the Ngorongoro reserve is only open to cars with four-wheel drive and a panoramic roof.
Contents
The famous Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ngorongoro is located in northern Tanzania, at the western edge of the Great African Rift (or, as it is also called, the Great Rift Valley) – stretching from the Red Sea to Mozambique for 6,750 kilometers and crossing almost 20 countries.
The Ngorongoro Crater was formed over 2.5 million years ago by the eruption of a huge volcano.
The depth of the crater is 610 m. Its edges rise to 2286 m above sea level. The diameter of the Ngorongoro crater ranges from 17 to 21 km, with a total area of approximately 265 km². At the bottom of the crater is Lake Magadi, famous for the flamingo population.
In the language of the Maasai tribe, “Ngorongoro” means “Huge hole”. According to another version, the name Ngorongoro comes from the name of the leader of the ancient Masai warriors.
Bernhard Grzimek founded the Serengeti Research Institute in Frankfurt in the 1960s, which collected valuable information on the (migratory) behavior of numerous species and helped preserve them. Near the crater is the Olduvai gorge, where traces of the Olduvai culture were first found (which gave it its name). At the edge of the crater, zoologists Michael Grzimek (died 1959) and Bernhard Grzimek (died 1987), who studied the area, are buried.The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is one of the major tourism sites in Tanzania with several tens of thousands of visitors per year who come mainly for the wildlife but also for the landscapes,The reserve is easily accessible and has an excellent tourist infrastructure. the population and the archaeological sites.This is one of the most famous nature reserves in Tanzania. And concurrently, one of the best safari destinations on the continent.
Highlights :
- The nature reserve: The territory of the Norongoro crater in 1951 was included in the Serengeti National Park. In 1959, a special nature reserve was created outside the crater – the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. In 1975, agricultural activities inside the reserve were completely banned, and in 1979, the Ngorongoro crater was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as an outstanding natural monument and received the status of a biosphere reserve.
- Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most famous sites in Africa and is believed to have the highest density of wildlife in Africa. Sometimes referred to as the “eighth wonder of the world”. It is home to about 25 thousand animals, and there is the highest density of predators in all of Africa. Zebras, buffaloes, antelopes, lions, leopards, black rhinos and elephants live here , one of the most densely populated wildlife sites in Africa, numbering about 30,000.
- The Maasai tribe : The Maasai tribe lives in a nature reserve around the crater. A visit to the traditional homes of these famous nomadic herders and the Ngorongoro Warriors Crater is an exciting experience for all visitors to the area.
- Inside the crater is the amazing Lake Magadi, where pink flamingos live in large numbers.Magadi has a high concentration of salts, while it has no source and has a unique biosphere.
- The explorers : A memorial dedicated to two West German explorers, Bengard and Michael Grzimek. It is thanks to them that the national parks of Northern Tanzania have survived to this day in their original form.
- Oldupai or Olduvai Gorge : Olduvai is a gorge in northern Tanzania, 36 km northeast of Lake Eyasi. It is a 40 km long crevice running along the Serengeti Plains in the Ngorongoro Protected Area.In the gorge there is a museum of anthropology and human evolution “Olduvai Goj”, which presents the remains of the predecessors of modern man, the remains of prehistoric animals, mammoth tusks.
- Safari in Ngorongoro : In the crater, only the usual daytime game drive is allowed, however, in the area of the Ngorongoro reserve and the adjacent city of Karatu, tourists can visit the villages of the Masai tribe, get acquainted with the life of the Hazabe and Datoga peoples on Lake Eyyasi, and visit coffee plantations.
Activities : safari tour / photo opportunities,Here you can catch amazing footage / excursions to Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park. / tours to Ngorongoro crater – Ngorongoro Crater Highlands Adventure Safari.
Go next : Want to see hundreds of colorful flamingos? – Go to Lake Magadi in Ngorongoro Crater / Masai tribe settlements / Olduvai Gorge, one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world.
