ABOUT NGORONGARO CONSERVATION AREA

Ngorongaro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage site which is located 180 Km from Arusha in Crater Highland area of Tanzania. The area derives its name from Ngorongoro Crater located in the area. The main highlight of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera. The crater, which formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago, is 610 metres deep and spans over 260 square kilometers. Apart from the main caldera, Ngorongoro also has two other volcanic craters: Olmoti and Empakai, the former famous for its cascading waterfalls, and the latter holding a deep lake and lush, green walls. The area also protects Oldupai Gorge, which ia one of the driest regions.
The myriad landscapes of the region ranging from grasslands to woodlands are a hotspot for biodiversity. The area is a home for green as well as desert plants. Scrub heath, grasslands, high open moorland, and the remains of dense evergreen forests cover the steep slopes of the crater, while highland trees including Peacock Flower, Yellow-Wood, Kousso and Sweet Olive are also found. The area has the densest population of Masai lions.Other mammals found here include , zebra and Thomson’s gazelle,black rhinoceros, eland,leopard, elephants, mountain reedbuck, buffalos, spotted hyenas, jackals, rare wild dogs and cheetahs. The myriad landscape is also a home to a variety of birds like ostrich, white pelican, and greater and lesser flamingo, white storks, yellow wagtails and swallows, stilts, saddle-bill storks, ibis, ruff and various species of ducks.

WHEN TO GO ?

The best time to visit the park is from November to April when animals gather for breeding. In the dry season also, the animals are concentrated near water resources.