This is where vast herds of the Great Migration come to give birth in a 3-million-year-old collapsed volcano, Masai people live and fossils abound
Ngorongoro Crater – a Unesco World Heritage site – is 600 meters deep, 20 kilometres wide and the largest unflooded, unbroken caldera in the world. It’s an extraordinary ecosystem where you can find the Big Five or even, if you’re lucky, the endangered black rhino on the Crater floor.When it was still active, the volcano deposited its volcanic ash on what’s now the Serengeti plains towards the west, preserving many fossils in Olduvai (Oldupai) Gorge, discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey. The greater Ngorongoro Conservation Area conserves the fragile Ngorongoro Crater ecosystem and serves as an important space for the animals of the Great Migration to give birth at Lake Ndutu, which borders the southern Serengeti.
The crater itself is the focal point for wildlife viewing, while the surrounding highlands and conservation areas offer unique landscapes and additional wildlife experiences. Key areas include the crater floor for game drives and the rim for hiking and cultural visits.
The second-largest crater in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Empakaai is almost 8km in diameter and its floor is dominated by a saline crater lake and enclosed by sheer 300m high walls that rise to an elevation of 3,200m on the eastern rim. On of East Africa’s most underrated and seldom-visited scenic gems, the crater lies about 90 minutes’ drive northeast of Ngorongoro Crater via the Embulbul Depression, a grassy bowl that which dips to below 2,350m at the base of the 3,260m Mount Losirua and 3,648m Lolmalasin (the highest point in the Crater Highlands). The view from the forested crater rim is fabulous, whether you look inward to the emerald green crater lake, its shallows frequently tinged pink by thousands of flamingos, or east across the Rift Valley to the ashen slopes and smoking fumaroles of volcanic Ol Doinyo Lengai, a scene that also takes in Lake Natron and snow-capped Kilimanjaro on a clear day. Empakaai offers a welcome opportunity to break the safari regime of twice-daily game drives with a stiff steep guided hike to the crater floor. The steep but scenic descent along a tolerably well-maintained footpath takes 45-60 minutes, longer if you’re looking out for the plentiful birds that inhabit the forested crater walls, and there’s also a chance of spotting bushbuck, buffalo, blue monkey and even elephant. Good walking shoes and a reasonable level of fitness are recommended.
Coming from the direction of Arusha, the road from Lodware Entrance Gate to the crater rim switchbacks uphill through fertile slopes swathed in Afromontane forest to Heroes Point, which is where most visitors catch their first breathtaking view to the crater floor. It is here that German conservationist and filmmaker Michael Grzimek (son of the legendary Professor Bernhard Grzimek of Serengeti Shall Not Die fame) was buried in 1959 after his tragic death in an aeroplane crash over the Serengeti at the age of 24. Look closely at the crater floor below and you should pick out a few hundred-strong herds of wildebeest, zebra and buffalo moving across the crater floor, as well as elephants on the edge of Lerai Forest or flamingos in the shallows of Lake Magadi.
Bounding the southern Ngorongoro Conservation Area at the base of the Rift Valley Escarpment, remote Lake Eyasi is a shallow soda lake prone to large fluctuations in area and level depending on local rainfall. Possessed of a certain desolate beauty, the surrounding dry savannah is home to the Hadza, or Hadzabe, a tribe of nomadic hunter-gatherers that numbers fewer than 100 individuals today and speaks a similar click language to the San people of Southern Africa. The overgrown village of Mang’ola is the most important settlement in the area, and the base from which it is usually possible to visit a family of these traditional nomads, who resolutely refuse to be coerced into a more settled agricultural or pastoral lifestyle, and join them on a hunting expedition in search of baboons, dik-dik or even mice, all of which are despatched with a traditional bow and arrow.
Set within the Rift Valley on the eastern border of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Natron is perhaps the most starkly beautiful of all the Rift Valley lakes south of Turkana. Almost 60km long but nowhere more than a metre deep, this primordial alkaline sump is renowned for its caustic and unusually viscous waters, which are enclosed by a crust of volcanic ash and salt, as well as a few isolated swamp patches fed by bubbling hot springs. There is some large wildlife in the area, but Natron’s main faunal claim to fame is as the only known breeding ground for East Africa’s 2.5 million lesser flamingos, which congregate at an inaccessible part of the lake between August and October. Natron also attracts up to 100,000 migrant waders during the European winter. The main attraction close to the Natron is Ol Doinyo Lengai, the Maasai ‘Mountain of God’, a textbook volcano that rises more than 2km above the surrounding Rift Valley floor to an altitude of 2,960m. Probably the most active volcano in East Africa, Lengai has erupted at least a dozen times in the past 150 years, experienced almost continuous low-key activity over the last past century and a half, the most dramatic in recent years being over 2007, when it emitted an ashen steamy plume that travelled almost 20km downwind. The steep ascent of Lengai, ideally undertaken overnight to avoid sun exposure on the black shadeless slopes, is a popular hike with fit and adventurous travellers, at least when the volcano is sufficiently placid. It should only be undertaken with an experienced local guide, ideally leaving shortly before midnight to reach the crater rim for sunrise.
