Ngorongoro Conservation Area

About Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers 8,292 km² of highlands and plains between Lake Manyara and the Serengeti, about 180 km west of Arusha. Established in 1959 and administered by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, it is the only protected area in Tanzania where wildlife conservation and resident Maasai pastoralism are managed together. UNESCO listed it as a natural World Heritage Site in 1979 and extended the listing to a mixed natural and cultural site in 2010.

The Ngorongoro Crater is the centrepiece, but the area also contains the Empakaai and Olmoti craters, the Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli fossil sites, and the short-grass plains around Lake Ndutu where the wildebeest migration calves between December and March.

Activities range from crater game drives to walks on the crater highlands with Maasai guides, visits to bomas, and the museum at Olduvai. The area received 752,232 visitors in 2023.

Highlights

• Ngorongoro Crater game drives
• Ndutu plains calving season (Dec–Mar)
• Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli fossil sites
• Empakaai Crater rim walk
• Resident Maasai communities
• UNESCO mixed World Heritage Site