Ngorongoro Crater
The Big Five on one crater floor. A collapsed volcano whose 260 square kilometre floor holds around twenty five thousand large animals, black rhino among them.
The Big Five on one crater floor
The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact caldera: a volcano that collapsed into itself about two million years ago, leaving a floor nineteen kilometres across and walls six hundred metres high. Inside live around twenty five thousand large animals, including one of the few places in Tanzania where black rhino are seen with some reliability, alongside lion, elephant, buffalo, hyena and the flamingos of Lake Magadi. It sits inside the wider Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where Maasai families still herd cattle.
Vehicles descend on a permit and spend up to six hours on the floor, so a crater day starts early. Our northern circuit trips reach it by road from Arusha through Lake Manyara, and the Zanzibar and Lake Manyara trip pairs a crater day with the beach. Nights on the rim are cold, often below ten degrees, so pack a fleece even in the hottest month.
- Best months
- All year; Jun to Oct driest, Jan to Feb greenest
- Getting there
- Three hours by road from Arusha, with lodges on the rim at about 2,300 metres
- How long
- One night on the rim and a full day on the floor
- What it costs
- From $1,016 per person, group of 5 or more, green season in our 4 day Ngorongoro: sunrise on the rim trip.
The crater carries a vehicle fee for each descent on top of the per person conservation fee, which is why a crater day costs more than a day in most parks; both are included in our prices. Rim lodges are the other variable: the view is the same from all of them, the comfort is not.
The reasons people come
- Black rhino, seen on most crater days
- Large prides of lion on open ground
- Bull elephants with some of the biggest tusks in Tanzania
- Flamingos on the soda lake at the crater's centre
- The rim drive at sunrise, above the cloud
- Olduvai Gorge, the early human site, on the road to the Serengeti
Experiences here: Family holidays, Photography safaris.
- 1Ngorongoro Crater
Ready-made, adjustable
Every one of these visits Ngorongoro Crater. Each bends to your dates, group and budget.
Ngorongoro: sunrise on the rim
Arusha walking safari & the crater
Short safari escape: Tarangire & Ngorongoro
Best of Lake Manyara & Ngorongoro
Drive in, fly out: Serengeti short safari
Wildlife & tribes: Tarangire, Lake Eyasi & Ngorongoro
Where we sleep in Ngorongoro Crater
The places our itineraries here book, by standard. Every one can be swapped.
Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
On the crater rim, built of stone and covered in creepers, every room facing the crater floor.
2 of our trips sleep here
Lions Paw Camp
A small tented camp on the crater rim by the Lemala descent road, for the earliest crater morning.
One of our trips sleeps here
Ang'ata Ngorongoro Camp
A simple, warm tented camp on the crater rim, unfenced, the descent road minutes away.
3 of our trips sleep hereWhat people ask about Ngorongoro Crater
How cold does it get?
The rim is at about 2,300 metres. Nights fall to five or ten degrees for most of the year and the mornings are misty, then it warms fast on the floor by mid morning. Layers, not a coat.
Will I see a rhino?
Most days, yes. Around thirty black rhino live on the floor and the guides share sightings by radio, but they are wild animals on a big floor and no one can promise it.
Camp or lodge?
Lodges on the rim have the view and the warmth. Camps at Karatu, forty minutes below the rim, are warmer at night and often better value; the drive up in the dark is part of the day. We will suggest whichever suits your budget and say why.
Tell us your month and how many days you have, and we will say what Ngorongoro Crater can be.
We reply within 4 working hours. No deposit to ask.