Isolated from the plains below, the vast volcanic crater is a high-rise wildlife haven, abundant in all kinds of animals.

Mention the name “Ngorongoro Crater” to any nature lover who has been there, he will have no fine words to describe this “Africa’s Garden of Eden”. In short, it is breath-taking in its beauty.

Cloaked in a tangle of ragged vegetation, the steep flanks of this ancient extinct volcano in northern Tanzania give little indication of what lies within its crater’s walls.

At the crest of the crater’s rim, there is a breathtaking change of scenery. The land plunges into a hazy void, sloping down to form a huge, pastel-shaded dish. At first it is hard to adjust to the giddying immensity of the space.

Technically, a volcanic crater that is produced by a volcanic explosion or collapse is known as a caldera. NGORONGORO is the world’s sixth largest caldera - about 18km across and roughly circular.

The NGORONGORO CRATER (meaning big hole) is about 190 kilometers west of Arusha, in the northern part of Tanzania. It is reached via the Arusha-Serengeti road in a spectacular three to four hours drive which takes the visitor to the base of the Great Rift Wall past the entrance to the Lake Manyara National Park and then to the Bbulu Plateau, past the Karatu wheat, maize and coffee farms, through the temperate forest up to Heroes point (2286) at which the visitor first views the crater at the end of the ascent from Lodoare Gate, and finally along the Crater rim.

Dark flecks pepper the crater floor; only when these begin to drift cloudlike into ever-changing formations does it become clear what they actually are - thousands of grazing wildebeests and zebras. Suddenly a wave of movement stirs the pools as the pink smudges take to the air, wheel, and then resettle on the water. They are immense flocks of flamingos, which congregate in the shallow crater lake.

One of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa - an estimated 30 000 animals - is to be seen on the crater’s 100sq mile (260sq km) floor. Naming NGORONGORO’S animals sounds like reading a checklist for photographers on safari.

There are some 50 different species of large mammals, including lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, giraffes, various antelopes such as elands and impala, vervet monkeys, baboons, warthogs and hyenas. There are also more than 200 species of birds, including ostriches, ducks and guinea fowl.

Effectively, the crater is a small-scale version of the wildlife of East Africa, raised to the heavens as if in the palm of some smiling god’s hand.

Unlike the animals of the Serengeti Plain to the west, which migrate annually in search of water and fresh pastures, most of the Ngorongoro animals stay in the crater throughout the year - there is water available even in the dry season. Two springs and two rivers - the Munge and Lonyokie - feed this ecological paradise.

NGORONGORO’S self-containment is a boon to the international scientific community, and for many years zoologists and others have come to study the wildlife here and its uniquely poised ecosystem.

A few animals leave the crater each year along the ancient tracks leading over the rim. They join the dry-season migrations on plains below the crater, and later return. These migrating animals are only a small percentage of the total, but they do expose NGORONGORO’S wildlife to the genetic pool of the world beyond.

The graceful, dignified Masai, with their reddened hair and rust-coloured robes knotted at the shoulder, are part of the magic of NGORONGORO. The soft footfall of a Masai herder-warrior, the rustle of sun-bleached grasses, the acrid scent of animal life, all contribute to the air of timelessness that hangs over this age-old landscape.

Return air tickets Johannesburg / Dar-es-Salaam / Nairobi are more or less R3 300. Various tour operators cater for the game reserves of Tanzania and Kenya.