African Safari Photo Journal #7: Ngorongoro

This is the 7th post in an ongoing series showcasing STP customer Ray Boyd’s September 2007 African safari in Tanzania.

The wildlife isn’t the only interesting thing about Tanzania — the land itself is also fascinating. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, home to the Ngorongoro crater and the Olduvai Gorge, is one of the more geographically significant spots in all of Africa.

The Ngorongoro crater is the world’s largest caldera (collapsed volcano) and encompasses roughly 114 square miles. The height of the Ngorongoro crater is nearly 2,000 feet from top to bottom. The trees you see lining the rim are a unique species of acacia tree. You won’t find them anywhere else in the world — they only grow in and around the crater.

The crater is home to 30 - 40,000 large animals and boasts the greatest number of big cats in all of Africa. It also has its fair share of birds — more than 100,000 flamingos are known to flock here. Although the crater is sometimes thought of as a natural enclosure for the animals that inhabit it, 20% of them leave the crater during the wet season. Hundreds of thousands of animals also migrate through the area each summer, including 1.7 million wildebeest, 260,000 zebra and 470,000 gazelle.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is also home to the Olduvai Gorge. No doubt you’ve heard about this place — it’s thought by some to be the “seat of humanity.” Lucy, the oldest hominid ever discovered was found here. Fossil evidence indicates the earliest known humans occupied this area over 3 million years ago.

Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important prehistoric archaeological sites in the world. The area is closed to the public (for good reason), but Ray got a couple good photos from afar. Mary and Louis Leakey began excavation work there in the 1950’s. Their relatives continue work there to this day.

This little outcropping of rocks is called a koppie. Koppies occur across the Serengeti. They’re little ecosystems all to themselves. Small animals live in these koppies, like klipspringers and rock hyrax. Koppies provide protection for these little guys from predators and the harsh realities of wild Tanzania.