Lodges and hotels around the Ngorongoro Crater.

The crater is located in northern Tanzania, sharing part of the Serengeti plains to the northern west and with the towns of Arusha and Moshi, and Mount Kilimanjaro, to the east and forms part of the unique Serengeti ecosystem. In 1950’s, Dr. Bernhard Grizmek together with his late son carried out a major ecological survey of the Serengeti Reserve, which led to the establishment of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in 1959. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority offered the oversight and management of the Conservation Area. Serengeti National Park was made bigger and extended northwards towards Kenya border, where it joins the Masai Mara National Reserve.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which includes Ngorongoro Crater covers an area of 8292 sq. km, it ranges in altitude from 1020 to 3587 meters (60% of the height of Mount Kilimanjaro at its highest point) and it was awarded World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve status. Ngorongoro terrain has many shelters, from open grasslands to mountain forests, and from scrub bush land to the large open highland covered with grass and other small wild plants.

About 25,000 animals reside in the Ngorongoro Crater all year round, however, if the entire Ngorongoro is considered, the numbers can rise up to 2.5 million depending on the time of the year.