A short trip down the road and one will
encounter the "Shifting Sands". This is
volcanic sand formed into a dune, and drifts along in
its exact same shape down a large plain forced forward
by continuous winds. These sands have religious
significance to Maasai, and its progress has been
marked back as far as 1969.
The beauty of the area cannot be put
into words. From ancient volcanic activity, all around
one can see hills, mountains, kopjes and plains. From
the rim of the crater one can see to the Southeast,
Oldeani Mountain. Water collects in the mountain's
ragged crater and flows down into Lake Eyasi. On the
northern side, one will come across Makarut Mountain,
with Sadiman on its shoulder. Makarut can be seen as a
landmark from anywhere in the Serengeti plains.
Sadiman Mountain is an old volcano whose ash preserved
the Laetoli footprints. Another mountain to the north
is Olmoti. Rainwater is also caught in here, and feeds
the Mandusi Swamp, which in turn feeds Lake Makat, in
the center of the Ngorongoro Crater. From the rim of
another crater called Empakaai, one can see the
striking cone of Tanzania’s most recent and still
active volcano, Oldoinyo Lengai. The last eruption of
the volcano was in 1983.
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You can almost touch the animals
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As NCA is not a National Park, hiking trails are
permitted in the area and range from 2 – 7 days.
Please contact
us for more details should you require them.
Visitors often pay the ultimate compliment to
Ngorongoro Crater, saying, "It’s like a
zoo". With such a large variety and amount of
animals roaming freely in such a relatively confined
space means the conservation efforts are working, and
also indicates that there is no poaching, as animals
are not afraid of human activity. This area is a must
for your northern circuit safari.
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