Why Is the Ngorongoro Crater So Special? 5 Reasons It Belongs on Your Itinerary

why-visit-ngorongoro-crater

Get to know the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera, and find out why Ngorongoro has some of the densest wildlife viewing in Africa.

Some places make you stop and stare the moment you see them. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of them. You stand on the rim and look down into a collapsed volcano twelve kilometers wide, and even from up there you can see animals all over the floor. It changes how you think about wildlife. It really is one of the most remarkable places we know.

Even so, many people don’t really understand Ngorongoro. Some travelers treat it as a quick add-on to a Serengeti trip, a half-day stop before moving on. We think that’s a mistake. Ngorongoro is worth getting to know on its own, and once you see what makes it so special, you’ll want to give it more time.

At Kilisa Tours and Safari, Ngorongoro is one of the places we most love showing our guests. Here are five reasons it belongs on your Tanzania trip.

Reason 1: The Ngorongoro Crater Is a Wildlife World of Its Own

The Ngorongoro Crater isn’t just one park inside another. It’s a little world of its own.

It formed about two to three million years ago, when a huge volcano collapsed in on itself. Today the crater floor covers about 260 square kilometers and lies between 600 and 800 meters below the rim. The crater walls are high and steep, so most of the animals that live inside, around 25,000 to 30,000 large animals, stay there all year. They don’t need to migrate, because the crater gives them what they need: water from the Makat soda lake and seasonal streams, grazing all year in its different grasslands, and shelter from the crater walls.

For you, that means a lot of wildlife in a small space. In most African parks you drive for kilometers between big sightings. In the Ngorongoro Crater, herds of wildebeest, zebra and buffalo spread out as far as you can see. Elephants walk through the acacia woodland on the crater slopes. Flamingos turn the soda lake pink. And somewhere in the grass, a pride of lions is almost certainly watching something.

It’s like a giant natural stadium for wildlife, and you get a front-row seat.

The easiest way to see it is our Ngorongoro Crater day tour, which gives you a full day on the crater floor with an experienced guide. Or add it to a wider northern circuit trip with any of our Tanzania safari packages.

Reason 2: It’s One of the Last Places in Africa to See the Black Rhino

The black rhino is critically endangered and one of Africa’s best-known and most threatened animals. Decades of poaching almost wiped it out across the continent, and today only a few thousand live in the wild. Tanzania has only a small number, and Ngorongoro is one of the most reliable places left in East Africa to see them.

The rhinos in the crater live there all year, and the crater walls give them some natural protection. They’re more used to vehicles than rhinos in other places, so sightings are more regular here than almost anywhere else visitors can reach, though they’re never guaranteed. Watching a black rhino walk across the open grass of the crater floor means a lot when you know how close this animal has come to disappearing.

For many of our guests, a rhino at Ngorongoro is the last of the Big Five on their list: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. But it’s more than a tick on a list. It’s a reminder of what conservation really means, and what we lose if we get it wrong.

Reason 3: The Lion Population Is One of the Densest in Africa

If you want to see lions properly, up close and without rushing, Ngorongoro is one of the best places in Africa to do it. The crater has one of the highest densities of lions on the continent, with an estimated 60 to 70 lions living inside the crater walls all year.

These aren’t shy lions far away that you need binoculars to find. Ngorongoro’s lions are very used to safari vehicles and often rest just a few meters from the road, lying on termite mounds or stretched out in the shade of an acacia. Watching a pride of eight or ten lions up close is something special: cubs rolling over each other, adults yawning, and the big male keeping an eye on his territory.

Because the crater is closed in, researchers have studied these lions for decades. Their behavior, their families and many of their individual stories are known in a lot of detail, and a good guide can share those stories with you so a sighting becomes much more personal. Our Kilisa Tours guides know the Ngorongoro lions well and love telling every group about them.

Reason 4: The Ngorongoro Landscape Is Beautiful, and Always Changing

Even if you forget about the wildlife for a moment, which is almost impossible here, Ngorongoro is one of the most beautiful landscapes you’ll ever see.

The drive down into the crater on the steep, winding track is an experience in itself. As you drop from the misty forest on the rim to the open floor, you slowly see how big the crater is: the wide grasslands, the shine of Lake Makat, the dark patches of woodland along the walls, and animals everywhere you look. On clear mornings the light inside the crater is lovely, soft and golden early on, then sharper through the day, so the colors look almost too bright to be real.

The crater floor isn’t just one kind of place. It’s a mix of grassland, acacia woodland, seasonal swamps, freshwater springs and the soda lake, and each has its own feel and its own animals. As you drive across the floor, you move from one to the next, and each change brings new animals into view.

Then there’s the rim itself. At about 2,300 meters above sea level, the Ngorongoro rim is cool, green with forest and very beautiful. Elephant and buffalo move through the highland forest above the crater. The views from the lookout points along the rim, especially at dawn and dusk, are some of the best in Tanzania.

The wider Ngorongoro Conservation Area reaches far beyond the crater. It takes in highland forest, open plains and Olduvai Gorge, where some of the most important early human fossils ever found were discovered. So this isn’t only wildlife country. It’s also one of the places where the human story began.

Reason 5: Ngorongoro Fits Easily with the Rest of Northern Tanzania

One of Ngorongoro’s biggest practical pluses is where it sits, right in the middle of Tanzania’s northern circuit. It lies between Serengeti National Park to the west, Tarangire National Park to the east and Lake Manyara to the north, so it’s the natural center of any northern Tanzania safari.

