Ngorongoro Crater

About Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is a collapsed volcano in northern Tanzania, about 180 km west of Arusha, and it is the centrepiece of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. Its floor covers about 260 km² and lies some 610 m below the rim, at around 1,800 m above sea level. Roughly 25,000 large animals live inside, most of them grazers such as wildebeest, zebra and buffalo, so a single game drive covers a remarkable amount of wildlife in a small space. The volcano collapsed two to three million years ago, and the crater is often described as the largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera in the world. What keeps the animals here is water. The Lerai Stream drains the forest on the southern wall, the Munge Stream runs in from Olmoti Crater to the north, and the Ngoitokitok Spring feeds a large swamp near the eastern wall. Lake Magadi, a shallow soda lake in the south-west of the crater, often holds thousands of lesser flamingos. The crater is one of the places in Tanzania where black rhino can still be seen on open grassland. Numbers fell from about 108 in the mid-1960s to just 13 in 1993 and had recovered to around 55 by 2018. Your guide will scan the open plains and the edges of the Lerai forest for them, though they're never guaranteed. Maasai still live and graze their cattle in the wider conservation area, but they have been restricted from grazing on the crater floor since 2015. You will often pass their herds and homesteads on the drive up to the rim. Springs and swamps feed the floor in every season, so the crater is worth visiting in any month. June to October is dry and clear, with good visibility across the floor. The rains from November to May turn everything green, and the crater walls are at their most dramatic under heavy cloud. Most visitors spend half a day or a full day on the crater floor. We aim to go down early in the morning, when the light is soft and fewer vehicles have arrived, and we pack a picnic for lunch beside one of the water sources. The crater is part of most of our northern circuit safaris, including the 6 Days Soul of Tanzania Safari, and it sits naturally on the road between Lake Manyara and the Serengeti. One night on the rim or in the highlands nearby is the minimum; two give you a full day for the crater without a long drive at either end. Several lodges stand on the rim itself. Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge is built into the western rim in river stone, with balconies looking straight down into the caldera. Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge is one of the oldest lodges on the rim, with wide windows over the floor. We also book Ngorongoro Crater Lodge and Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. We pick the lodge to suit your budget and the rest of your route.