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Protected area and a World Heritage Site in Arusha Region, Tanzania
Photo: Johnbod, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a park and UNESCO World Heritage site in Northeast Tanzania. It contains an old volcano that has collapsed and formed a crater (caldera). The steep sides of the crater have become a natural enclosure for a wide variety of wildlife.
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One of the most important sites for the investigation of human evolution and adaptive technology. There is a small museum with a collection that includes two million year old fossils and stone tools found in the gorge.
This extraordinary caldera (collapsed volcano) consists of a ring of cliffs encircling, some 300 m below, a salt lake around 6 km across. Its colours range from vivid turquoise to sparkling marine to pewter, depending on the time of day and the mood of the cloudscape.
Beautiful landscape for a hiking safari. Olmoti Craters’s floor is shallow and covered with tussocks of grass. Besides the Maasai and their livestock you can sometimes see eland, buffalo and reedbuck.
is an active volcano located northeast outside the park. It's a long and difficult drive to reach it.
Scenic hike in a canyon of a stream leading in to Lake Natron. Go and return to a small waterfall which you can dive through into a hidden cave. Guide is required.
Most people come to Ngorongoro from Arusha on organized safaris. It is, however, cheaper to organize a safari from Karatu, a town 10 km from the gates. Here you can organize a safari with an independent driver.
Read in the guideBy safari vehicle
Most travel within the conservation area is done by guided game-drive vehicles. These vehicles are specially equipped for rough roads and wildlife viewing.
Crater descent roads
Access to the Ngorongoro Crater floor is controlled by a small number of steep roads that descend from the rim.
Distances
Distances within the conservation area can be considerable:
Walking
Walking is not permitted in most areas due to the presence of dangerous wildlife.
Air travel
Some visitors reach the conservation area via small charter aircraft landing at nearby airstrips serving safari lodges. Transfers to lodges are then arranged by the camps themselves.
By safari tour
For most travelers, the best way to get around the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is through a guided safari tour, which handles permits, transport, and wildlife tracking while allowing visitors to…
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