Conservation Area of ​​Ngoro Ngoro

The conservation area of ​​Ngorongoro is a protected natural area of ​​Tanzania, north-west of the city of Arusha and east of the Serengeti park, with which it constitutes an uninterrupted territory.
The whole area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 and in 2013 received the award as one of the seven wonders of Africa along with the migration of the Serengeti park and the Kilimajaro coins, Tanzania is therefore the the only African country to have 3 of the 7 wonders of the continent on its territory.
The Ngorongoro crater is located at 2,200 meters s. m.l and has a diameter ranging from 16 to 23 km in diameter, its surface is about 265 square kilometers and is the only intact caldera existing on the earth only intact caldera existing on earth.
The area around the crater constitutes the Ngorongoro nature reserve.
The local Masai tribes have the right to graze in this area and often meet with their livestock, in this part of the conservation area you will also have the opportunity to visit some of the Masai villages that you meet traveling from the Ngoro Ngoro towards the Serengeti.
In addition to the crater of the same name, the Ngorongoro reserve includes two other smaller craters, Olmoti and Empakaai, as well as the extremely important archaeological site of the Olduvai gorges, known as the "cradle of humanity". Here were found remains of primitive men dating back to about 1.75 million years ago and various fossils of animals dating back to the Stone Age.
The Ngorongoro crater is located at 2,200 meters above sea level, measuring over 16 kilometers in diameter and occupying an area of ​​approximately 265 square kilometers in total.
It is the largest intact caldera in the world.
On the crown of the crater runs a single road, on the southern slope.
Thanks to good rainfall, ponds and small lakes and internal streams, the night fog that surrounds and feeds the forests of the slopes of the old volcano, the area has become a real ecosystem.
The savannah occupies the innermost area of ​​the crater, alternating with stretches of marsh, acacia patches and semi-desert arid areas; at the center of the crater is the large salt lake of Magadi, the water is clearly not used by the animals to drink, but not far from the north east wall of the crater there are the springs of Ngoitokitok Spring, where a large swamp formed and the area is inhabited by Hippoptamus, elephants, lions.
In the crater the concentration of fauna is impressive: it is estimated that it is inhabited by over 25,000 large animals, in the crater you can see most of the typical species of the savannah: elephants, lions, buffaloes, hyenas, jackals, hippos, baboons, cheetahs, as well as some rather rare like the black rhinos, it is estimated there are 22 black rhinos, the last survivors of a species that in the rest of Tanzania is on the brink of extinction that roam in the caldera. Despite the number, which may appear high, it is always very difficult to dress these wonderful creatures because they are reserved motorcycle animals; you can also meet the leopards, which live on the trees of the rainforest that covers the slopes of the crater.
But the peculiarity of the crater fauna lies in the fact that it has the highest concentration of lions in all of East Africa, in a space as restricted as the caldera, there are more than 60 lions.
Innumerable species of birds attracted by the reserve, which with its numerous stretches of water is an attraction for the migratory fauna: among them the flamingos deserve particular mention, being here one of the most numerous colonies in all of Africa.

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