Ngorongoro Crater
A collapsed volcano about 600 metres deep, inside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The crater floor holds grassland, a soda lake, swamp and forest. Wildlife lives there all year, black rhino included.
- Best time
- All year. Go down early in the morning, before most vehicles arrive.
- Time to allow
- One night, with a half or full day on the crater floor
- Part of
- Ngorongoro Conservation Area
- Depth
- 610 m
- Width
- about 20 km
- Area
- 260 sq km
- World Heritage Site
- 1979
The crater formed about 2.5 million years ago, when a volcano collapsed in on itself. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority describes it as the largest intact, unfilled volcanic caldera in the world. It is about 20 kilometres across, 610 metres deep, and covers 260 square kilometres. UNESCO listed the wider conservation area as a World Heritage Site in 1979.
On the crater floor
Grassland, swamp, rivers and woodland sit close together here, and the authority counts more than 25,000 animals. Elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion and leopard all live in the crater, with hippo, hyena, warthog, zebra, eland, gazelle and wildebeest. UNESCO names the conservation area as one of the most important refuges for the black rhino.
Rules to know
Only four-wheel-drive vehicles may go down, and you cannot walk on the crater floor. Walks are allowed on the rim and elsewhere in the conservation area. The roads stay open all year.
Wildlife
- Black rhino
- Lion
- Elephant
- Buffalo
- Spotted hyena
- Flamingo