 Ngorongoro
lies just 60 kms NW of Lake Manyara, 190 km W of Arusha and 145
km SE of The Serengeti. At the heart of this huge and diverse conservation
area (8,288 sq km) lies the incomparable crater, once a young volcano
that eventually collapsed leaving a perfect calder 18 kms across
and 1 km deep - the largest in the world.
At
the craters edge isa fantastic panorama. You enter by descending
the thickly wooded rim, a mixture of Strangler Fig, Red Thorn Acacias
and Rub Vines, attracting a variety of birdlife, on to the crater
floor with its prominent soda lake, Magadi. The stage is set which
includes Seneto Springs, Gorigor Swaps, Terai Forest and the Gol
Mountains. This microcosm supports some 30,000 large mammals, including
Plains Game, Lion, Leopard and Buffalo. Clambering in the trees
are Olive Baboons, Blue Monkeys and Bushbabies. Olduvai is famed
for its fossil finds - about 150 species of prehistoric mammals
including the Leakey's discovery of 400 fragments of a skull. Discovery
here began by accident back in 1911. Olduvai gains its name from
the Masai word for the wild sisal that is prolific here.
The
Ngorongoro Crater stands 7,600 feet high at the rim with a floor some
2,000 feet below. This magnificent spectacle has long been regarded
as the original Garden of Eden. Whilst the high ground around the
rim lies under a thick canopy of lichen-draped tropical forest—often
shrouded in the mist—the floor of Ngorongoro teems with all kinds
of Africa's best know wildlife. At
the heart of the crater's ten mile wide grassland plain lies a soda
lake that often attracts vast numbers of flamingo and other water
birds. Visitors to Ngorongoro will seldom leave without seeing rhino,
elephant, buffalo, lion, cheetah, zebra and many species of antelope
and even an occasional leopard. The roads in and out of the crater
are an adventure in themselves and require four-wheel drive vehicles.
Lodges are on the crater rim only. This was once the home of the
Masai tribe and they still take their herds of cattle into the crater
at certain times.
The Ngorongoro Crater Trek
Once you are in need of this wonderful trekking trail in Tanzania,
one must travel to Ngorongoro conservation area through Loduare
Gate, up to heroes point and then turn right while scaling to Ngorongoro.
The road will lead
you to a Sopa Lodge junction, drive straight up to North - East
crater out let - Drive straight following Nainokanoka village where
the ranger post is situated.
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