Ngorongoro Crater

Another crown jewel and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. NgoroNgoro Crater holds a special place in Africa as the only self contained eco system within the crater! Rhinos, Lions, Leopards, Cape Buffalo and Elephant - The Big Five in one eco system within the Crater along with hundreds of birds and other species.

An iconic safari destination

Ngorongoro Crater (acually a caldera) is one of those must see destinations in Africa for is scenic beauty, the wonderful lodges (I stayed at the high end %Beyond Safari Lodge), and the concentrations of wildlife. I was there at the start of the rainy season so the numbers of vehicles was not as high as it gets during the dry season when it can become too crowded. The wildlife are more disperse during this season when the caldera is full of green grasses, so you need a big lens (I was mostly using my 200-500 mm lens), compared to the dry season when they concentrate around the water holes. The resident rhinos, in particular, can be quite far away. Since you can't go off-road as is possible in other locations, it means that the wildlife can a bit distant, but some good close sightings are still possible since the animals there are very acclimatized to vehicles. In my 3 days there (1 day in a private car, self guided) I got some really great shots, but relied heavily on my big lens. Since the lodges are on the rim and at around 8000 feet, the nights are cool and refreshing, and even during the day the caldera floor was not overly hot. The &Beyond food and guides was/were, as with all their locations, nothing short of superb. The caldera has no cheetah, crocodiles, giraffes, and leopards are rarely seen.

Great wildlife but didn't feel natural

Most likely wouldn't have written this if it wasn't for my mixed feelings. I'm glad I went there as a Tanzania safari is not complete with visiting the crater but it doesn't come even close to Serengeti. Yes, a lot of people complain about it being crowded with tourists but that wasn't the only problem. Seeing the Masai and their cattle right next to the wildebeest and zebras was also strange. Add to this the fact that the place is a small, very open enclosure hemmed in by mountains on all sides and you end up losing that "jungle" vibe that you get when you visit Serengeti or Tarangire.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's an excellent place to see wildlife-but the combination of geographic and human factors just make it feel like too much of a zoo.

A once in a lifetime experience

Our visit to Ngorongoro crater was in the middle of a safari trip from Arusha to Serengeti and back but we can say it was the high point of the trip, an amazing experience with such an scenery and amazing will life, you can not miss the Ngorongoro National Park if you visit Tanzania. Our accommodation was at the Rhino Lodge and it was a must, highly recommended!

Beautiful, Densely Packed With Diverse Wildlife (and people)

Ngorongoro Crater was absolutely beautiful. The view from the rim down into the crater was great, and the diversity and density of wildlife in the crater was stunning. Climbing down the crater wall you see out across the fields of the crater and there are herds of antelope, wildebeest, zebra and buffalo as far as the eye can see. It was incredible to see all of the animals flourishing in such close proximity to one another; at any given point when we were stopped to view some particular animal there were countless others we could see from the same location.

The only downside was that with this density comes also a density of people; there were cars simply everywhere. It did not detract from the experience overly much but it was certainly crowded.

One of the most beautiful places we have ever visited - sunrise overlooking the crater was spectacular

A Completely Different Safari Experience

We visited Ngorongoro crater as the 4th step on our 9 day Tanzania safari. We had previously visited lake Manyara, Seronara region of the Serengeti and Ndutu lake, we had seen lions, cheetah, leopard, elephant, giraffe and an abundance of antelope. Plus, plentiful migrating wildebeest and zebra. What was left to see in the crater, black rhino?
We stayed at the Lemala so it was a short ride down into the crater and as soon as we reached the crater floor we spotted a pair of old lions, brothers. Next there were a group of four brothers being intimidated by a herd of buffalo. They caught scent of the two brothers and started stalking them, roaring as they went. A bat-eared fox popped his head up to see what was going on. Continuing into the crater, we saw more lions including a pride of two mothers with six cubs, a secretary bird, grey-crowned cranes, elephants, and all the usual others. All these against the backdrop of the forested rim of the crater. What marks Ngorongoro out against the other regions we visited, apart from the density of wildlife, was its verdant nature. Being higher, it gets more rainfall so is green year round. We were warned against the number of safari vehicles but this was no more a problem than the other regions, possibly less so.
And we spotted two black rhino.

Beautiful separate wild world in our world.

I will never forget early morning cloud fall into the crater. The clearest view of wild animals in plains I saw on this Kenya-Tanzania trip. And finally, I saw real Simba at the end of my trip in Ngora Ngora crater (9th day). Highly recommending for wild life photographers.
...and of course, cup of hot tea in the hotel balcony in the sunset with all crater before you.

Amazing but also abit like Disney land, its almost too good to be true! You'll see the big 5 within an hour and the landscape is very dramatic. But its quite poor for birding and also feels abit enclosed and claustrophobic compared to other parks.

Lovely area, fantastic views, plenty of big cats.