The day begins early — the crater gates open at 6 am, and the hour of first light on the caldera floor is the most important of any Ngorongoro game drive. This is when the black rhinoceros is most likely to be moving through the eastern acacia woodland, before the heat drives them into cover. The Ngorongoro Crater requires no introduction to most travelers, but it consistently exceeds expectations regardless of what has been read or seen. Within 260 km² of enclosed caldera, 25,000 animals live year-round: dense lion prides, bull elephants with the great tusks the species once commonly had, wildebeest and zebra in permanent residence, and hippo pools along the crater floor's seasonal waterways. A morning here covering the full range of the caldera, followed by lunch at a crater-floor picnic site overlooking the hippo pool, is one of the finest single days in East African wildlife. Overnight on the crater rim or on the outskirts of the Ngorongoro Forest.