Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Overview:

Africa’s gar­den of Eden – the Ngoron­goro Crater and the accom­pa­ny­ing Ngoron­goro con­ser­va­tion area is a tru­ly stun­ning wildlife and nat­ur­al par­adise, which is home to not only thou­sands of incred­i­ble species of wildlife includ­ing the African big 5 – but also the largest inward­ly col­lapsed Vol­cano in the Ngoron­goro Crater which when sum­mit­ed pro­vides incred­i­ble and sweep­ing views of not just the Serengeti eco-sys­tem but the great and unique wildlife that call this incred­i­ble nat­ur­al won­der of the world home.

Described as the beau­ty of Africa in a crater, the con­ser­va­tion area stretch­es on for more than 8,000 Km² and is home to a series of micro­cli­mates that cre­ate stun­ning water­holes, lakes, moun­tains and grass plains – that are home not only to the thou­sand year old Masai tribe who legal­ly and right­ful­ly call the con­ser­va­tion area their home, but which also pro­vides a per­fect spot for the con­clu­sion of the great migra­tion – where the sur­viv­ing ani­mals are known to come to breed and tend their young before jour­ney­ing onwards.

Fur­ther the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion Area is also home to The Oldu­vai Gorge, known as the ‘cra­dle of mankind’ where the first human fos­sils were dis­cov­ered help­ing to add fur­ther intrigue and his­to­ry to this spec­tac­u­lar won­der — with the pre­his­toric ele­ment of the gorge also evi­dent across the nation­al park with the plains believed to have remain unchanged for thou­sands of years and have always remained a place where the cycle of life thrives.

Con­sid­ered one of the best places to see endan­gered wildlife such as Lions and Chee­tahs, the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area can be explored on foot, game safari and in some of the worlds great­est wildlife lodges – with the spec­tac­u­lar crater pro­vid­ing one of the worlds most scenic half day hikes, which com­bined with the stun­ning scenery and wildlife make a trip to the Ngoron­goro Crater and the accom­pa­ny­ing con­ser­va­tion area a tru­ly incred­i­ble nat­ur­al paradie and a deserv­ing won­der of the world.

Where:

The Ngoron­goro Crater and the con­ser­va­tion area is found in the north of Tan­za­nia in an area called the crater high­lands – with the near­est and base town called Arusha which is 100 miles east of the won­der and from where you have mul­ti­ple options to vis­it the won­der.

Getting there:

While locat­ed in the north of Tan­za­nia it’s rec­om­mend­ed to head to Arusha to vist the crater and the nation­al park of Ngoron­goro.

To get there have two options – the first and cheap­est route is to head into Kenya and the air­port in the cap­i­tal of Nairo­bi and then grab a bus to Arusha in Tan­za­nia from where you can then jump on a tour or fur­ther bus to the Ngoron­goro con­ser­va­tion area.

Alter­na­tive­ly you can fly to either the Kil­i­man­jaro Inter­na­tion­al Air­port or the Julius Nyerere Inter­na­tion­al Air­port – from where you can get picked up for a mul­ti-day tour that will take you deep into the con­ser­va­tion area and to the crater or hop on a bus from there to Arusha and then hop on a bus or a tour and com­mence your jour­ney into the won­der of the world.

Best time to Visit:

The best time to vis­it the crater itself is in the sum­mer months when not only with the exquis­ite hills of the Lerai For­est be at their peak but you’ll also find the big 5 more like­ly to be con­cen­trat­ed in the con­ser­va­tion area – with a trip between the Serengeti and the mara riv­er and then to the crater for the hike and fur­ther wildlife view­ing incred­i­ble pop­u­lar (and thus more expen­sive and crowd­ed) dur­ing this peri­od.

For those fol­low­ing the great migra­tion or who wish to expe­ri­ence it at the Ngoron­goro Crater and wit­ness some of the birthing process from those ani­mals that have sur­vived the migra­tion then head to the area in the win­ter months – and for those who can’t stand crowds and are pre­pared to risk the occa­sion­al rain storm, you’re advised to head for the crater between April – June but be warned you run the risk of reduced wildlife view­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties if you vis­it the crater dur­ing this peri­od.

Explore:

With incred­i­ble vol­canic scenery, long sweep­ing grass plains and of course an abun­dance of African Wildlife, the Ngoron­goro Crater Con­ser­va­tion area is a nature lovers par­adise which can be explored through incred­i­ble trekking, hik­ing, wildlife tours and through stays at some of the best wildlife lodges on the plan­et.