Adding Ngorongoro to a Serengeti trip takes very little extra driving and gives you a completely different wildlife experience: the wide-open plains of the Serengeti, then the close-up action of the crater. The difference between the two parks is one of the best things about a northern Tanzania safari.

It also works well with a cultural visit. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the only protected area in Tanzania where indigenous people, the Maasai, still live alongside the wildlife. Maasai herders graze their cattle on the crater rim and across the wider conservation area, as they have for centuries. Visiting a Maasai community adds a real human side to a wildlife safari. Have a look at our Tanzania cultural tour options and our 2-day, 3-day and 4-day cultural tours for ideas on how to fit this in.

If you like getting off the usual track, the Ngorongoro area is also the way into some of Tanzania’s most remote places, including Lake Natron, Lake Eyasi and the unusual Mount Oldoinyo Lengai, the world’s only active carbonatite volcano and a sacred mountain for the Maasai.

Bonus: What Else Lives in the Ngorongoro Crater?

Hippo, zebras and wildebeest at the water's edge in Lake Manyara National Park

We’ve covered the big names: lion, rhino and elephant. But the crater floor is home to many more species, and you’ll see more the more patient you are. Some highlights:

Cheetah: the crater has a small cheetah population that you can see, most often on the open grassland of the crater floor.
Spotted hyena: Ngorongoro has one of the largest hyena populations in Africa. Unlike in many parks, the crater’s hyenas are active during the day, so you’ll often see them, and they’re fun to watch.
Hippopotamus: groups of hippos live in the Mandusi swamp and the seasonal pools in the crater.
Flamingo: Lake Makat often has thousands of lesser flamingos, and that band of pink on the salty water is one of the crater’s best-known sights.
Golden jackal: one of Africa’s most likable and overlooked predators, common and busy all over the crater floor.
Over 500 bird species: including crowned cranes, kori bustards (one of the world’s heaviest flying birds), many birds of prey, and huge numbers of waterbirds around the lake and the swamps.
Cape buffalo: the crater has several big buffalo herds, and they’re a favorite target for the lion prides.
Eland: Africa’s largest antelope moves through the crater in herds, especially on the western slopes.

A full day in the crater rarely feels long enough. Most of our guests leave wishing they’d had another day, and many come back to do just that.

How to See Ngorongoro: Your Options with Kilisa Tours

There are several ways to visit Ngorongoro, depending on your time, budget and travel style. Here are your main options.

Ngorongoro as a Day Trip

A Ngorongoro Crater day tour is the easiest way to see the crater, and it works well if you’re combining Ngorongoro with other things in the area. You drive down to the crater floor at dawn, spend the whole day exploring with your guide, and drive back up in the late afternoon. It’s a full and very rewarding day.

Ngorongoro on a Budget Safari

Our budget camping safaris include Ngorongoro as a main stop on the northern circuit. They’re good value, and you still get the same wildlife and the same good guiding.

Ngorongoro on a Mid-Range Safari

Our mid-range safaris balance comfort and cost, with lodges or tented camps, private vehicles and all the flexibility of a private safari.

Ngorongoro on a Luxury Safari

For the most comfortable way to see Ngorongoro, our luxury safari packages include lodges on the crater rim. Waking up to mist rolling across the crater from your own veranda, then heading down to the floor at first light, is a lovely way to start a safari day.

Off-the-Beaten-Path Ngorongoro Trips

If you’d like to see more of the wider Ngorongoro area beyond the crater, we have several trips that take you into the unusual landscapes around the conservation area.

Practical Tips for Visiting Ngorongoro

Wildebeest grazing on a green plain below steep forested hills

When to Visit

The Ngorongoro Crater is good to visit all year. Because the animals live there instead of migrating, there’s no bad season. That said, the dry months of June through October and January through February give you the clearest skies and the easiest driving on the crater floor. The rim can be cool and misty at any time of year, so bring a warm layer whatever the season. Our full best time to go on safari guide explains the seasons in detail.

How to Get There

Ngorongoro is about three hours by road from Arusha, an easy drive through some of Tanzania’s prettiest highland country. Our how to get there guide covers all the details of getting to the conservation area.

What to Bring

Bring binoculars. The crater is huge, so some sightings start far away, and a closer look makes all the difference. Also pack a camera with a long lens, warm layers for the rim and the early morning drives on the floor, sunscreen for the open crater, and some patience. Our full safari packing list has everything covered. Have a look at our safari food guide too, so you know what meals to expect on the road.

How Long to Spend

Plan at least one full day on the crater floor to see it properly. Two days, with a night on the rim, lets you go down twice, see the crater in both the morning and the afternoon, and greatly improves your chances of seeing more animals. Many of our guests who first visit Ngorongoro on a tight schedule come back just to spend more time there.

Travel Insurance

As with any trip to Tanzania, you’ll need comprehensive travel insurance that includes medical evacuation. Read our health and immunization guide well before you travel.

Five Reasons to Put Ngorongoro on Your List

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Let’s sum it up. Ngorongoro is special because it brings all of this together in one place you can easily reach: the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera, one of Africa’s densest groups of large mammals, a population of critically endangered black rhino, lion prides you can watch up close, and a landscape so beautiful and so important to history that it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It belongs on your Tanzania trip. Not as a footnote or a quick stop, but as a place that deserves a full day, two if you can, with a guide who knows its stories.

We’d love to take you there. Whether you’re looking at all of Tanzania’s destinations, planning your first safari or coming back for more, our team will plan a trip with Ngorongoro right at the center.

Contact Kilisa Tours today and start planning your Ngorongoro safari.