Ngorongoro Crater
Crater of the Maasai
From - $650
per person, sharing
Destination Overview
Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact volcanic caldera, formed when a giant stratovolcano collapsed on itself nearly three million years ago. The walls rise 600 metres above a floor of 260 square kilometres, holding a permanent population of more than 25,000 large mammals inside what is effectively a natural amphitheatre. Standing at the rim before descent, you look down on grasslands, the soda waters of Lake Magadi and the Lerai fever tree forest, with the haze of cooking fires drifting up from the Maasai bomas scattered along the slopes.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is unique in East Africa as a multiple use protected area, which means semi nomadic Maasai pastoralists graze their cattle alongside wildlife, exactly as they have for centuries. The arrangement gives Ngorongoro a cultural depth missing from the strictly protected national parks, and a cultural walk with a Maasai elder is one of the most rewarding half days on any northern circuit itinerary.
The crater floor itself is a closed ecosystem. It holds one of the densest lion populations on earth, an isolated breeding group of black rhino, large herds of buffalo and wildebeest, big tusker elephants drawn to the Lerai forest, hippo pods in the Mandusi swamp and tens of thousands of greater and lesser flamingo on Lake Magadi when conditions are right. The leopard population is small but resident, golden jackal and serval are seen regularly, and the bird list runs past 500 species.
Beyond the crater itself, the conservation area includes Olduvai Gorge with its early human fossil record, the smaller and quieter Empakaai and Olmoti craters for guided hiking, and the Ndutu plains in the south, which become the calving grounds of the Great Migration between December and March. Western Bridge Africa usually pairs a crater morning with one or two nights on the rim, which puts our vehicles at the descent road before the day visitor crowd arrives.
Related Tours
Tours that visit Ngorongoro Crater
2 days
2-Day Tanzania Safari
Two days inside Tanzania's most iconic landscapes, Tarangire's elephant herds on day one, the Ngorongoro caldera floor on day two.
From $650
3 days
3-Day Tanzania Safari
Three days, three landscapes, baobab country, the endless plain of the Serengeti, and the great crater. The shortest itinerary that reaches the Serengeti.
From $950
4 days
4-Day Tanzania Safari
Four days at a slightly slower cadence, all four flagship parks of the Northern Circuit, with two nights in the Serengeti or a Manyara extension.
From $1,250
5 days
5-Day Tanzania Mid-Season Safari
Our most-booked private itinerary, five unhurried days across the Northern Circuit, with two nights in the Serengeti and a full day in the Ngorongoro Crater.
From $1,500
6 days
6-Day Wildebeest Migration Safari
Designed to follow the wildebeest migration through whichever month you travel, calving in Ndutu, the long march through Seronera, or the Mara River crossings.
From $1,700
7 days
7-Day Northern Circuit Safari
Our most complete Northern Circuit, seven unhurried days through every flagship park, with two nights in the Serengeti and a full day in the Ngorongoro Crater.
From $1,950
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