Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The main feature is the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic crater in the world. The crater, which was formed and collapsed when a large volcano exploded two to three million years ago, is 610 meters deep and its floor covers 260 square kilometers.

The main feature is the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic crater in the world. The crater, which was formed and collapsed when a large volcano exploded two to three million years ago, is 610 meters deep and its floor covers 260 square kilometers. The crater was voted one of Africa’s Seven Natural Wonders in Arusha, Tanzania, in February 2013. The Ngorongoro volcano was active about 2.45 to 2 million years ago.

The Ngorongoro and the surrounding savannah highlands have been settled by Masai pastoral nomads at the latest since the 18th century and used for nomadic cattle grazing. The crater itself had great spiritual importance for the Masai, among other things the Lerai Forest on the crater floor was used as a burial ground.

Since 1951, the crater has been part of the Serengeti National Park. In 1959, a Ngorongoro Conservation Area was established outside the crater, where the Masai are allowed to settle and graze. In 1975 agriculture in the crater was finally banned. In 1979 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and in 1981 it was designated a Biosphere Reserve. In addition, the crater was declared a World Heritage Site in 2010.

The Ngorongoro Nature Reserve also protects Oldupai or Olduvai Gorges, which are located in the plain. It is considered the seat of humanity after the discovery of the earliest known specimens of the human genus, Homo habilis, as well as early hominids, such as Paranthropus boisei.

The Olduvai Gorge is a steeply sloping gorge in the Great Rift Valley that stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is located in the eastern Serengeti plains in northern Tanzania and is about 50 kilometres long. It lies in the rain shadow of the Ngorongoro Highlands and is the driest part of the region. The gorge is named after ‘Oldupaai’, the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant.

Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and research there has promoted the understanding of early human evolution. Excavation work there was started by Mary and Louis Leakey in the 1950s and is continued today by their family. Some believe that millions of years ago the site was that of a large lake whose shores were covered with successive deposits of volcanic ash. About 500,000 years ago, seismic activity diverted a nearby stream that began to sink into the sediments, revealing seven main layers in the walls of the gorge.

Wildlife

About 25,000 large animals live in the crater, mostly hoofed animals. Among the large mammals in the crater are the black rhino, whose local population decreased from about 108 in 1964-66 to 11-14 in 1995, the African or Cape buffalo and the hippopotamus. There are also many other hoofed animals: the blue wildebeest, the Grant zebra, the eland and the Grant and Thomson gazelles. Waterbucks are mainly found near the Lerai forest.

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