Ngorongoro Crater

At Ngorongoro, you can find prehistoric sites, salt lakes, gorgeous birds, all the big five, and some of the most beautiful forests.

How to get to Ngorongoro

The Manyara Airstrip is only one hour from Ngorongoro by road. Catch a local flight to Manyara from Kilimanjaro International airport. Ngorongoro is in northern Tanzania. It is a 45-minute flight.

Your tour operator will arrange airport transfers and accommodation if needed.

When to Visit Ngorongoro Crater

January and February are good because you can catch the wildebeest as they calve down en masse just outside the crater. Thousands of wildebeest calves take their first wobbly steps. Lions, leopards, and cheetahs will be here on the hunt.

The rains fall on the Ngorongoro crater from the middle of March to May. Game viewing is not so good when it rains. Visitors will be delighted to find hundreds of bird species nesting on the ground and in the trees. Rates are also lower.

June, July, August, September, and October make up the long dry season. More visitors come in at this time. If you are looking to spot all the big five, your chances are good.

Accommodation in Ngorongoro Crater

• Gibb’s Farm
• Kitela Lodge
• Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
• Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp
• Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
• Entamanu Private Camp
• Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge
• Lemala Ngorongoro
• The Manor at Ngorongoro
• Plantation Lodge

What to wear in Ngorongoro

Ngorongoro Crater is high altitude. It can be chilly in the morning. Temperatures rise during the day. You will need long-sleeved shirts and a light jumper on top. n the

Wear comfortable, closed hiking shoes and full-length pants. Sunscreen and insect repellant will keep your skin safe.

Neutral colors are better.

Ngorongoro Crater Attractions

• Lake Magadi is a shallow salt lake that is azure blue. Hundreds of greater and lesser flamingoes dot the lakeside. Lake Magadi bulges during the rains and contracts when it is dry. Salt pans surround the lake.
• The Lerai Fever forest treats endangered black rhinos with delicious acacia leaves. Their lace-like canopy looks magical. The forest is a favorite for elephants, eland, hyrax, rhinos, bushbuck, and hundreds of birds.
• Visit the remains of our early ancestors at the Olduvai Gorge. Look at 3.7 million-year-old hominid footprints at Laetoli. Olduvai is the cradle of man.
• At Ol Dionyo, a dune drags through the plane at 15m per year. The black sand is nine meters high and a hundred meters long.
• Take guided walks to the Olmoti and Empakaai Craters. Maasai herd their cattle alongside eland and reedbuck. Walk to the Munge stream and waterfall. The waterfall plunges into the Ngorongoro crater and empties into Lake Magadi. There is a soda lake inside Empakaai Crater. Blue monkeys and colorful sunbirds will cross your paths.
• Explore the prehistoric Gol Mountains with their pink cliffs and the Angata Kiti pass through which zebra and wildebeest cross on their way back to the Serengeti.
• The Nasera Rock juts 80m upwards from the Gol mountain. Here you will find a stone-age shelter. Baboons, various birds, and klipspringers live here.
• The Salei Plains look bare. But at the edge is the Ol Karien Gorge. The Ruppel’s Griffon Vulture breeds through March and April.
• At Oldeani Mountain, you will find native bamboo forests, mountain streams, seasonal lakes, and Paleolithic sites like the Mumba cave.
• Meet the Hadzabe. These bushmen rely entirely on nature. They talk in whistles and clicks.
• Ol Doinyo Lengai and Lake Natron are near the Kenya-Tanzania border. The Maasai call it the Mountain of God. Ol Doinyo Lengai’s last eruption was in 2007. You can still find sulfur fumes in Lengai. Sometimes lava emerges from cones around it. Lengai was one of the locations for Tomb Raiders II.
• Springs laced with volcanic ash flow into Lake Natron. The springs make it acidic. Flamingoes love lake Natron. It shines green, blue, and even red because of the algae blooming on it.