7 Most Important Ngorongoro Crater Facts to Know Before Your Safari
When you think of great African sites, you probably think about the Sahara Desert and the Nile. You may think of the pyramids, the Serengeti, or even the Okavango Delta. But what would you say if we told you one of the most stunning pieces of Africa is the Ngorongoro Crater?
The Ngorongoro Crater in the heart of Tanzania holds the earliest origins of humanity and the best hope for more than 25,000 animals today. Read on to discover some more amazing Ngorongoro Crater facts and learn why you should put this amazing place on your bucket list.
1. How the Crater Was Created
The first thing you should know about the Ngorongoro Crater is that it’s not actually a crater. In fact, it’s a caldera, a depression formed when the top of a volcano explodes. This explosion happened several million years ago, and the top of the mountain collapsed on itself, forming a divot in the top of the mountain twelve miles wide and 2,000 feet deep.
As you might expect, water began to pool in this divot, and soon, lush plant life was growing there. Animals followed the plants, predators followed the animals, and humans followed the predators. This lush caldera teeming with life was protected for the first time in 1959 and in 1979 was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
2. It’s the Biggest of Its Kind
The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest unbroken caldera in the world that’s not completely a lake. Oftentimes, that gathering of water we mentioned never stops, and the caldera becomes a vast lake at the top of a mountain. Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia is the largest caldera known today and is currently occupied by a lake.
The other thing that often happens is that the caldera collapses into a sinkhole. An explosion of that force leaves a massive chasm where all that rock and dust once was, and it usually collapses in on itself. It takes a very special set of circumstances for a caldera like the Ngorongoro Crater to be formed.
3. It’s Brimming with Life
One of the things that makes the Ngorongoro Crater so special is that it is teeming with life. The bowl-shaped depression has collected water and created a rich soil perfect for growing beautiful, lush plants. And that abundance of natural resources has brought animals by the thousands.
There are more than 25,000 wild animals living in the caldera today. Scientists estimate that the caldera is home to 7,000 wildebeest, 4,000 zebras, 3,000 elands, 3,000 gazelles, 600 hyenae, about 300 elephants, more than 60 lions, about 30 rhinos, and many, many others. And that’s to say nothing of the 500 bird species ranging from ostriches to secretary birds that live in the Ngorongoro Crater.
4. You Can Spot a Black Rhino
Thirty rhinos may not sound like a lot spread across a twelve-mile caldera, but this is actually the place you have the best chance of spotting a black rhino in the wild. These beautiful creatures have two long horns and weigh as much as 3,000 pounds. They also have a hooked upper lip, one of the features that differentiates them from their white rhino cousins.
Black rhinos were hunted nearly to the point of extinction in the 20th century. Populations dropped by a staggering 98 percent until there were less than 3,000 left in the wild. Today, thanks to tireless conservation efforts, the black rhino is starting to make a comeback, and today, there are more than 5,000 of these beautiful animals living in the wild.
5. It Sees a Million Wildebeest
When we say you might see a million wildebeest in the Ngorongoro Crater, we aren’t exaggerating. Each year between December and March, more than 2 million of the animals pass through the Ngorongoro Crater, along with zebras and gazelles. If you need some scale, the wildebeest stampede that killed Mufasa and traumatized us all in the 1994 movie The Lion King contained about 9,000 wildebeest.
These 2 million wildebeest are part of The Great Migration, a huge movement that takes in the Serengeti National Park. This movement goes throughout the year, with these herds moving where the new food is. They make a circular motion, and their circle passes through the Ngorongoro Crater around the beginning of each year.
6. Humanity Started There
It isn’t just animals that have found a home in the Ngorongoro Crater. Humans have long been drawn to the area, too. In fact, scientists now believe it may be the cradle from which our earliest human ancestors descended into the world.
In the Ngorongoro Crater, there is a steep ravine in the Great Rift Valley called the Oldupai Gorge. Along this ridge, scientists have discovered human footprints dating back two million years. This is some of the oldest evidence we have of early humans and places the Ngorongoro Crater in a special place in our species history.
7. You Can Sleep on the Rim
If you want to spend a night in the place that saw the dawn of humanity and which houses thousands of animals, you can do that. There are a number of lodges all along the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater where you can stay the night.
Imagine after a long day exploring the natural wonder of the caldera that you come back to your lodge, enjoy some traditional Tanzanian food, and go out onto the deck of your lodge. You watch the sun sink down over the ridge of the Ngorongoro Crater and look up at the same stars our ancestors watched for signs of things to come. And in the morning, you wake to see the sun rising over the opposite rim of the caldera, starting a new day in one of Africa’s most amazing locales.
Discover More Ngorongoro Crater Facts
The Ngorongoro Crater holds the origins of humanity, the future of animals, and the beauty of the ages. And these Ngorongoro Crater facts are just the tip of the caldera. If you want to learn more, you’ll have to visit the crater and discover the wonder for yourself.
If you’d like to see the Ngorongoro Crater yourself, check out the rest of our site at African Sermon Safaris. We offer trips to Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar to see the most amazing sights Africa has to offer. Learn more about our Tanzania safaris and start planning your adventure today.