Ngorongoro

Ngorongoro Conservation

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a protected area and a World Heritage Site located 180 km (110 mi) west of Arusha in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania.

The area is named after Ngorongoro Crater (caldera), a large volcanic caldera within the area.

The conservation area is administered by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, an arm of the Tanzanian government,and its boundaries follow the boundary of the Ngorongoro Division of the Arusha Region.

The 2009 Ngorongoro Wildlife Conservation Act placed new restrictions on human settlement and subsistence farming in the Crater, displacing Maasai pastoralists.

Part of the reason behind the Ngorongoro Conservation Area has been to preserve the environment for the Maasai people who were diverted from the Serengeti Plains.

Essentially nomadic people, they build temporary villages in circular homesteads called bomas. There are possibilities to visit a couple of these now, which have been opened up for tourists to explore.

Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most likely areas in Tanzania to see the endangered Black Rhino, as a small population is thriving in this idyllic and protected environment.

It is currently one of the few areas where they continue to breed in the wild. Your chances of encountering leopard here are also good, and fabulous black-maned lions.

Many flamingos are also attracted to the soda waters of Lake Magadi.