Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro is a great place to spot African wildlife, mainly because all the animals are "locked" into a small place. While all the wildebeasts in the Serengeti wander off to Kenya once a year, all the animals in Ngorongoro live there all the year around. The opportunity to see dramatic lion hunts or similar is bigger than in Serengeti. In other words you can probably spot more animals in shorter time than you will in Serengeti, which of course is much, much bigger.

African Garden of Eden

Ngorongoro Crater is a thrilling safari destination. Meeting the crater is love at first sight - a steep winding drive up a mountain rewarded by a breathtaking view of the crater in all its glory. This birds eye view of the crater is very dramatic - the expanse of the crater can be appreciated, as well as the many habitats within it, vaguely delineated by the changes in color on the crater floor akin to a patchwork quilt. We arrived at the crater in the late afternoon and settled into our hotel on the rim for the evening. Out of the 6 hotels at which we stayed during our trip, I would say the one here was our least favorite. It was a beautiful lodge with a great view of the crater from our room, but the lodge feeling made it seem more like a traditional hotel, whereas our other accommodations throughout the trip were luxurious tents or separate huts, etc., that had more of an exclusive, remote vibe consistent with our surroundings. Our guide recommended we start our day exploring the crater at 6 AM to maximize our chances of seeing the elusive black rhino. When we entered the crater as the sun was rising, we felt like we were transported to a different planet. Our early start time was rewarded by a rhino sighting right off the bat. It is awe-inspiring to see such an endangered species in its natural habitat. We then spent the majority of the day driving throughout the crater, oohing and ahhing over the endless animal sightings - Thompson's gazelle, Cape buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, hippos, elephants, lions, hyenas, jackals, countless bird species, etc. My favorite moment in the crater was when our guide picked a spot for our picnic breakfast. He set up a table and chairs by a watering hole and we sat amongst a herd of zebras grazing and drinking. It was a surreal moment, as if we had been placed in the middle of television documentary footage. Toward the afternoon the crater became more crowded and we had covered most of the roads, so our guide decided it was time to move on to our next destination, the Serengeti. Driving back up to the rim of the crater, I couldn't help but look over my shoulder at the crater, surprised again at its massive expanse.

Quite scenic and lots of wild animals to see

Our trip to the Ngorongoro Crater was fantastic!

Our trip to and stay at the Ngorongoro Crater was a very good part of our overall safari experience. This was our second stay at a high altitude lodge on our trip, so we were prepared for the temperature differential between the base of the crater and the rim. The varying terrain at the crater was fascinating, and there was a larger variety of wildlife than we originally anticipated. The accommodations we had were great - we stayed at the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge and I would highly recommend it. Our room looked out on the crater from the top of the rim, and we even had a few Waterbuck grazing right outside of our room early in the evening! Our guide was part of Grumeti Expeditions, and was very knowledgeable about the crater and the general area.

Overall, I would highly recommend including the Ngorongoro Crater as part of an overall safari package.

Beautiful scenery

The scenery and wildlife in the Crater was truly breathtaking. As a hobbyist photographer, the early morning clouds with the sunrise creates a really unique photo ops for you landscape photographers. Wildebeasts are abundant in the park, but watching them on the move or stampeding is really a site to behold. We almost checked off all of the Big 5 except the Rhino. This seemed to be the most elusive to track down in the park, so was a bit disappointed - but that does not take away from the overall experience visiting Ngorongoro. I would highly recommend this park to anyone planning a safari.

we were a bit unlucky .. it was a bit cloudy and cold .. not too many cats but a lot a lot of wildebeast and buffaloes .. we might give it another try coming back from Serengeti as it is on the way!!

Destination of rare beauty

Let me start with saying that the Ngorngoro crater to me - was the highlight of our entire African experience. And this includes the Serengetti reservation and a few days on the beaches of Zanzibar.
We stayed at the Simba camping ground at Ngorongoro national reserve, which offers decent commodities - fair amount of bathrooms and showers for the amount of people that stayed there with us, also providing streaming water throughout the entire day. Another important fact - the water at Ngorongoro is said to be drinkable, since it's pumped from mountain-side springs. We did use the water for drinking and experienced zero side effects.
The beauty of the crater is built from several aspects - it being a high ground (allows experiencing night sky like never before and having chilly weather throughout the year), covered in green vegetation at the peaks and naturally surrounding a marvelous open area within.
It's great to watch all the animals inside the crater, walking freely, slowly moving from one source of food to the other. While in the Seregeti you'll encounter mostly savannas, in the Ngorongoro crater you can cross various types of terrain within a couple of hours - from high mountain peaks covered in green vegetation, to salt lakes, streams, river, fresh lakes and savannas.
I wish I'd have stayed several days at the Ngorongoro crater instead of just a single day.

I wasn't that keen on the crater at first- it seems almost like a zoo. But it is spectacularly beautiful and loaded with great mammals. Birding could be great if you had the money and time to really go after it, but that's not possible for most visitors.

The density of wildlife was overwhelming and seeing two rhinos was the highlight of that spot.

A fantastic eco-system/ geological feature. Enjoyed our visit and glad we did it. Would not return, far too crowded for our liking, could have been in a safari park in the U.K. Actually saw a speeding safari vehicle collide with and kill a Bat-eared Fox. (Sorry wildlife you certainly deserve better). Stayed at Kitela Lodge, a beautiful facility, we were virtually the only guests staying not sure why. Would recommend, but ensure you leave early for The Crater. We entered The Crater at 07.00 and possibly enjoyed an hour before it got busy.