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, remains an important component of this migratory ecosystem, a fact of which you will be in no doubt should you pass through the area en route to the Serengeti National Park during the rainy season (late November to early May), when large herds of wildebeest and other ungulates disperse across the short grass plains and calve en masse in February. At other times of year, the area is a good place to look for cheetah, bat-eared fox, eland and ostrich. The game viewing centrepiece of the region is Lake Ndutu, which straddles the Serengeti-Ngorongoro boundary at the epicentre of the wildebeest dispersal, when it offers truly dramatic game viewing.
Two million years ago, the landscape of Ngorongoro Conservation Area looked very different to how it does today. Ngorongoro itself would have been an active volcano, taller perhaps than Kilimanjaro is now, and the seasonally parched plains at its western base were partially submerged beneath a seasonal lake that formed an important watering hole for our hominid ancestors. The fluctuating nature of this ancient lake led to a high level of stratification, one that accentuated by sporadic deposits of volcanic ash from Crater Highlands, creating ideal conditions for the fossilisation. Then, tens of thousands of years ago, fresh tectonic activity caused the land to tilt, leading to the formation of a new lake to the east and the creation of a seasonal river that cut through the former lakebed to expose layers of stratification up to 100m deep and a continuous archaeological and fossil record of life on the plains over the past two million years. Named after the Maasai word for the wild sisal that grows in the area, Oldupai Gorge is one of the richest palaeontological sites in East Africa. First excavated in 1931 by Professor Louis Leakey, it was here, in 1959, that Louis’s wife Mary Leakey unearthed a critical landmark in the history of palaeontology: the discovery of a fossilised cranium that provided the first conclusive evidence that hominid evolution stretched back over more than a million years and had been enacted on the plains of East Africa. Nicknamed ‘Nutcracker Man’ in reference to its bulky jawbone, the cranium belonged to a robust Australopithecine that had lived and died on the ancient lakeshore around 1.75 million years earlier, and while its antiquity would later be superseded by more ancient fossils unearthed in Ethiopia and Kenya, it rewrote the perceived timespan of human evolution, shot the Leakeys’ work to international prominence, and led to an a series of exciting new discoveries, including the first fossilised remains of Homo habilis. At nearby Laetoli, in 1976, four years after Louis’s death, Mary Leakey discovered footprints created more than three million years ago by a party of early hominids that had walked through a bed of freshly deposited volcanic ash – still the most ancient hominid footprints ever found.
Today, the original diggings can be explored with a guide, but the main attraction is an excellent site museum that lies a short distance off the main track connecting Ngorongoro Crater to Serengeti National Park. Displays include replicas of some of the more interesting hominid fossils unearthed at the site as well as the Laetoli footprints, along with genuine fossils of a menagerie of extinct oddities: a short-necked giraffe, a giant swine, an aquatic elephant and a bizarre antelope with long de-curved horns. Outside the museum, look out for colourful dry-country birds such as red-and-yellow barbet and purple grenadier.
Another dramatic relic of the volcanic activity that shaped the Crater Highlands over the past ten million years, Olmoti – a Maasai name meaning Cooking Pot – is a sunken caldera whose rim is reached along a 30-minute footpath from the ranger post at Nainokanoka. Covered in grass and bisected by a river valley, this shallow crater doesn’t quite match Ngorongoro or Empakaai for scenery, but it is very pretty, and it offers good grazing to the local Maasai cattle and various antelope. Look out for pairs of augur buzzard cartwheeling high in the sky, and the cliff-loving Verreaux’s eagle. From the main viewpoint, a short footpath leads to the seasonal Munge Waterfall, where the eponymous river cascades out of the crater.
Ngorongoro Crater, part of the larger Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, gives you the chance to explore landscapes and rich wildlife experiences. Here are the key areas to explore:
1. Crater Floor
Calving Migration in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
The heart of the Ngorongoro Crater is its floor, spanning about 260 square kilometres. It’s the best place for wildlife viewing, with a high concentration of animals including lions, elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, zebras, wildebeests, and various antelope species.
Key spots include the Lerai Forest, where leopards and monkeys are often seen, Lake Magadi, known for its flamingos, and Gorigor Swamp, which attracts hippos and elephants.
Key Highlights:
Lerai Forest: Home to leopards and monkeys.
