The Ngorongoro Crater, situated 2,286 meters above sea level, is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. Surrounded by very steep walls rising 61 0 meters from the crater floor, this natural amphitheatre covers an area of about 260 square km and is home for up to 25,000 larger mammals, almost half of these being zebra and wildebeest. Gazelle, buffalo, eland, hartebeest and warthog are also to be found. Such vast numbers attract plenty of predators and lion and hyena are easily spotted, while cheetah and leopard are a bit more difficult to find.
The late Professor Bernhard Grzimek wrote in his introduction to the Ngorongoro guidebook: “It is impossible to give a fair description of the crater, for there is nothing with which one con compare it. It is one of the wonders of the world.”