{"id":23909,"date":"2022-09-22T14:00:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T18:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=23909"},"modified":"2022-12-29T16:44:45","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T21:44:45","slug":"squiggles-on-the-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=23909","title":{"rendered":"Squiggles On The Map"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Lou Burton posting from Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania<\/em>\u2013 This is about the NCA. Remember that map I bought at the Visitor Center? At the end of that overbooked day when Ben lectured so long we were two hours late getting to the Lodge? Well, truth be told, I didn\u2019t retain much of what he said, but I have since been studying my $6 topographical map. So brace yourself to listen, here are some fascinating facts about \u201cwhere I am.\u201d\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (hereafter referred to as NCA) in northern Tanzania was established 63 years ago (1959). It is an extension of the Serengeti (where we\u2019re headed today). Seasonally, up to 2.5 million antelope, zebra, buffalo and wildebeests move around these two areas. The NCA is a UNESCO Mixed World Heritage Site and an International Man and Biosphere Reserve, and is often referred to as the 8th<\/sup> Wonder of the World.<\/p>\n

Size:<\/strong> NCA covers over 3,200 square miles of Africa\u2019s wildlife, people, and archaeological sites. The heart of the NCA, the Ngorongoro Crater, with an area of 100 square miles and walls rising to a height of 2,000 feet, is the world\u2019s largest intact volcanic caldera.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wildlife:<\/strong> NCA, together with Serengeti National Park and other areas supporting the Serengeti ecosystem, supports the greatest concentration of wildlife on Earth. From June through October, the Serengeti Plains are dry, bare and dusty. From November through May, the rainy season, they turn lush green and millions of animals flood this rich pasture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>People:<\/strong> Over the past few thousand years, a succession of cattle-herding people colonized this area from the North. The Maasai arrived about 300 years ago from Ethiopia, coming down the Nile River. Today, approximately 64,000 Maasai pastoralists live in the area with their cattle, donkeys, goats and sheep.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Activities in the Area:<\/strong> Walking, camping, and game viewing safaris. Cultural tourism experiences among Maasai and Hadzabe tribes. Visits to archaeological findings at Olduvai Gorge.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Olduvai Gorge<\/strong> (Oldupai = Maasai spelling<\/em>) is the historic place where Mary and Louis Leakey unearthed a jawbone in 1959, which pushed back the beginning of human evolution well past the 1.5 million year mark. The different kinds of hominids found here show a gradual increase in brain size and in the complexity of their stone tools. The Oldupai Museum is open daily at the Gorge, where visitors can learn more details of this fascinating story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We pass through Olduvai Gorge on our way to Mbuzi Mawe Serena Tented Camp today, but with an 80+ -mile-drive on rutted dirt roads ahead, I\u2019m guessing we won\u2019t stop at the Museum. I\u2019m listing interesting sites I see on the NCA map; you can check Google maps too. We have to travel along the Crater\u2019s rim before beginning our descent; we\u2019ll pass the Senato Gate which controls the Senato Descent Road into the Crater (Rick doesn\u2019t remember if that\u2019s the one they took). We\u2019ll pass by Loonguku and Kiloko Cultural Bomas, all in the Oldupai Gorge; we\u2019ll pass the road leading to Oldupai Museum, the Leakey Camp Research Station, Archeological Excavations, and Archeological Camp near Naiprosuet Hill. Then we enter the Serengeti Plain and Serengeti National Park. At the moment, all of this is just squiggles on a map. By tonight, they\u2019ll be places I\u2019ve been. Or at least, passed by.<\/p>\n

Alphabetical Listing of More NCA Things To See<\/strong><\/p>\n