Lake Magadi: Known for its flamingos.
Gorigor Swamp: Attracts hippos and elephants.
Unique Fact:
The crater floor is one of the few places in Africa where you can see the critically endangered black rhino.
2. Crater Rim
Guests take in the view of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. | Photo credit: Pixabay
The rim of the crater offers stunning panoramic views and is home to several luxurious lodges and campsites.
It’s an excellent starting point for morning game drives into the crater. The highlands surrounding the rim provide opportunities for hiking and cultural interactions with the Maasai people. Lodges on the rim offer breathtaking sunrise views and easy access to the crater floor.
Key Highlights:
Panoramic Views: Stunning views from the crater rim.
Luxury Lodges: Offers breathtaking sunrise views.
Cultural Interactions: Opportunities to engage with the Maasai people.
Unique Fact:
The rim’s highlands are often shrouded in mist, adding to the mystical atmosphere of the area.
Located within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world.
Visitors can explore the museum and learn about the significant fossil discoveries that have provided insights into early human evolution. The site is often included in guided tours, offering a fascinating glimpse into the ancient past.
Key Highlights:
Museum: Features significant fossil discoveries.
Guided Tours: Offers insights into early human evolution.
Unique Fact:
Olduvai Gorge is known as the “Cradle of Mankind” due to its rich fossil findings.
A less-visited but equally beautiful crater, Empakaai offers hiking opportunities with breathtaking views of the alkaline lake at its centre.
Flamingos often visit the lake, and the surrounding forests are home to various bird species and other wildlife. The hike to the crater floor is relatively challenging but rewarding with its stunning scenery and tranquillity.
Key Highlights:
Alkaline Lake: Often visited by flamingos.
Hiking: Offers stunning scenery and tranquillity.
Unique Fact:
The lake at Empakaai Crater is so alkaline that it can support only certain types of bacteria and algae.
A woman hiker with blond braid smiles at camera after hiking to the rim of the Olmoti Crater in Tanzania.
Another volcanic crater in the area, Olmoti is known for its picturesque waterfall and hiking trails. It’s a quieter spot compared to the main crater, providing a more secluded experience amidst nature. The hike to Munge Waterfall is a highlight, passing through scenic highland meadows and offering opportunities to see eland and bushbuck.
Key Highlights:
Munge Waterfall: A picturesque waterfall.
Secluded Hiking: Scenic trails through highland meadows.
Unique Fact:
Olmoti Crater is less visited, making it a peaceful retreat for nature lovers.
Massive herd of wildebeest in Ndutu, Serengeti National Park
Located on the border of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti, the Ndutu region is famous for the Great Migration. During the calving season (January to March), thousands of wildebeest and zebras give birth here, attracting numerous predators such as lions, cheetahs, and hyenas. This period offers spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities, with dramatic predator-prey interactions.
Key Highlights:
Great Migration: Witness thousands of wildebeest and zebras.
Calving Season: High predator activity with lions, cheetahs, and hyenas.
Unique Fact:
Ndutu’s calving season provides a unique opportunity to see newborn animals and predator interactions.
By exploring these diverse areas, visitors can fully experience the unique beauty and rich biodiversity of the Ngorongoro Crater and its surroundings.
Empakaai Crater
The second-largest crater in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Empakaai is almost 8km in diameter and its floor is dominated by a saline crater lake and enclosed by sheer 300m high walls that rise to an elevation of 3,200m on the eastern rim. On of East Africa’s most underrated and seldom-visited scenic gems, the crater lies about 90 minutes’ drive northeast of Ngorongoro Crater via the Embulbul Depression, a grassy bowl that which dips to below 2,350m at the base of the 3,260m Mount Losirua and 3,648m Lolmalasin (the highest point in the Crater Highlands). The view from the forested crater rim is fabulous, whether you look inward to the emerald green crater lake, its shallows frequently tinged pink by thousands of flamingos, or east across the Rift Valley to the ashen slopes and smoking fumaroles of volcanic Ol Doinyo Lengai, a scene that also takes in Lake Natron and snow-capped Kilimanjaro on a clear day. Empakaai offers a welcome opportunity to break the safari regime of twice-daily game drives with a stiff steep guided hike to the crater floor. The steep but scenic descent along a tolerably well-maintained footpath takes 45-60 minutes, longer if you’re looking out for the plentiful birds that inhabit the forested crater walls, and there’s also a chance of spotting bushbuck, buffalo, blue monkey and even elephant. Good walking shoes and a reasonable level of fitness are recommended.