While the undoubt­ed­ly high­light is the Ngoron­goro Crater, the con­ser­va­tion area is com­mon­ly split into four unique areas, which fol­low a clock­wise direc­tion from south to East, with the high­lights of each of these areas being detailed below:

The Ngorongoro Crater:

Found inside the South Zone, the famous Ngoron­goro Crater was formed when an ancient vol­cano – equiv­a­lent in size to the won­der of Kil­i­man­jaro explod­ed and col­lapsed inwards more than 2 mil­lion years ago, leav­ing a stun­ning­ly beau­ti­ful 600-metre-deep crater that leads to the val­ley floor area known as the Lerai For­est, where gold­en trees and grass­lands, flo­ra, trees and water­holes comb­ing to make the crater a nature par­adise right­ly nick­named the ‘Gar­den of Eden.’

With both the rim and the val­ley floor of the Lerai For­est being hike­able, the Ngoron­goro Crater offers not only a fan­tas­tic climb and sweep­ing views of the beau­ty of Africa, but it is also home to more than 50,000 rare ani­mals includ­ing the African big 5 (the lion, leop­ard, rhi­no, ele­phant and African buf­fa­lo) and fea­tures the largest den­si­ty pop­u­la­tion of endan­gered lions and the best place in the world to view rhi­nos – who as a result of the open val­ley of the Ngoron­goro Crater are eas­i­ly spot­table.

For those who are fans of flamin­gos, you can also make you way to the stun­ning Lake Mag­a­di on the crater floor, where you’ll find not only thou­sands of Flamin­gos but large con­cen­tra­tions of hip­pos, croc­o­diles, and sea birds, as well as a large pop­u­la­tion of mam­mals, who occa­sion­al­ly will find them­selves going head to head with the croc­o­diles in the lake in a strug­gle of prey ver­sus preda­tor.

Offi­cial­ly the worlds largest intact caldera in the world, you’ll find that most sum­mits of the crater rim kick off in the ear­ly hours, allow­ing you catch the incred­i­ble African sun­rise and if you’re lucky ani­mal preda­tors on the hunt, before spend­ing some time at var­i­ous view points and then mak­ing the enjoy­able and relaxed sum­mit down into the val­ley floor below where per­haps the worlds great­est pic­nic spot and cham­pagne bas­ket await you as you bask in the beau­ty of this stun­ning won­der of the world.

Ngorongoro Eastern highlands:

Per­haps the most under­rat­ed part of the whole of the Serengeti eco sys­tem the east­ern high­lands of the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area is home to the stun­ning Empakai crater and the Ol Doinyo Lengai Vol­cano com­mon­ly nick­named the God Vol­cano due to the spe­cial place and sym­bol­ism it holds for the local Masai Tribes.

Along­side these two spec­tac­u­lar sites, you’ll find more than any­thing the beau­ty of the east­ern high­lights in it’s peace­ful­ness – with the area being rather over­looked by tourists you have the chance to not only climb the Empakai crater and the God Vol­cano alone but also explore vast sweep­ing and stun­ning high­lands in almost com­plete silence, as you embark on a guid­ed tour in a 4 X4 in and jour­ney into the east­ern high­lands to not only take in incred­i­ble views but have a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty to see and spot stun­ning wildlife at their most nat­ur­al and free from human inter­ac­tion.

The Olduvai Gorge:

Of the many Gorges and rock for­ma­tions across the Serengeti eco-sys­tem and with­in the Ngoron­goro Crater, the Oldu­vai Gorge in par­tic­u­lar is stun­ning and stands out as our favourite due to it’s unique sta­tus and sym­bol­ism as the place where the first human remains were found and exca­vat­ed – giv­ing a fas­ci­nat­ing insight to the his­to­ry and sto­ries of the Serengeti.

While not a place for abun­dance of wildlife, the Oldu­vai Gorge has earned the nick­name the ‘cra­dle of mankind’ and is also home to some fos­sils that date back more than 2 mil­lion years – mak­ing an incred­i­ble and his­toric reminder of not just the sto­ried his­to­ry of the won­der of the Serengeti but also the vol­ume of ani­mals that have trekked the plains of the Serengeti in search of life.

