Ngorongoro Crater

Gorgeous landscape, wide variety of animals in impressive herds, up close encounters with lions.

A breathtaking journey to a magical place with a surprise around every corner

The night before our visit to Ngorongoro National Park , my partner and I had booked a stay at the secluded Kiruruma Tented Lodges after a visit to Lake Manyara National Park. We had arranged this through our hotel in Moshi and were not prepared for what we found. A must! We were given a warm welcome by the staff there and were met with drinks at the entrance. We were then taken down a series of pathways, through the natural flora to our lodge. It was beautifully designed in every detail and luxuriously furnished to a standard we hadn't expected. Each lodge is set away from the next and is perched on the hillside with stunning, uninterrupted views of the Serengeti from its veranda . Ours was called 'Kilimanjaro'. The staff were already aware that we had climbed the mountain 2 days before but we never found out if this was a coincidence or by design. Everything about our stay was outstanding: the food in the thatched restaurant, the friendly and efficient service and of course our accommodation and a peaceful night's sleep.
Our driver, Chaz could not have been any more accommodating. He was very knowledgeable and could be relied upon to tell us about the culture, flora and forna of the area; occasionally pulling to a halt, en route to the reserve, to show us animals he had spotted (on one occasion Masai Giraffes). He had also advised us to make an early start to make the most of the day and we were so glad that he did. The Ngorongoro Crater itself is one of the natural wonders of the world and our first view of it was breathtaking, in its beauty and sheer scale! (260 square kms). We wound our way down the 600m to the crater floor. If you are an animal lover (or even if you are not) this is heaven! We saw everything we hoped to see and so much more. Chaz's keen eye spotted animals we would never have otherwise seen and he was always on hand to identify animals for us. On the day we went, the weather was warm and sunny and perfect for taking pictures or for seeing more elusive animals through our binoculars (like black rhino!). It was surprising how close we could get to wild animals in their natural environment: elephants, lions, wildebeest, zebras, hippos, buffalo, baboons, ostrich, hyaena, gazelles and so much more. All from the safety of the 4X4! We only had the 2 of us and our driver in the car and this allowed us a little more flexibility, I think. Chaz was always happy to stop when we asked him or drive to where we could view animals we had a particular interest in and he played a big part in making the trip so special and one we will never forget. A MUST for anyone who finds themselves in Tanzania!

A once in a lifetime experience.

We went to the Ngorongoro Crater in our own vehicle (on a self-drive safari) and it was a great experience. The roads are well kept, and the camping was excellent. We saw great sightings like a white rhino, lions in the forest and more antelope, zebra & gnu herds than you can shake a stick at. It's also wonderful seeing the Maasai with their herds in and around the crater, where they live.

An amazing and majestic experience that should be on everyone's bucketlist

Wildlife:
There isn't another place in the world where there are more wild animals per square miles as in this crater. Everywhere you look, you will see animals. What makes it more special is the amount of different animals that are living in this crater. There is a chance to see almost everything exept giraffes (they cant climb down the steep walls), cheeta's and leopards becouse of the territorial lions and huge amount of hyena's. For the lucky ones there is also a chance to see a glimp of the extremely endangered black rhino.

Scenery:
However the crater isn't big, there is a big variety of scenery. At first, when you drive down, you will see a kind of bush against the steep walls. On the floor there are two small forrests (good spots for elephant and birds), some small lakes and a river (good chance to see hippo's and grey crowned cranes), a salty lake full of minerals and of course the savanna.

Transportation:
The only way to visit this crater is by small jeeps. They are realy comforteble and have open roofs so you realy can see in any direction.
The roads are sandy and bumpy but thats the beauty of Africa.

Guide:
Our guide was a realy friendly person who had alot of knowledge of the African wildlife. They also know the greatest spots for observing animals. Just ask what you want to see and they will drive towards it.

Higlights:
1: There are two picknickspots in this game reserve where you have permission to leave the car. One is in a small forrest and another at one of the most beautiful lakes in Tanzania where you can observe some hippo's from a realy close but safely distance. There are also some special birds at picknickspot 2 like: great white pelican, african spooners and lesser flamingo.
2: If you are lucky then there is a chance to see some black maned lions or black rhino's at the savanna.
3: Viewpoint when you have left the crater. It's on top of the crater and if the sky is clear, you realy have a good view that's breathtaking.

The Ngorongoro crater has also lots of kind of birds. Especially in the forrests and at the small lakes. It also has the most biggest amount of grey crowned cranes that i have ever seen before. Sometimes in groups of 100 and more.

Also see: www.natuurfotografiestefan.jimdo.com for some beautiful images that i have taken in this crater and on my journey trough Kenya and Tanzania.

The are has been naturally well protected. Because the creter has been surrounded by the mountains and the wild like has been surrounded like in a natural pool. The guides and and the animals seem to have agreed in timing. Every morning during the animals breakfast the guides are driving the visitors to watch the game. Hyenas are almost ther at the same place every morning.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!!