Ngorongoro is a volcano that fell in on itself. Millions of years ago, a mountain as high as Kilimanjaro erupted and collapsed, leaving a caldera about twenty kilometres across, whose floor is some six hundred metres below the rim, and it is one of the largest unbroken calderas in the world. The crater floor holds grassland, a soda lake, springs and a patch of fever-tree forest, and it supports around twenty-five thousand large animals, including wildebeest, zebra, lions, hyenas, elephants, buffalo and some of the last black rhino in East Africa.
The conservation area around the crater is a living landscape. Maasai pastoralists graze their cattle, sheep and goats on the highlands, as they have for generations, and you will see herders in red cloaks beside the roads. To the north-west, Olduvai Gorge is where Mary and Louis Leakey found early human fossils, and at Laetoli, further south, a trail of footprints left by human ancestors some three and a half million years ago was preserved in volcanic ash. UNESCO has listed the area for both its nature and its human story.
The approach from Arusha is a long ride through farmland and the town of Karatu to the park gate, with good tarmac and a steady climb to the rim at over 2,200 metres. The air at the rim is cold, and mist and cloud are common, so bring warm clothes and a waterproof. The road along the rim is gravel, with a few hairpins, and a descent into the crater is made by a steep track that is generally limited to four-wheel-drive vehicles with a ranger. Check in advance whether motorcycles are permitted in the conservation area, as rules may restrict them, and expect to pay fees at the gate.
Fuel is available at Karatu and Arusha, and there is little beyond the gate, so fill up before you ascend. Lodges on the rim offer meals and rooms with views across the crater.
The dry months from June to October give the best wildlife viewing and the most reliable roads.