The
Ngorogoro Conservation Area of 6,475 sq Km (2,500 sq Miles) was established
in 1959. The Crater is one of the most spectacular game haunts in Africa: it
is also one of the biggest craters, or more correctly calderas, in the world.
Over 14.5 Km (9 Miles) wide and 610-760 Km (2,000-2,500 Ft) Deep and covering
264 sq Km (102 sq Miles). The approach road at 2,286 m (7,500 Ft) skirts the
rim of the crater floor thousands of feet below. Entry into the crater is by
way of the Lerai Descent, an extremely steep and winding road down the slopes
of the crater wall- negotiable only by 4 wheel drive vehicle. The bottom is
open grassy plain with alternating fresh and brackish water lakes, swamps and
two patches of dense acacia woodland called the Lerai and Laindi Forests. Game
animals and birds are abundant inside the crater. All of the so-called 'Big
Five' may be seen. Elephants, Lion, Black Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus and Buffalo.
Other species encountered are Cheetah, Eland, Grant's and Thompsons Gazelles,
Common Zebra, Wildebeest, a superabundance of Hyaena, Hunting Dog and if you
are lucky Leopard. Among the notable Birds are Lammergeyer, Veraux's Eagle and
Egyptian Vulture which make their home in the highest cliffs of the crater wall:
the beautiful Rosy-breasted Longclaw, which appears on the plains after rains;
and flocks of lesser and Greater Flamingos which are spasmodic visitors to the
crater lakes. In the highland forest on the crater rim two sunbirds are especially
noticeable, the long tailed Golden-winged Sunbird and the smaller Eastern Double-collared
Sunbird. At dusk the Abyssinian Nightjar is often seen or heard. Accommodation
is available at the crater lodges on the crater rim near the Lerai entrance
road.
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The Serengeti
It was 1913 and great stretches of Africa were still unknown to the white man
when Stewart Edward White, an American hunter, set out from Nairobi. Pushing
south, he recorded: "We walked for miles over burnt out country... Then
I saw the green trees of the river, walked two miles more and found myself in
paradise." He had found Serengeti. In the years since White's excursion
under "the high noble arc of the cloudless African sky," Serengeti
has come to symbolize paradise to many of us. The Maasai, who had grazed their
cattle on the vast grassy plains for millennia had always thought so. To them
it was Siringitu - "the place where the land moves on forever." The
Serengeti region encompasses the Serengeti National Park itself, the Ngorongoro
Conservation Area, Maswa Game Reserve, the Loliondo, Grumeti and Ikorongo Controlled
Areas and the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Over 90,000 tourists visit
the Park each year. Two World Heritage Sites and two Biosphere Reserves have
been established within the 30,000 km² region. It's unique ecosystem has
inspired writers from Ernest Hemingway to Peter Mattheissen, filmakers like
Hugo von Lawick and Alan Root as well as numerous photographers and scientists.
The Serengeti ecosystem is one of the oldest on earth. The essential features
of climate, vegetation and fauna have barely changed in the past million years.
Early man himself made an appearance in Olduvai Gorge about two million years
ago. Some patterns of life, death, adaptation and migration are as old as the
hills themselves. It is the migration for which Serengeti is perhaps most famous.
Over a million wildebeest and about 200,000 zebras flow south from the northern
hills to the southern plains for the short rains every October and November,
and then swirl west and north after the long rains in April, May and June. So
strong is the ancient instinct to move that no drought, gorge or crocodile infested
river can hold them back. The Wildebeest travel through a variety of parks,
reserves and protected areas and through a variety of habitat. Join us to explore
the different forms of vegetation and landscapes of the Serengeti ecosystem
and meet some of their most fascinating inhabitants.
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Lake Manyara National Park covers an area of
only 318 sq Km (123 sq Miles), but its terrain is so diverse that its mammal
and bird lists are most impressive. The Park includes the Northern and most
of the Western parts of the Lake and its shores with a Westward expansion to
the top of the Rift Valley wall where the Lake Manyara Hotel is situated. Large
areas of groundwater forest with giant Fig and Mahogany trees alternate with
acacia woodland and more open places, all well watered. A network of roads and
tracks gives the visitor maximum game and bird viewing opportunities. The tree
climbing Lions of Manyara are famous for this form of behaviour. It is probably
due to a combination of the need to avoid dense undergrowth and a search for
cool shade. Probably lions have found that in an arboreal resting place the
torment of biting flies is less. Numbers of Elephants are resident in the park,
Buffalo are common and herds of 300-400 have been recorded, Black Rhinocerous
are very uncommon. Leopards occur in most places and it is not unusual to come
across them in the early morning or late evening: like the Lions, they may be
seen resting in the trees. Manyara is noted for it's wealth of birdlife. At
all times the Lake is visited by many thousands of Lesser Flamingos, together
with a sprinkling of the larger species. Maccoa Ducks and white backed Ducks
are resident and the beautiful Pygmy Goose is sometimes observed. The Chestnut-Banded
Sand-Plover is found on the mudflats and sandy areas. In addition there over
30 species of prey bird including the Palm-nut Vulture and Ayre's and Crowned
Hawk Eagles.
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