Following a Presidential directive after the last visit by President Kikwete of Tanzania to the site of the Laitoli footprints in Ngoronogro, work has already begun to find a way to uncover the footprints and safely display them in perpetuity for all Tanzanians and international visitors. Scientists from Dar Es Salaam University have been researching the site extensively along with invited international consultants so as to protect the footprints, once uncovered, from damage.

As also noted by President Kikwete during his frequent visits to Tanzania’s protected areas, there is a shortage of accommodation to fulfill the needs of our growing tourism industry. The Tanzanian Tourism Master Plan aims to reach one million tourists by 2010, with this in mind, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area has selected and designated more sites for development of both hotels and tented camps. To utilize other areas apart from the crater rim, these sites are situated in some of the most spectacular scenery of the conservation area, which will give our visitors the chance to enjoy even more pristine and rarely visited places. Where ever one travels throughout the conservation area, the different habitats and their attending varied species of bird and wildlife, offer the Ngorongoro visitor a unique experience.

At the moment, with dry season coming to an end, the hardy residents of the dry and dusty plains supply plenty of excitement and enjoyable animal watching to the visitors among which have lately been well known politicians and VIP’s.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson declared himself “delighted with the multiple uses of the Ngorongoro resources” when he visited in June for the Sullivan Summit. All of the participants of The Summit enjoyed the safaris to The Conservation Area and several leaders of African countries went home to spread the word.

During these months of winter, one descends through cloud cover in the mornings to the sun filled crater floor. The soda lake is rimmed with a white soda crust offset by the pink of the flamingo population which travels along all The Rift Valley soda lakes in this season.

The huge tuskers of the crater spend long days in the swamps feeding off the “elephant” grass accompanied by, as always, glorious flocks of cattle egrets. Rhinos often surprise visitors by simply rising from their mid-day resting places and standing directly by safari vehicles.

The road from the main Loduare entrance gate through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area has been cleared of landslides which occurred because of huge unseasonable rain falls and is vastly improved for easy travel. Olduvai Gorge which hosts scientists during the summer breaks of the American universities, from Dar es Salaam and Rutgers Universities, is thrilling the scientific world with extremely valuable and interesting finds each season.

September/October 2008
Ngorongoro. Tanzania.

2,286 meters above sea level, one can drive almost all the way around the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, the largest unbroken caldera in the world.

The steep walls rising from the crater floor that covers an area of about 260 square kilometers are no deterrent to the continual movement of animals that utilize the different habitats of the crater.
A declared World Heritage Site, the crater itself is nestled within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area which covers an area of more than 8,000 square kilometers encompassing The Northern Highlands, extinct and active volcanoes, Olduvai Gorge, world famous fossil site of early homids and the extensive short grass plains which are an integral part of the Serengeti eco-system.