Destination
Ngorongoro Crater
A collapsed caldera twenty kilometres across, with the densest population of large mammals in Tanzania on its floor.
What is actually there
Around 25,000 large animals inside 260 square kilometres, including one of the few places in the country where black rhino are seen with any regularity. Lion, elephant, buffalo, hippo and enormous flocks of flamingo on Lake Magadi.
Why half a day is usually enough
The floor is small and the game is concentrated, which means you see a great deal quickly. After about five hours you are looking at the same animals from a different angle. We build a dawn descent and a late-morning climb-out, and use the time saved elsewhere.
When to go
Year-round. The crater holds water and game through the dry season, so unlike the plains it does not empty. Mornings on the rim are genuinely cold — bring a layer nobody warns you about.
Departures that go here
Ways to see Ngorongoro Crater
3 days · 2 nights
3-Day Serengeti & Ngorongoro Safari
Serengeti · Ngorongoro
The shortest itinerary that actually reaches the Serengeti instead of spending itself on the road. Two nights out, one full day on the plains, and the…
4 days · 3 nights
4-Day Tarangire, Manyara & Ngorongoro Safari
Tarangire · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro
The northern circuit without the Serengeti drive. Elephants in Tarangire, the groundwater forest at Manyara, and a full morning on the crater floor.…
5 days · 4 nights
5-Day Northern Circuit Safari
Tarangire · Serengeti · Ngorongoro
Tarangire, two nights in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. The point of the fifth day is that you stop packing every morning.…
Questions
What people ask
Will we see rhino?
Often, usually at distance across the floor. Nobody can promise it.
Is the crater part of the Serengeti?
No. It sits in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which is separately administered by the NCAA and separately charged.
Plan it