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Heroes Point
Credit: Naona Moru Camp
Coming from the direction of Arusha, the road from Lodware Entrance Gate to the crater rim switchbacks uphill through fertile slopes swathed in Afromontane forest to Heroes Point, which is where most visitors catch their first breathtaking view to the crater floor. It is here that German conservationist and filmmaker Michael Grzimek (son of the legendary Professor Bernhard Grzimek of Serengeti Shall Not Die fame) was buried in 1959 after his tragic death in an aeroplane crash over the Serengeti at the age of 24. Look closely at the crater floor below and you should pick out a few hundred-strong herds of wildebeest, zebra and buffalo moving across the crater floor, as well as elephants on the edge of Lerai Forest or flamingos in the shallows of Lake Magadi.
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Lake Eyasi and the Hadzabe
Bounding the southern Ngorongoro Conservation Area at the base of the Rift Valley Escarpment, remote Lake Eyasi is a shallow soda lake prone to large fluctuations in area and level depending on local rainfall. Possessed of a certain desolate beauty, the surrounding dry savannah is home to the Hadza, or Hadzabe, a tribe of nomadic hunter-gatherers that numbers fewer than 100 individuals today and speaks a similar click language to the San people of Southern Africa. The overgrown village of Mang’ola is the most important settlement in the area, and the base from which it is usually possible to visit a family of these traditional nomads, who resolutely refuse to be coerced into a more settled agricultural or pastoral lifestyle, and join them on a hunting expedition in search of baboons, dik-dik or even mice, all of which are despatched with a traditional bow and arrow.
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Lake Natron and Ol Doinyo Lengai
Set within the Rift Valley on the eastern border of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Natron is perhaps the most starkly beautiful of all the Rift Valley lakes south of Turkana. Almost 60km long but nowhere more than a metre deep, this primordial alkaline sump is renowned for its caustic and unusually viscous waters, which are enclosed by a crust of volcanic ash and salt, as well as a few isolated swamp patches fed by bubbling hot springs. There is some large wildlife in the area, but Natron’s main faunal claim to fame is as the only known breeding ground for East Africa’s 2.5 million lesser flamingos, which congregate at an inaccessible part of the lake between August and October. Natron also attracts up to 100,000 migrant waders during the European winter. The main attraction close to the Natron is Ol Doinyo Lengai, the Maasai ‘Mountain of God’, a textbook volcano that rises more than 2km above the surrounding Rift Valley floor to an altitude of 2,960m. Probably the most active volcano in East Africa, Lengai has erupted at least a dozen times in the past 150 years, experienced almost continuous low-key activity over the last past century and a half, the most dramatic in recent years being over 2007, when it emitted an ashen steamy plume that travelled almost 20km downwind. The steep ascent of Lengai, ideally undertaken overnight to avoid sun exposure on the black shadeless slopes, is a popular hike with fit and adventurous travellers, at least when the volcano is sufficiently placid. It should only be undertaken with an experienced local guide, ideally leaving shortly before midnight to reach the crater rim for sunrise.
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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, remains an important component of this migratory ecosystem, a fact of which you will be in no doubt should you pass through the area en route to the Serengeti National Park during the rainy season (late November to early May), when large herds of wildebeest and other ungulates disperse across the short grass plains and calve en masse in February. At other times of year, the area is a good place to look for cheetah, bat-eared fox, eland and ostrich. The game viewing centrepiece of the region is Lake Ndutu, which straddles the Serengeti-Ngorongoro boundary at the epicentre of the wildebeest dispersal, when it offers truly dramatic game viewing.
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Oldupai Gorge
Two million years ago, the landscape of Ngorongoro Conservation Area looked very different to how it does today. Ngorongoro itself would have been an active volcano, taller perhaps than Kilimanjaro is now, and the seasonally parched plains at its western base were partially submerged beneath a seasonal lake that formed an important watering hole for our hominid ancestors. The fluctuating nature of this ancient lake led to a high level of stratification, one that accentuated by sporadic deposits of volcanic ash from Crater Highlands, creating ideal conditions for the fossilisation. Then, tens of thousands of years ago, fresh tectonic activity caused the land to tilt, leading to the formation of a new lake to the east and the creation of a seasonal river that cut through the former lakebed to expose layers of stratification up to 100m deep and a continuous archaeological and fossil record of life on the plains over the past two million years. Named after the Maasai word for the wild sisal that grows in the area, Oldupai Gorge is one of the richest palaeontological sites in East Africa. First excavated in 1931 by Professor Louis Leakey, it was here, in 1959, that Louis’s wife Mary Leakey unearthed a critical landmark in the history of palaeontology: the discovery of a fossilised cranium that provided the first conclusive evidence that hominid evolution stretched back over more than a million years and had been enacted on the plains of East Africa. Nicknamed ‘Nutcracker Man’ in reference to its bulky jawbone, the cranium belonged to a robust Australopithecine that had lived and died on the ancient lakeshore around 1.75 million years earlier, and while its antiquity would later be superseded by more ancient fossils unearthed in Ethiopia and Kenya, it rewrote the perceived timespan of human evolution, shot the Leakeys’ work to international prominence, and led to an a series of exciting new discoveries, including the first fossilised remains of Homo habilis. At nearby Laetoli, in 1976, four years after Louis’s death, Mary Leakey discovered footprints created more than three million years ago by a party of early hominids that had walked through a bed of freshly deposited volcanic ash – still the most ancient hominid footprints ever found.
