This area (abbreviated to NCA) covers 8,300 km2, including 260 km2 for the crater itself (the world's largest intact caldera), and 890 km2 of forest. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the obligatory gateway from Arusha to its neighboring Serengeti National Park (transit tax payable), with which it shares a border of almost 80 km.Today, many Maasai live in the vast Ngorongoro Conservation Area, but have not been allowed to descend into the crater since 1970, to let wildlife take its course in this area at least. There is a problem of human and livestock overpopulation, which has risen from 20,000 in 1960 to 100,000 Maasai today. Despite the wildlife and the dangers it poses to man (lions, snakes, etc.), the Maasai walk armed with their bravery and experience. In the conservation zone around the crater, they can be seen walking at the head of their herds, in their villages and along roadsides.Heroes Point. The climb from the gateway to the conservation area is epic in a 4×4, with rocks everywhere, engines revving and the race on! It's very hard on both your legs and your car. Once you've reached the summit, you can finally admire the crater from the famous Heroes Point, the viewpoint offering a 600-metre-high plunge into the crater's interior. On the horizon, the clouds lift the ridge line to evaporate inside - magical! You then have two options: either continue inside the crater and visit it, or continue towards the Serengeti, crossing the Maasai people who still live in the area outside the crater, to reach Seronera.The crater. The first European to reach the crater was Austrian explorer Oskar Bauman, in March 1892. By 1921, Major Dugmore was already estimating the crater's fauna at 75,000 animals. This figure was undoubtedly exaggerated. Today, animal counts put the number at over 20,000, and it seems that the natural vegetation on the ground is being exploited to the full by the herbivorous fauna. The crater, a Unesco World Heritage site, is a caldera, i.e. a gigantic ancient crater, perhaps as high as today's Kilimanjaro, but which collapsed some 2.5 million years ago, after the entire interior, driven by eruption gases, had been emptied and poured onto the surrounding plains, forming in particular the upper layer of the Serengeti. It is said that fumaroles are still sometimes present above the crater's center. The Ngorongoro Crater (one of the 115 in the conservation area) is today the place with the highest animal density in Africa. For mystics, it's a chalice where nature shows God's presence by reflecting his splendor, a sort of natural Noah's Ark.Orientation in the crater. It is home to Lake Magadi (which means soda), a large alkaline lake that is more or less dry depending on the season, and home to numerous flamingos. To the south of the lake lies the Leraï forest, inhabited by elephants, cobas and monkeys, by definition arboreal. Rhinoceroses also live here, usually at night. They often emerge between 8 and 9 a.m. and head for the plains, a little way off the track, where they lie down if it's windy. To the south-east, near the Gorigor marshes, lions are frequently seen behind the tall grass. At the end of these marshes is a pond, Ngoitokitok Springs. This area is home to elephants, a few hippos and numerous kites. Heading towards the center of the crater, you can find hyenas, and the hippo pool where, during the day, vehicles can get quite close to these aquatic behemoths. To the north, you can drive along the Munge River, close to which are the ruins of one of the farms belonging to the Siedentopf brothers, who began mining the crater at the end of the 19th century (the other farm, behind the Leraï forest, is the rangers' building).

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Troupeau de zèbres dans l'aire de conservation du Ngorongoro Stephan SZEREMETA
Safari dans l'aire de conservation du Ngorongoro Stephan SZEREMETA
Les Gorges d'Olduvai. ChrisCrafter
Cratère de Ngorongoro. guenterguni - iStockphoto.com

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