History of the Ngorongoro Crater

It's the world's largest intact volcanic caldera. What that means is that the Ngorongoro Crater was once an enormous volcano, probably as high as (if not higher than) nearby Mount Kilimanjaro at a shade under 6 000 metres and formed during the tectonic turmoil that gave rise to the Great Rift Valley some 15 to 20 million years ago.

Some 2 million years ago however the volcano erupted in what must have been a cataclysmic explosion, particularly for the local hominids, evidence of whom dates back some 3 million years, and the volcano collapsed, forming the steep rimmed crater we see today.

The environment is a rich one, and the area shows evidence of hunter-gatherers being usurped by pastoralists some 2 or 3 thousand years ago, and there was a period of several centuries when various tribes jostled for control of the area - the Maasai appear to have been the ultimate winners.

It wasn't until the early 20th century that European settlers moved in and attempted to introduce commercial agriculture to the crater. Tourism quickly took over though, and by the 1930s the first lodge was built.

Originally part of the Serengeti National Park, the crater was accorded separate protection in 1956 to allow local Maasai tribesmen to graze their cattle. It was made a World Heritage Site in 1978.

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