The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is an UNESCO Mixed World Heritage Site covering 8,292km² (3,202mi²). Spanning the volcanic highlands of northern Tanzania, the NCA extends from the plains of Serengeti National Park and Maswa Game Reserve in the west, to the eastern arm of the Great Rift Valley (Gregory Rift) in the east.  It is located about 180km west of Arusha, the gateway city for northern circuit safaris.

Serengeti National Park when it was established as Tanzania’s first national park in 1951, the area now administered by the NCA Authority (ncaa.go.tz) was included within the park boundary.  In 1959, the NCA was split off from Serengeti National Park and established as a protected area and multi-purpose land use area.   The NCA spans vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests.  NCA Authority was established to protect and integrate the diverse values and interests of wildlife, people, forestry, archaeology and prehistory, tourism, education, and research.

The NCA is named after Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest unbroken and unfilled volcanic caldera.  Also within the jurisdiction of the NCA is Laetoli and Olduvai Gorge, which contain an important palaeontological record revealing evidence of human evolution and human-environment dynamics, collectively spanning nearly four million years.

The variations in climate, landforms and altitude have resulted in several overlapping ecosystems and distinct habitats, with short grass plains, highland catchment forests, savanna woodlands, montane long grass plains and high open moorlands. The eastern part of the NCA is part of the Serengeti ecosystem, one of the last intact ecosystems in the world supporting the largest terrestrial animal migration on earth.  The NCA is of global importance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally threatened species (black rhino, wild hunting dog and golden cat) and the density of wildlife inhabiting the NCA (a population of about 25,000 large animals, mostly ungulates, alongside the highest density of mammalian predators in Africa including the densest known population of lion, and 500 species of birds).

Outside the big crater, wildlife in the NCA co-exists with the semi-nomadic Maasai, who practice their traditional livestock grazing. The Maasai are a pastoral tribe that has managed to preserve its culture over hundreds of years, living in harmony with the wild animals.

Ngorongoro Crater, together with Olmoti and Empakaai craters, is part of the East African Rift System.  The volcanism that created the craters date back to the late Mesozoic / early Tertiary periods.  In 2018, the Ngorongoro Lengai Global Geopark was designated by UNESCO encompassing the NCA, as well as Ol Doinyo Lengai (translated from the Maasai language as “Mountain of God”), a 2,962m (10,459’) active volcano with the world’s only known natrocarbonatite lava – a rare low-temperature sodium- and potassium-rich carbonate lava.

Transcendent Journeys, Tanzania offers a unique Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) 7-Day Trekking Adventure including game drive in Ngorongoro Crater, day treks into Olmoti and Empakaai Craters, 2-day trek to the summit Ol Doinyo Lengai, and a day at Lake Natron.  www.transcendentjourneystz.com/mountain-treks/

Sources:  ncaa.go.tz & whc.unesco.org

See previous blog entries on Olduvai Gorge and the Great Migration