Ngorongoro Conservation Area

CREATION DATE

KM² OF PARK

KM² OF LAKE

TheNgorongoro Conservation Area (Ngorongoro Conservation Area ou NCA), established in 1959, covers approximately 8,300 km2 and ranges from 960 to 3,648 meters above sea level.

Ngorongoro comes from a Maasai word meaning "hole".

This protected area was classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1980. Unlike national parks where all human settlement is prohibited, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area enjoys a special status allowing Maasai pastoralists to visit it. live and graze their flocks there; these human activities remain largely controlled.

The NCA area is 180 km from Arusha. It is bounded by Lake Natron to the northeast (with the still active volcano of OldonyoLengaï mountain), the Serengeti National Park to the north and west, Arusha and Kilimanjaro national parks to the east, Lake Manyara to the southeast and Lake Eyasi to the south. Most of the area is made up of high volcanic plateaus that are part of the Great Rift Valley.

It is in this region that we also find the Olduvai site qui représente probablement le berceau de l’humanité selon certains spécialistes. C’est en tout cas à cet endroit que d’importantes découvertes paléontologiques datées de 2 millions à 15000 ans ont été faites. Un petit musée a été érigé et retrace l’histoire de ces différentes découvertes à travers des panneaux explicatifs.

Among the most remarkable sites in this area is the Ngorongoro Crater.

The Ngorongoro crater

Mammals

ANIMALS PER KM²

The crater is actually a caldera about 20 km in diameter and 265 km² in area, the largest in the world that has remained intact. A caldera is formed by the explosion of the cone of a volcano. So all that remains is the old buttresses (here 600 m high) of this volcano majestically surrounding a space made up of lakes, rivers and springs, savannah, forests and marshes thus constituting a Garden of Eden for the some 30,000 resident mammals. permanent.

While rolling on the tracks climbing the sides of the crater, one discovers a thick jungle, rich in a multitude of plant species. Then, from the ridge, the jungle suddenly opens up and the view from the top of the crater is exceptional and unforgettable.

As you descend into the crater, you will discover this savannah populated by zebras, wildebeest, gazelles, warthogs, buffaloes ... And, throughout the safari, you may discover cheetahs and leopards, most certainly lions (there are 80 in the crater). You will see elephants, hippos, hyenas, maybe rhinos and a multitude of varieties of birds.

The animal population density is close to 100 animals per km² in this magical place.