Mount Lemagarut 

The stun­ning Mount Lema­garut is one of the tough­est hikes in the whole of the Serengeti eco sys­tem but also of the most beau­ti­ful with the hike tak­ing you a full day as you trav­el up through wood­lands and flo­ra and along­side the ani­mals of the Serengeti eco sys­tem to the 3150 moun­tain – from where you have stun­ning and sweep­ing view of the whole of the Ngoron­goro nation­al park includ­ing the stun­ning Lake Eyasi beneath you.

Lake Eyasi:

In the same region as Mount Lema­garut you’ll find the stun­ning Lake Eyasi a raw wild envi­ron­ment, but also one of the best places to spot herds of Zebras and meet the local Masai tribes who call the area home, with the area being light on preda­tors. We’d advise split­ting your time 50 / 50 between tak­ing in the beau­ty of the lake and the ani­mals and fish that call it home, and spend­ing some time in the Masai vil­lages to learn fur­ther about the unique cul­ture and res­i­dents of the Serengeti eco sys­tem.

The great migration (Lake Ndutu and Lake Masek):

With the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area being so close to the Serengti nation­al park and mak­ing up part of the Serengeti eco-sys­tem, the great migra­tion typ­i­cal­ly cross­es into the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area – with the mil­lions of wilde­beest, zebras and gazelles amongst oth­ers who have made it into the final leg of the great migra­tion cycle find­ing them­selves in the north of the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area.

For those that are luck enough to the be in Ngoron­goro dur­ing the win­ter months – nor­mal­ly between Decem­ber – Feb­ru­ary, you’ll get to see the mam­mals cel­e­brat­ing their jour­ney and graz­ing on the great plains of the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area – with this all being the sea­son where calves are birthed ready for the great migra­tion peri­od to being again.

Typ­i­cal­ly the main two spots for the great heard will be at the lakes of Ndu­tu and Masek – where the sup­ply of fresh water makes for a great spot to fos­ter their young – and in peak sea­son you can expect to see the big 5 game by the lakes – as well as strug­gles between croc­o­diles and the herd  as they flee the area in the spring months to begin the start of the great­est nat­ur­al show on earth – the great migra­tion.

Along­side the stun­ning crater, the great migra­tion and the beau­ti­ful bast plains, lakes and gorges of the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area there are also a mul­ti­tude of ways to explore the stun­ning area, with hikes, safaris, and lodg­ing all avail­able to you:

Hiking the Ngorongoro Crater:

Unques­tion­ably the pin­na­cle of explor­ing the Ngoron­goro crater, a hike up its rim to the view­ing points and then down below into the Lerai For­est is a tru­ly spe­cial expe­ri­ence – and one for which you’ll require sol­id hik­ing boots, sun­screen and a guide. Expect the hike to take 3–4 hours and then allow some time at the sum­mit for pho­tos – with the hike down into the val­ley being gen­tle and often accom­pa­nied by a cham­pagne pic­nic – just be sure not to share your food with the ani­mals.

Sun­rise and sun­set game dri­ves: As with the Serengeti – for those who jour­ney into the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion Area, the best way to expe­ri­ence the incred­i­ble wildlife and views and spot the African big 5 (buf­fa­lo, ele­phant leop­ard lion, rhi­no) and the rest of the res­i­dents of the Serengeti eco sys­tem is through Game dri­ves in open top 4 x 4 vehi­cles – with these jour­neys usu­al­ly tak­ing place at sun­rise or sun­set – so you have the best chance to both see the ani­mals in their nat­ur­al habi­tat and you get to wit­ness the stun­ning African sun­rise and sun­set over the Serengeti eco sys­tem – expect the dri­ves to be booked up well in advance in the win­ter months so be sure to plan ahead if want to wit­ness the great migra­tion in the Ngoron­goro con­ser­va­tion area.

Guided walks:

For those who haven’t had enough of walk­ing after sum­mit­ing the Ngoron­goro Crater, there are also a range of guid­ed walks around the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area avail­able – which are great for those who want to see the abud­ncae of wildlife in the park.

Expect the walks to be short one hour hikes off the beat­en track and accom­pa­nied by a well-armed ranger, but also give you a chance to see the big 5 in their nat­ur­al habi­tat – with ele­phants in par­tic­u­lar known to be fre­quent sights on these hikes and some hikes even tak­ing you to Lake Eyasi – where you can both vis­it tribes and wit­ness the Zebras drink­ing from the stun­ning and incred­i­ble lake.

