The road from Ngurdoto Gate to the crater divides and leads to the northern and southern edges. The left hand road is steeper and takes you to Leitong, the highest point of the crater rim. The right hand road also leads to observation points and picnic sites. Both roads can be slippery in the wet season when four-wheel drive is often needed. Black rough-wing swallows and cinnamon-chested bee-eaters nest in holes in the roadside banks, and may often be seen coming and going.
From any of the observation points, such as Mikindu Point, the view of the crater, stretching 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from rim to rim, is spectacular. The bottom of the crater is at an altitude of 1,474 meters (4,836 feet) and is an ideal place for buffaloes with good grazing, permanent water and convenient mud wallows. The crater is in effect a reserve within a reserve as no one is allowed to go down into it, but you may notice well marked trails, which are used by the animals to ascend and descend.
Mikindu Point is named after the wild date palms that grow precariously on the crater wall. The ones growing here are now elegant palms, but it took some years for them to develop from a trunkless clump of fronds. Interestingly palms, unlike trees, have only one growing point, which means that the palm will die if this point is damaged.
The snowy peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) Africa's highest mountain, can often be observed from here. The higher rounded peak is that of Kibo, while the smaller jagged peak of Mawenzi is separated from the main massif by a saddle. Like many of the mountains in this region, Kilimanjaro is an extinct volcano.
Because of the damp misty atmosphere here, mosses, ferns, orchids and lichens flourish. Mosses and ferns have no flowers but are propagated by spores. The beard-like lichens that hang from the trees are a strange combination of fungus and algae in such intimate association that the combination is classified as a distinct species. They are not parasitic but merely perch on their hosts.
The commonly seen pink-flowered ground plant is balsam, Impatiens papilionacea, sometimes called "touch-me-not" because the ripe seed-pods explode when touched. During the dry season, from June to November, sheets of yellow stonecrop (Crassulaceae sp.) cover the trunks of the larger trees, while scarlet globular fire-ball lilies flower in shady damp places during the period December to February.
Leitong at 1,853 (6,079 feet) is the highest point on the rim of the crater, with fine views of surrounding countryside and the Momela Lakes in the distance. The agricultural settlement that can be seen bordering the Park is a reminder of how vulnerable protected areas in Africa are to increasing human numbers and demand for land.
Several birds soar high on updraughts of warm air around the crater rim. The Verreaux's eagle is a large black eagle with the center of the back and rump white. These magnificent raptors nest in large nests on cliff edges at the beginning of the rainy season. A smaller bird is the white-necked raven, which is entirely black except for a crescent-shaped white patch on the back of its neck. The peregrine falcon is a bird of prey recognized by its streamlined build and pointed wings, as well as its dark brown crown and black mustache patches.
As the two tracks around the crater do not join up, it is necessary to retrace your route back to Ngurdoto Gate before exploring more of the Park.
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