Ngorongoro Crater

A truly magical experience, taking me hundreds of years back in time!

Ngorongoro crater is a truly special and unique place. I arrived at Ngorongoro close to sunset, pitched the tent and rested for the exciting day to come. 

On waking up early the next morning, the whole place was covered in fog. The slow descend from the 2100m peak to the bottom set the pace followed by an increase in my heart beat from emotions and expectations. As the 4WD went down and the mist slowly faded away, a feeling of time travel to the past filled the atmosphere.

Surprisingly, the first animals spotted were cows, taken care by Maasai farmers. As explained by our guide, they manage to live in harmony with the predators in the crater (apparently the Maasai rub the bodies of the cattle with a smelly protective herb in order to keep lions away.) What a surprise to witness cows and wild predators living so close to each other.

As the vehicle drove along the caldera roads, wildlife popped up like popcorns. In fact, this place has one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. 

Roaming along we came across ostriches, buffalos, wildebeests, zebras, elephants and many different birds. These are cool animals for first time safaris but the interesting game was yet to come. 

Lions were resting on the road and along the side of the road like true kings. Probably their last moments in the open before going away to rest for the day.

Lions are nocturnal and sleep up to 20 hours a day. One can tell they are nocturnal because the area below their eyes is white, just like leopards, to reflect moonlight. Cheetahs, on the other hand, hunt during the day and have black stripes to aid their vision.

We saw a lioness guiding her 4 cubs to safety in the tall grass before leaving for a hunt. It was impossible to tell where the cubs were just moments after their mother left them. We didn't follow the hunt and continued roaming in this nostalgic and amazing reserve until after lunch.

A truly magical time travelling experience, the ancient caldera definitely lives up to its name.

A must see.

The Crater is one of the most picturesque, enchanting sites that we have ever encountered.

Our first view of this area was absolutely breath-taking. The whole Ngorongoro Conservation Area is lush and green, but when we 1st saw the Crater, we could not believe how beautiful it was. A few days later, we worked our way down the embankment, & experienced a diverse range of wildlife, fauna and geography. We were also lucky enough to see a wildebeest give birth to a calf. The lodge just outside the Crater was also delightful. My wife and I are extremely glad we saw this site and highly recommend it to anyone else thinking about a safari.

A wonder of the world

The crater Ngonrongoro is one of those places on Earth that once in your life you must see. It seems to be almost a paradise for animals. In the same pool of water you can see a few meters away hyenass, warthogs, buffalos, elephantss, craness, wildebeests, gazelless, impala and more. Everything in this place is perfect including lodges.

Together with the Serengeti It is a must see for photographers and safari travelers

I had been to Tanzania 3 times and Kenya twice. Every trip is different depending on the time of year and the climate. The best time to visit the crater is March-April with the start of the rainy season. With the rain the grass becomes lush and green attracting herbivores, and they are followed by carnivores.

My last trip was in March 2015, and it was the best. Although it was dry and dusty, the wildlife was plentiful and more variety. The Ndutu lodge was wonderful and the safari vehicles with the guides and drivers were always helpful.

Ngorongoro crater is truly one of the gems of Africa. Together with the Serengeti National park It is a must see for photographers and safari travelers. It is a large volcanic caldera created by a super volcanic explosion 2.5 million years ago. The original volcano is estimated to have been about 5000 metres (19,000 feet) high. After the explosion it collapsed on itself and the floor of the crater now is 610 metres (2,000 feet) deep. Its floor area is massive covering 260 square kilometres (100 square miles). The crater floor is mostly open grassland with two small wooded areas dominated by Acacia trees. The area became a Unesco world Heritage site in 1979.

The main source of water is rain in the rainy season and numerous springs that feed a lake. Last year was unusually dry and dusty but there was a large variety of animals present. The crater was home to a healthy resident population of lions. I photographed elephants, hartebeest, hyenas, wildebeest and zebra. Cape Buffalo, eland and Thomson’s gazelle. The buffalo population has increased greatly as well as zebras, waterbucks, black rhinoceros, jackals, hippopotamus, Serval cats. The crater has many species of birds such as flamingoes, eagles, owls, weaver birds, cormorants, ibis and other water birds.

I was comfortable in safari vehicles with elevated roofs to allow photography. I stabilized the camera with a been bag, supplied by the guides. Accommodation was in a lodge on the rim. I found it clean and comfortable with a beautiful view; a good service and Western style food was provided. The staff, drivers and guides are friendly and always willing to please.

Together with the Serengeti park Ngorongoro is a must see for photographers and safari travelers

My last trip was in March 2015, and it was the best. Although it was dry and dusty, the wildlife was plentiful and more variety. The lodge was wonderful and the safari vehicles with the guides and drivers were always helpful.

Ngorongoro crater is truly one of the gems of Africa. Together with the Serengeti National park It is a must see for photographers and safari travelers. It is a large volcanic caldera created by a super volcanic explosion 2.5 million years ago. The original volcano is estimated to have been about 5000 metres (19,000 feet) high. After the explosion it collapsed on itself and the floor of the crater now is 610 metres (2,000 feet) deep. Its floor area is massive covering 260 square kilometres (100 square miles). The crater floor is mostly open grassland with two small wooded areas dominated by Acacia trees. The area became a Unesco world Heritage site in 1979.

The main source of water is rain in the rainy season and numerous springs that feed a lake. Because of the variety of animals present, the Ngorongoro Crater is a well known tourist attraction. It is home to a healthy resident population of most species of wildlife. particularly strong cheetah and lion populations. I photographed elephants, hartebeest, hyenas, wildebeest and zebra. Cape Buffalo, eland and Thomson’s gazelle. The buffalo population has increased greatly as well as zebras, waterbucks, black rhinoceros, jackals, hippopotamus, Serval cats. The crater has many species of birds such as flamingoes, eagles, owls, weaver birds, cormorants, ibis and other water birds.

I was comfortable in safari vehicles with elevated roofs to allow photography. Accommodation in the crater is widely available on the rim of the crater. Lodges, hotels and tented camps with private facilities dot the rim. They are clean, comfortable; a good service and Western style food is usually provided. The staff, drivers and guides are friendly and always willing to please.

Ngorongoro crater is magical! it's known as Noah's arc as it have a collection of species that live balanced in that ecossystem. There I saw lions with black mane and black rhinos, that is an endangered specie. Although I haven't seen, a friend of mine who was in another vehicule saw two leopards by the road when they were driving inbound.

Too crowded for our taste. There were at least 25 vehicles when a Rhino was spotted. Its great for first-timers though.

Ngorongoro Crater is a must visit; it a wonder and a marvel to behold. Here we photograph the only young lion cubs we saw. We also saw Serval and Caracal cats here too.

Our safari to Africa which include the Ngorongoro Crater is the most exciting adventure of my life

The crater was so amazing in that it was different from most of the other places we visited. We only had our one day tour and wish that it could have been longer. There were so many different things to see, animals everywhere and so little in the way of cover for them. Would go back in a heart beat..

Great, but a little crowded

The Ngorongoro Crater has some fantastic wildlife and because of the enclosed nature of the crater, good sighting are almost guaranteed. We saw lots of Africa's large animals including lions and hyenas; however this inevitably brings in large numbers of people. This meant there was a slight safari park feel to the experience that took the edge off slightly. Also we went in October because we want to climb Kilimanjaro, which I don't think is the best time to see the park. Everything was quite dry and dusty. Despite this, the feeling of being the crater is incredible and not something I have experienced anywhere else in the world.