Visit the Masai Tribes:

When in the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area, there’s a strong chance you’ll come across or find your­self vis­it­ing some of the Masai tribes – who legal­ly and right­ful­ly call the area home.

Known to have lived and hunt­ed in the Serengeti for more than 400 years, the Masai tribe expe­ri­ence in the Ngoron­goro area is much more authen­tic than in the Serengeti – where the sus­pect pre rehearsed per­for­mances are often absent and instead you will see the bright­ly dressed tribes who reside in mud and stick huts going around their nor­mal rou­tines and prac­tic­ing their spir­i­tu­al beliefs – with a vis­it to them offer­ing a fas­ci­nat­ing insight into how the local humans call the area home.

Lodging in the Ngorongoro Conservation area:

As with all African safaris, you have the option (that we’d high­ly rec­om­mend) to spend a few nights in a high-end panoram­ic view lodge – with the Ngoron­goro Wildlife Lodge in par­tic­u­lar being known for it’s stun­ning views and near­by rare endan­gered Black Rhi­no who along with ele­phants and lion are known to graze near the lodge.

Lodg­ing in the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion area has a few advan­tages over lodg­ing in the Serengeti – first­ly it’s cheap­er which is always a bonus and it is also much more like­ly to have avail­abil­i­ty – with the expe­ri­ence offered at least on a par with the lodges in its nieght and allow­ing you to wake up and have break­fast or din­ner while watch­ing the incred­i­ble ani­mals stroll by and march over the great vast plains of Africa and this incred­i­ble won­der of the world.

How long to stay:

While it’s pos­si­ble to do the Ngoron­goro Crater as a long day trip from Arusha, we’d rec­om­mend bud­get­ing 3 days 2 night to explore the Ngoron­goro Crater – this will give you a chance to not only wit­ness the incred­i­ble sun­rise and sun­set over the crater, but also have plen­ty of time for wildlife view­ing in the east­ern and south high­lands and to hike to the sum­mit of the rim and into the val­ley floor below.

Top Tip:

Along­side the stan­dard safari advice of being respect­ful to the ani­mals and com­ing pre­pared with good amounts of water and sun­screen – we’d rec­om­mend mak­ing sure you not only com­bine a trip to the Ngoron­goro Crater with a trip to the Serengeti for a true wildlife buck­et list expe­ri­ence — but also make sure you make time and book a trip to walk along the Crater’s rim and down into the val­ley floor below – the hike can only take a few hours, but there’s a strong guar­an­tee you’ll see exot­ic wildlife and the views from the rim are tru­ly incred­i­ble mak­ing for a fan­tas­tic way to see this incred­i­ble won­der of the world.

Cost:

Entry to the Ngoron­goro Crater comes in at $50 a day for each per­son, and you can expect to pay that with or with­out a tour. For the tours of the crater and the Ngoron­goro con­ser­va­tion area you have a range of either sin­gle day or mul­ti day options – with the sin­gle day cost­ing around $300 usd, and the 2–3 days com­ing in at between $500 usd — $700 Usd – and the mul­ti days giv­ing you a more afford­able option of stay­ing in wildlife lodges over the course of your stay.

For those want­i­ng to com­bine their trip to the Ngoron­goro Crater with the rest of the Serengeti Eco Sys­tem, you’ve got the option to com­bine a trip to the Ngoron­goro Crater with trips to the rest of the eco sys­tem, which nor­mal­ly cost around $1500 usd at a min­i­mum and last for between 5 – 7 days.

Fun Fact:

Unlike it’s sis­ter park and neigh­bour the Serengeti Nation­al park, the Ngoron­goro Crater is not a nation­al park – but a con­ser­va­tion area, which right­ly gives the Masai Peo­ple the legal right and free­dom to call the crater home.

Although not as famous known as the Serengeti, the Ngoron­goro Crater actu­al­ly has more film cred­its – and Oscar relat­ed nom­i­na­tions, with the film Out of Africa being filmed in parts of the crater – which for those of you not in the crater gives an oppor­tu­ni­ty to view the stun­ning scenery of the crater in a Hol­ly­wood epic.

Best photo spot:

As the Ngoron­goro Crater leaves nowhere for it’s ani­mal res­i­dents to hide – a hike to both the crater’s top rim and down into the val­ley floor below make for excep­tion­al pho­tos – which if you’re lucky will be filled not only with stun­ning views of this incred­i­ble nat­ur­al won­der of the world but also some of the Ngoron­goro Craters stun­ning wildlife.