Ngorongoro Caldera Wildlife

We drove over the lip of and into Ngorongoro caldera to view the wildlife on the crater floor. The Ngorongoro Crater is often called ‘Africa’s Eden’ and the ‘8th Natural Wonder of the World’.

A massive extinct volcano, the sheet walls drop thousands of feet to a "Noah's Ark" of animals on the verdant floor below. Large herds of zebra, elephant, gazelles, buffalo, antelope and wildebeest graze nearby while sleeping lions laze in the sun.

We saw the endangered black rhino snoozing on the crater floor and later grazing grass in the afternoon. We also saw many hyenas snoozing in mud puddles and a new gnu taking his first stumbling steps.

The world-famous Ngorongoro Crater is at the eastern edge of the Serengeti in northern Tanzania. Nearly three million years old, the ancient caldera of the once-volcanic Ngorongoro shelters one of the most beautiful wildlife havens on earth, ringed with towering walls and sheltering forests, grasslands, fresh springs and a large alkaline lake.

Late afternoon we took an extremely steep switchback road back to the crater rim and proceeded to Olduvai camp for dinner and overnight. The tent camp is amongst a rock outcropping (kopje) beside traditional Masai people with their goats and cattle.

Check out the photos. You would not believe how close we were to the lions!! Remember, all of these photos are taken on Don's phone, so no telescopic lenses were used here.