You might have heard of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. As one of the most spectacular safari destinations in the world, it is just one part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which also includes the Ngorongoro Highlands.

The key feature of the area is the famous Ngorongoro Crater with its unique ecosystem and rich wildlife, but the Ngorongoro Highlands have an even larger natural diversity and can provide a variety of landscapes from high-altitude moorlands and wide open grasslands where the Maasai people graze their cattle, to dark green - and a little eerie - thick impenetrable rainforest.

The landscape here tells an ancient geological story. 

The Ngorongoro Highlands are a volcanic region shaped by major tectonic events that have caused extensive volcanism. Millions of years ago, this volcanic activity formed several volcanic craters in the northern parts of Tanzania.

This volcanic activity also resulted in a series of lakes known as soda lakes, one of which is named Lake Eyasi. A soda lake is a salty lake with a very high pH level. These are typically formed in dry volcanic areas where water flows in and has no way out. Evaporation happens quickly and leaves a high concentration of minerals behind. Lake Eyasi is one of these endorheic lakes, meaning it is a closed basin. It dries up significantly in the dry season and expands during the rainy season.

In the Ngorongoro Highlands there is a tented camp called Ngorongoro Wild Camp. After what seems like an endless bumpy drive along a narrow and slippery dirt road, when it feels like you've reached the edge of remoteness, you arrive at camp.

It consists of several buildings and permanent tents with private balconies, scattered around on the relatively steep hillside with a network of paved brick paths and stairs between them. 

I wondered why I felt a little out of breath after running up the stairs to my home for the night, and remembered that I was now 2000 metres above sea level.

The vegetation is thick and flourishing, and the smell of the forest after the recent rain shower fills the air. Between the trees, a stunning view towards Lake Eyasi opens up. The panorama is magnificent. The lake spreads like a huge blanket nearly 1000 meters below, colored in shifting shades of grey, blue, and yellow, depending on the weather and the time of day. 

If you ever find yourself at Ngorongoro Wild Camp, make sure you ask for a tent with a view, and that you have time to enjoy it.

At night, you might wake up to the sound of a zebra herd running through camp on the brick paths outside. Or maybe there is a leopard quietly wandering past your tent on the hunt for its next meal, which you'll probably neither hear nor see, though the Maasai on night watch may tell you all about it the next morning.