Ngorongoro Crater Lake Tours / Is Ngorongoro crater worth a visit; Ngorongoro Crater Lake tours; ranks as a world’s largest inactive caldera with its beautiful lava which erupts almost each year thus being a perfect safari destination to go on the Tanzania Safari. Accordingly, to crater’s history counted as the world’s sixth largest intact volcanic caldera and Olduvai Gorge. More so, its crater floor covers about 260 square kilometers and raises about 600 meters deep.
Ngorongoro crater is located in the Eastern Rift Valley –northern Tanzania, lying 75 miles west of the Arusha town. The caldera ranges between 10 and 12miles across and has an area of about 102 square miles ‘’264 square kilometers’’
More so, Ngorongoro crater lake is one of the top tourist attraction on Tanzania Tours offering astounding place for the holiday and this is because it stuns as the largest inactive and intact volcanic caldera in the entire world. Fortunately, in 2015 was ranked holding the seven Natural wonders of Africa.
The crater offers a beautiful hike to its top which can be offered within one full day and save 2 -3 or more, for some of the other parks which are much larger hence giving gainful view of its beauty and viewing of different animals along its floor such as giraffes and leopards, hynes among others. You can decide to combine a visit to Ngorongoro Crate Lake in Tanzania, a visit to Serengeti National Park or visit Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National park a home to half remaining endangered mountain gorillas and the only way to meet them in their nature inhabitant is to engage in Gorilla trekking experience which 6hour life experience while hiring in bamboo forest or tropical forest in search for gorillas. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be accessed through Entebbe International Airport where you can book a domestic flight Aerolink Uganda to fly you to Kihihi Airstrip near Bwindi then be picked up by the safari driver guide to drop you to the park
The word Ngoro ngoo ngoro at first sounded by bell of the cows grazing in the northern side of Tanzania, the name Ngorongoro derives from the Masai pastoralists. Animals to see around Ngorongoro conservation area a home well known to encounter a vast species of mammals like black rhinos, flamingos, wildebeests, jackals, hippopotamus and buffaloes among others. The area is inhabited with soda-line crater lake in Ngorongoro, which provides an alkaline medium as a salubrious gift comprising of lush grasses and the blue green algae, however, they act as the primary food on the food chain within the crater’s ecosystem. Still the crater act as a home of an enormous group of animals and other associating creatures.
Generally speaking, Ngorongoro crater lake is marked as natural sanctuary for the wild creatures as the condition in the crater with an average amount of rain and sun per year happens to be very favorable. Mammals can be easily viewed roaming around in the evergreen surroundings of the crater, meaning the crater is a home population of large animals.
Furthermore, Ngorongoro conservation area sounds as the second largest safari destination in Tanzania after Serengeti National Park, covering an area of about 8,300 square kilometers north of Tanzania being under the protection of the Ngorongoro conservation area Authority.
Historically, Ngorongoro goes as far as two thousand years’ age to the pastoralists who took over the indigenous hunter and gatherers. Later on, they were Mbulu and Datooga societies had to join them while both of them were driven by the Maasai who seemed to be superiors around the 1,800s. By 1921 it’s when the game preservation ordinance was passed, aiming at permitting holders all year around alongside protecting the area by prohibiting hunting on the conserved area. Then after Ngorongoro conservation area Authority had to be established by the ‘’Game Park Laws Act in the year 1976. In so doing, it was given the full management and protection of the whole area both in the crater and around. Overtime in 1979, the area become the World Heritage Site through help of stewardship.
A drive from Arusha town can take about 180kilomters and along the way you can be able to experience a fresh cool air of the largest intact volcanic caldera on the whole world, ’The Ngorongoro crater’’. However, there is more time to experience on your trip to East Africa than the vision of this seventeen kilometers wide crater thus making its walls to stand up to six hundred meters high. There are measurements of 260 square kilometers floor encompasses with variety of habitats such as forests, swamps. lush grassland and the most eye-catching of all is the crater lake. Just know it’s a soda lake that sits within the Ngorongoro crater whose water is filled by a neighboring river by the name Munge river hence estimating the height of the original volcano of the main caldera of the Ngorongoro crater lake, ranging between 4500meter to 5900m, which is greater even than the highest peak in Africa that is ‘’ famous Mount Kilimanjaro’’. Besides the main caldera we have two other volcanic craters which are Empakai and Olmoti.
In fact, Empakai is one responsible for the occurrence of this deep alkaline lake, Lake Magadi. Then, Olmoti established a perfect scene from its stunning waterfalls.
Originally, the name of this astonishing lake originated from the Maasai society who indigenous of Ngorongoro, its renown as Lake Makati and a salt name for Maasai. The lake is cardinally comprising of soda; In Swahili name is Magadi. Through which it baptizes the Ngorongoro crater lake with another name ‘’Lake Mgadi’’ whose origin is that in Swahili name of soda. More so, it’s an alkaline lake with dry soda pans thus covering with these blue-green algae the main source of food to the beautiful flamingos who call this area around the crater lake their home. Well, the float on the alkaline waters make the clear waters of the lake become cloudy. They are easily seen all year around but with a clear and gainful view during summer.
This alkaline crater lake in Ngorongoro are filled with water that flows through majorly from two outstanding sources. The first are streams that drain water into the lake and the major stream is the Ngoitokitok spring that lies close the eastern crater wall. Well Ngoitokitok not only supplies the function of filling the crater lake with water but it also offers a perfect picnic site for travelers to enjoy their lunch with an escort by the amazing scene of the hippos in the Gerigor swamp. You can never feel the beauty of Ngorongoro crater which was declared as a world wonder in year 2013 only way you get the chances of visiting this site and can be able to have chances of viewing montane forest and Euphorbia trees that beautifies the eastern and western walls of the crater.
On addition to that, there is River Munge that leads to the lions share in filling the alkaline lake. The second major source of waters in Lake Magadi are the rain water thus penetrates into the crater and eventually collects up together and makes their channel to run into the lake simply of the slopes. Since it is very essential source as it also nourishes the forest and grass which completes the whole ecosystem.
On the other side of the vegetation cover, the crater lake in the Ngorongoro supports the montane forests that extends to the eastern part of the crater. Thus following the Euphorbia trees which gives a perfect view of the eastern border of the crater. Although, alkaline soda on them doesn’t only favor the growth of the blue- green algae but it nourishes with lush grasses that grows on the floor of the crater. And these two are vital in the ecosystem of the crater as the blue-green algae serve as food for the beautiful flamingo coloring the lake, and the lush grass attracts animal species like Buffalos, Grant Gazelle, zebras as well as the wildebeest which have the numerous population among all. This animal group is never complete till when you speak of the incomparable rhinos I Africa – the black rhinos. All the above information, gives you a reason for planning a trip to the Ngorongoro crater on your next visit to Africa.
Lastly ,Ngorongoro is finest safari destination one should include on a visit to Tanzanian Safari , place that harbors a wide range of wildlife species such as 700 wildebeest ,4000 zebras ,3000 elands ,3000 gazelles ,30 large elephants, 26 black rhinos and other species include; buffalos, jackals, wild dogs, cheetahs and spotted hyenas many more as well as offering a bucket unforgettable activities to tourist on their safari here. Get started planning now!