Today, the original diggings can be explored with a guide, but the main attraction is an excellent site museum that lies a short distance off the main track connecting Ngorongoro Crater to Serengeti National Park. Displays include replicas of some of the more interesting hominid fossils unearthed at the site as well as the Laetoli footprints, along with genuine fossils of a menagerie of extinct oddities: a short-necked giraffe, a giant swine, an aquatic elephant and a bizarre antelope with long de-curved horns. Outside the museum, look out for colourful dry-country birds such as red-and-yellow barbet and purple grenadier.
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Olmoti Crater
Credit: Travel Buckhead
Another dramatic relic of the volcanic activity that shaped the Crater Highlands over the past ten million years, Olmoti – a Maasai name meaning Cooking Pot – is a sunken caldera whose rim is reached along a 30-minute footpath from the ranger post at Nainokanoka. Covered in grass and bisected by a river valley, this shallow crater doesn’t quite match Ngorongoro or Empakaai for scenery, but it is very pretty, and it offers good grazing to the local Maasai cattle and various antelope. Look out for pairs of augur buzzard cartwheeling high in the sky, and the cliff-loving Verreaux’s eagle. From the main viewpoint, a short footpath leads to the seasonal Munge Waterfall, where the eponymous river cascades out of the crater.
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Where to Go in Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater, part of the larger Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, gives you the chance to explore landscapes and rich wildlife experiences. Here are the key areas to explore:
1. Crater Floor
Calving Migration in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
The heart of the Ngorongoro Crater is its floor, spanning about 260 square kilometres. It’s the best place for wildlife viewing, with a high concentration of animals including lions, elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, zebras, wildebeests, and various antelope species.
Key spots include the Lerai Forest, where leopards and monkeys are often seen, Lake Magadi, known for its flamingos, and Gorigor Swamp, which attracts hippos and elephants.
Key Highlights:
Lerai Forest: Home to leopards and monkeys.
Lake Magadi: Known for its flamingos.
Gorigor Swamp: Attracts hippos and elephants.
Unique Fact:
The crater floor is one of the few places in Africa where you can see the critically endangered black rhino.
2. Crater Rim
Guests take in the view of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. | Photo credit: Pixabay
The rim of the crater offers stunning panoramic views and is home to several luxurious lodges and campsites.
It’s an excellent starting point for morning game drives into the crater. The highlands surrounding the rim provide opportunities for hiking and cultural interactions with the Maasai people. Lodges on the rim offer breathtaking sunrise views and easy access to the crater floor.
Key Highlights:
Panoramic Views: Stunning views from the crater rim.
Luxury Lodges: Offers breathtaking sunrise views.
Cultural Interactions: Opportunities to engage with the Maasai people.
Unique Fact:
The rim’s highlands are often shrouded in mist, adding to the mystical atmosphere of the area.
Located within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world.
Visitors can explore the museum and learn about the significant fossil discoveries that have provided insights into early human evolution. The site is often included in guided tours, offering a fascinating glimpse into the ancient past.
Key Highlights:
Museum: Features significant fossil discoveries.
Guided Tours: Offers insights into early human evolution.
Unique Fact:
Olduvai Gorge is known as the “Cradle of Mankind” due to its rich fossil findings.
A less-visited but equally beautiful crater, Empakaai offers hiking opportunities with breathtaking views of the alkaline lake at its centre.
Flamingos often visit the lake, and the surrounding forests are home to various bird species and other wildlife. The hike to the crater floor is relatively challenging but rewarding with its stunning scenery and tranquillity.
Key Highlights:
Alkaline Lake: Often visited by flamingos.
Hiking: Offers stunning scenery and tranquillity.
Unique Fact:
The lake at Empakaai Crater is so alkaline that it can support only certain types of bacteria and algae.
A woman hiker with blond braid smiles at camera after hiking to the rim of the Olmoti Crater in Tanzania.
Another volcanic crater in the area, Olmoti is known for its picturesque waterfall and hiking trails. It’s a quieter spot compared to the main crater, providing a more secluded experience amidst nature. The hike to Munge Waterfall is a highlight, passing through scenic highland meadows and offering opportunities to see eland and bushbuck.
