Crater highlands

The engine of the van groans in protest against the steep climb up the Ngorongoro. The temperature drops to a cool 20-something degrees. The edge of the Ngorongoro crater lies at 2,400 meters above see level, and the difference with Lake Manyara (at 945 meters) is perceptible.

The Mbulu cultivate the fertile soil

The landscape changes steadily as we approach the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a group of ancient volcanoes clustered around the Ngorongoro, itself an inactive volcano. We drive past the lands that belong to the Mbulu tribe, a people that provide in their livelihood through agriculture. The land is very fertile from the ashes of the volcanic eruptions many thousands of years ago, and a deep red color. When dry, the soil forms a very fine dust that covers every plant and other objects close to the road.

Every car creates a dust cloud; the bushes along the main road are coated with a thick, red blanket

In Karatu, a bigger town, the monthly market is happening. People are making their way toward the market from far

Orchids grow abundant

and wide, on foot or by bicycle. For a while we wonder where they are all going, since they are heading our way, but after we pass Karatu, and everyone is headed in the opposite direction, their destination is obvious.

Slowly the cultivated fields give way to ancient forests. A deep green surrounds us, and hides the deep crevices around which the road curves as we climb higher and higher. The trees -crotons, acacias, albizias- are enormous, growing dozens of meters tall, and their crowns are dense. The undergrowth is just as thick, with ferns and mosses growing in the damper spots on the crevice floors. Long strands of bearded lichen hang from tree branches, evidence of the fog that often blankets the high top of the volcano.

The slopes of the Ngorongoro are covered with a dense forest

Finally we reach the crater's rim and get our first view of the caldera. The crater floor lies 500 meters below us.

The Ngorongoro caldera is 500 meters deep and some 20 kms across

And it's only with the help of binoculars that we can discern the elephants that wander on the fields on the bottom. The Ngorongoro crater is really a caldera, the collapsed cone of a volcano. It is also the largest unflooded volcano in the world, and the rim is unbroken, creating a perfect circle.

The entire Conservation Area covers 8,300 kmē, encompassing nine other volcanoes beside the Ngorongoro. The crater floor occupies a mere 3% of this area, 260 kmē.

To the west, the forest gives way to grasslands

The rim road winds through the forest

Most volcanoes have Maasai names but it is unclear where the name Ngorongoro came from. Several explanations are in existence, ranging from the name of a Maasai age set or a bell maker to the name of a defeated enemy.