The Ngorongoro Conservation Area which lies between the
Serengeti and the Lake Manyara National Parks boasts the largest
unbroken, inactive, and unflooded caldera in the world. Perhaps
having once been about the same size as Mount Kilimanjaro, when
the volcanic activity subsided, it collapsed inward resulting in
a crater 18 kilometers (11 miles) across. Surrounded by very
steep walls 610 meters (2000 feet) deep, this natural
amphitheatre covers an area of about 260 square kilometers (100
square miles) and is home for up to 25,000 larger mammals.
Nearly half of those being zebra and wildebeest while other
species found are buffalo, gazelle, eland, hartebeest, warthog,
and the elusive black rhino. Lion, hyena, cheetah, and leopard
are among the predators within the crater. Lake Magadi, a soda
lake centralized on the crater floor, is prolific with flocks of
flamingoes in such great quantities, they may even be visible as
a pink-colored mass from vantage points on the crater rim.
Ostrich and kori bustard are the