Key Highlights:
Munge Waterfall: A picturesque waterfall.
Secluded Hiking: Scenic trails through highland meadows.
Unique Fact:
Olmoti Crater is less visited, making it a peaceful retreat for nature lovers.
Massive herd of wildebeest in Ndutu, Serengeti National Park
Located on the border of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti, the Ndutu region is famous for the Great Migration. During the calving season (January to March), thousands of wildebeest and zebras give birth here, attracting numerous predators such as lions, cheetahs, and hyenas. This period offers spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities, with dramatic predator-prey interactions.
Key Highlights:
Great Migration: Witness thousands of wildebeest and zebras.
Calving Season: High predator activity with lions, cheetahs, and hyenas.
Unique Fact:
Ndutu’s calving season provides a unique opportunity to see newborn animals and predator interactions.
By exploring these diverse areas, visitors can fully experience the unique beauty and rich biodiversity of the Ngorongoro Crater and its surroundings.
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When is the best month to travel to Ngorongoro Crater?
The best time to visit is during the dry seasons, from June to October and December to February. These periods offer the most favourable conditions for wildlife viewing and outdoor activities.
Ngorongoro Crater has a temperate climate characterised by rather chilly nights throughout the year but January is one of the warmest months, with an average daily maximum of 23°C and average minimum of 10°C. January generally marks the end of the so-called short rains, so it shouldn’t be all that wet, but the landscape retains a lush green appearance and the air tends to be crisp and clear. Ample resident mammal populations in the crater are further boosted by migrant herds of wildebeest as they disperse into the south of the Serengeti-Ngorongoro ecosystem, and the month also offers top notch bird watching thanks to the presence of large numbers of Palaearctic migrants and the tendency for many resident birds to display colourful breeding plumages during the rains.
As with January, February is one of the warmest months in this temperate destination, with an average daily maximum of 23°C, but night time temperatures typically drop around 10°C on the crater rim, so be prepared for cool evenings. February is the main cusp month between the so-called short rains and long rains, so rainfall is relatively low (the monthly average is 55m) but the landscape is lush and green. February is also the main calving season for the million-plus wildebeest that congregate in Serengeti-Ngorongoro border area at this time of year, and event that is not only spectacular in itself but that also tends to attract high concentrations of large predators (lion, spotted hyena and cheetah). Birdwatching is excellent to the presence of large numbers of Palaearctic migrants. For those combining a safari with a Kilimanjaro climb, February is one of the best times to tackle the great mountain. The one drawback of visiting in February is that this combination of positive factors attracts a high influx of tourists and corresponding volume of safari vehicles in the crater floor.
March is a relatively warm month in Ngorongoro, and one of the wettest. The average daily maximum is 22°C, night time temperatures on the crater rim typically drop to around 10°C, and the average annual rainfall is 135mm, though this tends to fall mostly in stormy bursts rather than long bouts of drizzle. The crater floor is lovely and green at this time of year, and there is plenty of wildlife around, not only on the carter floor itself, but also in the more westerly Serengeti border area, where the wildebeest migration is still concentrated in the immediate aftermath of the main calving season. For birders, most of the Palaearctic migrants are present, and many resident species are sporting colourful breeding plumages. Tourist volumes tend be slightly down from February, partly because the calving is over, partly because the monsoon season usually hits Zanzibar – the region’s most popular beach destination – in late March.
April is the wettest month in most parts of Tanzania, and Ngorongoro is no exception, with the crater rim receiving an average monthly rainfall of 220mm. This has no direct effect on wildlife viewing – on the contrary, wildlife populations within the crater are very high in April – but it does mean that a significant proportion of game drives are likely to be partly rained. Taking other parts of the country into account, April is also the peak of the monsoon season on Zanzibar and the coast, and the worst possible month for Kilimanjaro climbs. On a brighter note, at least for those who’ve no intention of climbing Kilimanjaro or exploring the coast, this weight of negative factors mean that tourist numbers on Tanzania’s northern safari circuit tend to bottom out in April, which makes it an excellent time to experience Ngorongoro and the Serengeti at their least crowded.
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 before the start of June. That said, for those whose visit to Tanzania is all about the northern safari circuit, May is a pretty good choice, as it tends to be very uncrowded, many hotels and lodges offer discounted rates.
June is arguably the optimum month to visit Ngorongoro Crater. The long rains should be over, but the scenery will still be green and lush, and the safari circuit remains relatively uncrowded, as peak tourist season only starts to kick in towards the end of the month or into July. Looking further afield, it is also a good month for Zanzibar beach holidays and Kilimanjaro climbs, and for catching the Serengeti migration as it moves northwest towards the Grumeti River. There are no real negatives other than that the crater rim will be pretty chilly (average daily maximum 19°C and nightly minimum 8°C) and the avian variety is relatively low.
