Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Crater is an amazing natural wonder and one of Africa’s most famous wildlife spots. It’s the largest intact volcanic caldera in the world, covering about 265 square kilometers with walls up to 600 meters high. The crater is home to around 30,000 animals at any time, and from the high rim, you can spot tiny animals moving around the floor below. The crater has its own unique climate, and it can get quite chilly at night, with clouds often hanging around the rim.

The crater floor has different habitats like grasslands, swamps, forests, and Lake Magadi, a soda lake. These varied environments attract a lot of wildlife for drinking, grazing, and hiding. The rich soil and lush vegetation make it a great place for both grazers and predators to stay year-round. It’s one of the best places in Tanzania to see the endangered Black Rhino, and you might also spot leopards, black-maned lions, and flamingos at the soda lake.

Ngorongoro Crater is also home to the Maasai people, who were moved from the Serengeti Plains. They live in circular villages called bomas and have unique traditions, including building huts in a specific order based on the number of wives. You can visit these villages to see their traditional way of life and learn about their history as cattle herders and warriors. Even though they can’t build villages inside the crater, they still bring their cattle in to graze and drink.