The Serengeti was originally a much larger land area but due to the demands and needs of the Maasai people, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area was separated allowing the Maasai to live and herd their animals in the NCA area although they are not supposed to take herds onto the Crater floor itself (although we saw several there). The NCA is 8,292 square kilometers and is named after the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest intact volcanic caldera. This means the soil in the crater is extremely conducive and the area is lush and green and able to support the large animal population that is found there.
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| View of the Crater |
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| My group: Back - Eva, Bec, Nigel, Pat, Phoebe, Jo, Ray, Stu; Front - Cath, Stefanie, Karissa, Kev, Sammy & Patryk |
Ngorongoro Crater itself is a relic of an immense volcanic mountain that imploded violently 2 to 3 million years ago creating a 600 meter wall around the crater. The NCA has an altitudinal span of 1,230 meters to 3,648 meters. We spent the night on the rim of the crater so the temperatures were a bit cool for our breakfast:
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| Breakfast on the crater rim |
The crater floor reputedly supports the densest concentration of predators in Africa. One of the most amazing sites was the birth of a baby wildebeest upon our arrival on the crater floor:
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| Baby just born on ground in center |
We stopped and ate lunch outside. They warned us to watch for lions so we thought we'd take higher ground and watch each other's backs:
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| Lunch Time |
There was no shortage of animals! Here's one I haven't shown before:
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| Olive Baboon and baby |
The guidebook I read said some people complain it is like a zoo but could you see this in a zoo?!:
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| Wildebeests, Zebra & Birds |
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