July is a good month to visit Ngorongoro Crater. The long rains will be a distant memory, but the crater shouldn’t have dried out completely, and wildlife is prolific as ever. Further afield, July is also a good month for Zanzibar beach holidays and Kilimanjaro climbs, as well as for optimistic travellers hoping to catch the dramatic Grumeti river crossing as the Serengeti wildebeest march northward through the Western Corridor. Those hoping for an uncrowded safari should be aware that July usually marks the start of the high season in northern Tanzania. Together with June, it is the chilliest month on the crater rim (average daily maximum 19°C and nightly minimum 8°C) but this shouldn’t be a deterrent – just bring plenty of warm clothing.
August is one of the driest months in Ngorongoro Crater, and with the long rains having ended two to three months ago, the landscape will be looking parched, yellow and dusty. This makes it easier to see predators on the open plains, so it is great for wildlife spotting, but the hazy skies and starker scenery tends to be less rewarding than wetter time of year for photography. It is also peak safari season, with the wildebeest migration now dispersed along the Mara river in the northern Serengeti and plenty of wildlife activity in Tarangire National Park, whilst also being popular for Zanzibar beach holidays, so things tend to be quite crowded. August is the one of the chilliest months on the crater rim (average daily maximum 20°C and nightly minimum 8°C) so bring plenty of warm clothing.
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 season in northern Tanzania – as is the case in August, the wildebeest migration will be concentrated around the Mara river in the northern Serengeti and there’s plenty of wildlife activity in Tarangire National Park – as well as popular for Zanzibar beach holidays, so things tend to be quite crowded. The crater rim is quite chilly in September (average daily maximum 21°C and nightly minimum 8°C) so bring plenty of warm clothing.
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.
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 the migrating herds of wildebeest and zebra pouring into the Serengeti-Ngorongoro border area after spending the dry season further north, and many animals start breeding at this time of year. For birders, the first of the Palaearctic migrants usually arrive in November. Further afield, November isn’t the greatest month for a beach holiday on Zanzibar or for climbing Kilimanjaro, so Ngorongoro tends to be less crowded than average.
The short rains that started in October continue into December, which is actually the third wettest month in Ngorongoro, receiving an average annual rainfall of 135mm. It is also relatively warm, with average daily temperatures ranging from a minimum of 10°C to a maximum of 22°C. Coming after the long dry season, the rain tends to feel rejuvenated, lending a fresh spring-like feel to the crater and initiating plenty of breeding activity among mammals and birds alike. Wildlife is plentiful, with the migrating herds now concentrated in the Serengeti-Ngorongoro border area, and the influx of Palaearctic migrants is delightful for birders.
Ngorongoro in January
Credit: Kusini Camp
Ngorongoro Crater has a temperate climate characterised by rather chilly nights throughout the year but January is one of the warmest months, with an average daily maximum of 23°C and average minimum of 10°C. January generally marks the end of the so-called short rains, so it shouldn’t be all that wet, but the landscape retains a lush green appearance and the air tends to be crisp and clear. Ample resident mammal populations in the crater are further boosted by migrant herds of wildebeest as they disperse into the south of the Serengeti-Ngorongoro ecosystem, and the month also offers top notch bird watching thanks to the presence of large numbers of Palaearctic migrants and the tendency for many resident birds to display colourful breeding plumages during the rains.
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Ngorongoro in February
As with January, February is one of the warmest months in this temperate destination, with an average daily maximum of 23°C, but night time temperatures typically drop around 10°C on the crater rim, so be prepared for cool evenings. February is the main cusp month between the so-called short rains and long rains, so rainfall is relatively low (the monthly average is 55m) but the landscape is lush and green. February is also the main calving season for the million-plus wildebeest that congregate in Serengeti-Ngorongoro border area at this time of year, and event that is not only spectacular in itself but that also tends to attract high concentrations of large predators (lion, spotted hyena and cheetah). Birdwatching is excellent to the presence of large numbers of Palaearctic migrants. For those combining a safari with a Kilimanjaro climb, February is one of the best times to tackle the great mountain. The one drawback of visiting in February is that this combination of positive factors attracts a high influx of tourists and corresponding volume of safari vehicles in the crater floor.
