There's nothing quite like descending into the Crater floor early morning and there before you on the open plains are hundreds of grazing Zebra, Gazelle, Wilderbeest and oh wait is that a Rhino?
If you loved the book “Animalia”as a child then this is the real thing!
The Crater sits within what is known as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and is an extinct collapsed volcano caldera that is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
We won't lie to you – this is not the national park to visit for a solitude experience with the wild as it does get insanely busy with safari trucks in peak season. However, don't let that deter you – if you are enroute to Serengeti you need to pass through the Crater and no trip to the Northern circuit is complete without a visit to the Crater in our opinion – anytime of the year.
Size: 304 sq km (4% of Ngorongoro Conservation Area which is 8292 sq km).
Location: 177 km from Arusha to the park HQ – approx 3.5 hours drive
Weather: Dry season generally runs June to October and wet season November to May. The small rainy season runs December – February. March to April is the highest rainfall generally recorded and the lowest is generally July to September.
Highlights:
- Biggest population of the Black Rhinoceros in Tanzania
- Walls of the collapsed volcano great backdrop
- A chain of eight volcanoes is a dominant landmark across the park
- Vast open grassy plain lands with animals grazing
- Oldupai Gorge visits enroute to Serengeti
- Approx 115 mammal species recorded in the conservation area
- Large numbers of animals in the Crater year round
- High density of predators (Lions, Hyenas, Leopards and Cheetahs) due to large constant numbers of food
- More than 550 different bird species
Interesting facts:
- Ngorongoro was thought to have stood 4,600 mt above sea level before it's collapse some 2.5 million years ago
- Ngorongoro remains to be the largest unbroken caldera in the world – 19km in diameter with inside walls that stand 600 metres high.
- The conservation area sits on the western end of the Great Rift Valley
- Inside the craters Lerai Forest stands a large tree that serves as a place of pilgramage for the Datoga tribe. The Datoga's had many battles with the Maasai over ownership of the Crater area. It is believed the Datoga planted this tree in 1840 to mark an important battle that took place in the crater.
Accommodation options: There are numerous lodges and public campsites within the conversation area as well as on the Crater rim which you can choose to stay at.
Need a quote? Email us: worldfusiontours@gmail.com
Let us know:
- What dates you are considering?
- How many people are travelling?
- Which other parks and destinations you would like to include:
- Budget, mid range or luxury?
- Would you prefer to stay in a lodge or have a true African experience in a mobile/semi-tented camp?
World Fusion Tours also recommends some of the following options as add-on's to your safari experience:
• Mt Kilimanjaro climb
• Mt Meru climb
• Lake Natron add-on
• Old Doinyo Lengai add-on
• Hadzabe & Datoga tribe add-on
• Zanzibar add-on
If this may be your only chance to visit East Africa and you are not constrained by budget or time – what about popping across to Rwanda for a Gorilla trek?
Images copyright 2015: World Fusion Art
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