Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Crater was formed when a large volcano erupted and collapsed on itself. This explosion created a caldera (mistakenly crater) approximately two and a half million years ago.

Within the Ngorongoro conservation area different stunning attractions are found, starting with a shifting sand, Ngorongoro, olmoti and empakaai craters.

The place is also famous known as the cradle of human-kind. Within the greater Ngorongoro Conservation Area exists the Oldupai Gorge, a sharp gorge in the Great Rift Valley where paleoanthropologists Louis and Mark Leakey famously discovered traces of homo habilis, our first known human species, reaching back 2 million years. Mind blown!!

The Ngorongoro conservation area lies 75 miles (120 km) west of the Arusha town.

Apart from all of that, there is a Lake Ndutu and Masek both alkaline soda lakes, are home to rich game populations, and surrounded by peaks and extinct volcanoes, which create a stunning backdrop, completing the conservation area’s unique and beautiful landscape.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers 8,292 square kilometres.
The caldera (Ngorongoro crater) measures between 10 and 12 miles (16 and 19 km) across (floor) the crater wall is 610 meters deep and has an area of 102 square miles (264 square km).
Ngorongoro conservation area was established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, designated to promote the conservation of natural resources, safeguard the interests of NCA indigenous residents and to promote tourism activities.
When it was a volcano it’s thought to have been a similar size to Mount Kilimanjaro, one of the world’s highest mountains. Estimates height vary between 4,500 to 5,800 metres. NCA is a very unique protected area in the whole of Africa, this is because it is the only place where conservation of natural resources integrates with human development.