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Ngorongoro in March
March is a relatively warm month in Ngorongoro, and one of the wettest. The average daily maximum is 22°C, night time temperatures on the crater rim typically drop to around 10°C, and the average annual rainfall is 135mm, though this tends to fall mostly in stormy bursts rather than long bouts of drizzle. The crater floor is lovely and green at this time of year, and there is plenty of wildlife around, not only on the carter floor itself, but also in the more westerly Serengeti border area, where the wildebeest migration is still concentrated in the immediate aftermath of the main calving season. For birders, most of the Palaearctic migrants are present, and many resident species are sporting colourful breeding plumages. Tourist volumes tend be slightly down from February, partly because the calving is over, partly because the monsoon season usually hits Zanzibar – the region’s most popular beach destination – in late March.
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Ngorongoro in April
April is the wettest month in most parts of Tanzania, and Ngorongoro is no exception, with the crater rim receiving an average monthly rainfall of 220mm. This has no direct effect on wildlife viewing – on the contrary, wildlife populations within the crater are very high in April – but it does mean that a significant proportion of game drives are likely to be partly rained. Taking other parts of the country into account, April is also the peak of the monsoon season on Zanzibar and the coast, and the worst possible month for Kilimanjaro climbs. On a brighter note, at least for those who’ve no intention of climbing Kilimanjaro or exploring the coast, this weight of negative factors mean that tourist numbers on Tanzania’s northern safari circuit tend to bottom out in April, which makes it an excellent time to experience Ngorongoro and the Serengeti at their least crowded.
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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 before the start of June. That said, for those whose visit to Tanzania is all about the northern safari circuit, May is a pretty good choice, as it tends to be very uncrowded, many hotels and lodges offer discounted rates.
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Ngorongoro in June
June is arguably the optimum month to visit Ngorongoro Crater. The long rains should be over, but the scenery will still be green and lush, and the safari circuit remains relatively uncrowded, as peak tourist season only starts to kick in towards the end of the month or into July. Looking further afield, it is also a good month for Zanzibar beach holidays and Kilimanjaro climbs, and for catching the Serengeti migration as it moves northwest towards the Grumeti River. There are no real negatives other than that the crater rim will be pretty chilly (average daily maximum 19°C and nightly minimum 8°C) and the avian variety is relatively low.
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Ngorongoro in July
July is a good month to visit Ngorongoro Crater. The long rains will be a distant memory, but the crater shouldn’t have dried out completely, and wildlife is prolific as ever. Further afield, July is also a good month for Zanzibar beach holidays and Kilimanjaro climbs, as well as for optimistic travellers hoping to catch the dramatic Grumeti river crossing as the Serengeti wildebeest march northward through the Western Corridor. Those hoping for an uncrowded safari should be aware that July usually marks the start of the high season in northern Tanzania. Together with June, it is the chilliest month on the crater rim (average daily maximum 19°C and nightly minimum 8°C) but this shouldn’t be a deterrent – just bring plenty of warm clothing.
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Ngorongoro in August
August is one of the driest months in Ngorongoro Crater, and with the long rains having ended two to three months ago, the landscape will be looking parched, yellow and dusty. This makes it easier to see predators on the open plains, so it is great for wildlife spotting, but the hazy skies and starker scenery tends to be less rewarding than wetter time of year for photography. It is also peak safari season, with the wildebeest migration now dispersed along the Mara river in the northern Serengeti and plenty of wildlife activity in Tarangire National Park, whilst also being popular for Zanzibar beach holidays, so things tend to be quite crowded. August is the one of the chilliest months on the crater rim (average daily maximum 20°C and nightly minimum 8°C) so bring plenty of warm clothing.
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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 season in northern Tanzania – as is the case in August, the wildebeest migration will be concentrated around the Mara river in the northern Serengeti and there’s plenty of wildlife activity in Tarangire National Park – as well as popular for Zanzibar beach holidays, so things tend to be quite crowded. The crater rim is quite chilly in September (average daily maximum 21°C and nightly minimum 8°C) so bring plenty of warm clothing.
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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.
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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 the migrating herds of wildebeest and zebra pouring into the Serengeti-Ngorongoro border area after spending the dry season further north, and many animals start breeding at this time of year. For birders, the first of the Palaearctic migrants usually arrive in November. Further afield, November isn’t the greatest month for a beach holiday on Zanzibar or for climbing Kilimanjaro, so Ngorongoro tends to be less crowded than average.
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Ngorongoro in December
The short rains that started in October continue into December, which is actually the third wettest month in Ngorongoro, receiving an average annual rainfall of 135mm. It is also relatively warm, with average daily temperatures ranging from a minimum of 10°C to a maximum of 22°C. Coming after the long dry season, the rain tends to feel rejuvenated, lending a fresh spring-like feel to the crater and initiating plenty of breeding activity among mammals and birds alike. Wildlife is plentiful, with the migrating herds now concentrated in the Serengeti-Ngorongoro border area, and the influx of Palaearctic migrants is delightful for birders.
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