Ngorongoro Crater (2,686 m) is the largest unbroken crater in the world, and is often referred to as the 8th wonder of the world. Framed by sheer walls up to 610 m above the crater floor, this huge amphitheater measures 16 to 21 km in diameter and has an area of 259 square km. It's a stunning phenomenon. "One cannot properly describe the crater", wrote Prof. Grzimek, "because there is nothing comparable".
In this Garden of Eden, which can be reached by four-wheel drive vehicles, there are around 25,000 large game animals such as elephants, buffalo, zebras, wildebeest, gazelles and giraffes. Monkeys and the insatiable predators such as cheetahs, hyenas and black-maned lions can be observed in their natural environment. More than 150 bird species that do not exist in the Serengeti can be found here: ostriches, crested cranes and countless flamingos, which lay a pink carpet over the salt lake, enchant the viewer. A highlight of visiting the crater is, of course, spotting one of the rare black rhinos. While in the 1960s hundreds of their kind still lived in the crater, poaching has reduced the number of critically endangered "black rhinos" to about 20 animals.
