The Ngorongoro Crater

The Crater is at 2,286m above the sea level, and is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. Ngorongoro is surrounded by very steep walls rising at 600 meters from the crater floor. The crater was been declared a world Heritage Site. The views at the rim are sensational. On the crater floor, grassland blends into swamps, lakes, rivers, woodland and mountains – all a heaven for wildlife, including the densest predator population in Africa. The crater is home to up to 25,000 large mammals, mainly grazers – gazelle, buffalo, eland, hartebeest and warthog. You will not find giraffe as there is not much to eat at tree level, or topi, because the competition with wildebeest is too fierce, nor will you find impala. The crater elephants are strangely, mainly bulls. There are a small number of black rhinos here too. The birdlife is largely seasonal and is also affected by the ratio of soda to fresh water in Lake Magadi on the crater floor.