Ngorongoro in October

October is a month of transition in Ngorongoro Crater. The start of the month is the height of the long dry season, and much of the crater floor resembles a barren dust bowl of fine volcanic soil, while what grass remains will be low and yellowing, making it easy to spot larger predators, while grazers tend to congregate close to the few remaining sources of drinking water. The first of the short rains usually fall towards the end of October, providing welcome alleviation to the dryness, but unlikely impact negatively on tourist activities. October is peak safari season in northern Tanzania, with the wildebeest migration usually concentrated in the northern Serengeti at the start of the month but starting to travel south once the rains arrive. For those including nearby Tarangire National Park on their activity, wildlife numbers here generally peak in October. Ngorongoro tends to be quite crowded during this time. The crater rim is warms up a bit in October (average daily maximum 22°C and nightly minimum 9°C) so you should still bring plenty of warm clothing.

Wildlife in the Ngorongoro Crater

The game viewing centre piece of Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the grassy floor that stands at an altitude of 1,800m. The crater is dominated by a cover of open savannah that looks lush and green during the rainy season but is altogether dustier and more windswept during drier months. Important micro habitats within the crater floor include the fever-tree forest at Lerai, the shallow…

Ngorongoro in September

The dry season that started in May or June should continue into August, leaving parts of the crater floor looking like a dust bowl and the remaining grassland all parched and yellow. The low vegetation is great for spotting animals, with predators being at their most conspicuous, and wildlife tends to congregate close to the few remaining sources of drinking water. This is peak safari…

Lake Ndutu and the Serengeti plains

Ngorongoro Conservation Area is essentially an eastern extension of the vast Serengeti-Mara ecosystem - indeed, it formed part of the original Serengeti National Park as it was gazetted in 1951 but was split off shortly afterwards to appease Maasai protests against being evicted from their traditional grazing lands. Today, the southeast of the conservation area, around Oldupai Gorge,…

Luxury safari in Ngorongoro

Northern Tanzania boasts some of the most luxurious, exclusive and expensive lodges anywhere on the African safari circuit. Typically, these offer packages inclusive of world-class cuisine, house wines and beer, and game drives with guides who boast a higher level of expertise and far greater local knowledge than the average jobbing safari driver. These all-inclusive lodges also tend to…

Ngorongoro in November

Ngorongoro Crater tends to be relatively warm and wet in November, with an average daily maximum temperature of 22°C, a nightly minimum of 10°C, and around 110mm of rainfall. These short rains are usually not so heavy as to have a negative impact on tourism, and they create an spring-like aura of regeneration to the landscape following the long dry season. Wildlife is plentiful, with…

Ngorongoro in May

The long rains that peak in April usually continue into early to mid-May, but overall it tends to be a lot dryer that the two months that preceded it. Wildlife viewing is usually excellent, and the scenery is lovely and green, though the wildebeest that amass in the west of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area usually start to head northwest and deeper into the Serengeti at some point…

Popular Ngorongoro Crater Safaris

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