The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a protected area and a World Heritage Site located 180km (110 mi) west of Arusha in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania. The area is named after Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic caldera within the area. The Ngorongoro crater formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed two to three million years ago. The volcanic eruptions like that of Ngorongoro, which resulted in the formation of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, were very common. Similar collapses occurred in the case of Olmoti and Empakaai, but they were much smaller in magnitude and impact.
The main activity is game drives in the Ngorongoro Crater floor, a vast expanse where animal activity is commonplace Approximately 25,000 large animals, mostly ungulates, live in the crater. Wildlife in the crater includes the black rhino, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, the common eland, Grant's, Thomson's gazelles, Waterbucks, lions, hippos, crocodiles.
Game viewing within the Ngorongoro Crater is excellent throughout the year. However, the best time to visit the park is in the dry season which starts in June to September since you can see several animals. As the parks dry out, the bushes become less dense and the animals are easier to spot because of this, but also because they are forced to congregate to the remaining water holes.
The rainy/wet season in Ngorongoro Crater is characterized by short rains from November to December, with long rains falling from February to April. The lows of the rainy season are that the roads are slippery, the grass is overgrown thus hard to easily spot wild game, and the rains fall quite often though seldom throughout the day. The rainy season is also the low season of travel.
The pros of the wet season, that some travelers do consider the wet season the best time to visit Ngorongoro Crater, is that the lush green brings life to the park and thus quite scenic. Also, the wet season is a low season so there are fewer travelers resulting in low or no crowds then, rates of especially accommodation in Ngorongoro Crater are reduced. The wet season is the best time to visit Ngorongoro Crater for travelers after a budget safari in Tanzania.