A UNESCO protected World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area covering 8292 sq km consists of the Ngorongoro Crater itself, Empakai Crater, Oldupai Gorge, and Ndutu, including the short grass plains of the southeastern Serengeti ecosystem.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a pioneering experiment where people (the Maasai), livestock, and wildlife co-exist and share the same protected habitat. The stunning spectacle of the Ngorongoro Crater, with its steep walls falling some 610 meters to the floor, is undoubtedly one of the highlights of a safari tour in Tanzania.
“It is impossible to give a fair description of the size and beauty of the Crater, for there is nothing with which one can compare it. It is one of the Wonders of the World…” once wrote Professor Bernhard Grzimek. The crater floor is home to thousands of plain animals, including the rare black rhino, zebra, wildebeest, gazelles, hippos, eland, elephants, and a large predator population of lions, hyena, and jackal. There is nowhere else in Africa quite like Ngorongoro.
