Safari

Ngorongoro Crater

The world's largest intact volcanic caldera, and the densest game in Tanzania.

Ngorongoro is the largest unbroken volcanic caldera on earth: 260 km² of crater floor, walls rising 600 m, and somewhere around 25,000 large animals living inside it. It is the most reliable place in Tanzania to see all of the Big Five in a single morning, and one of the few places with a real chance of black rhino.

A day on the crater floor

You descend at dawn, when the light is best and the cats are still moving. Lion, elephant, buffalo, hippo and flamingo on Lake Magadi are near-certain; black rhino is a matter of luck and a good spotter.

A conservation area, not a park

Ngorongoro is unusual: Maasai families continue to graze cattle on the highlands alongside the wildlife. It is a working landscape as much as a protected one.

Olduvai Gorge

An hour away, the gorge where the Leakeys found hominin remains dating back nearly two million years — worth the stop on the way to the Serengeti.

Trips that include Ngorongoro Crater

About Ngorongoro Crater

Can you see the Big Five in one day?

Often, yes. Lion, elephant, buffalo and rhino all live on the crater floor; leopard is the one that usually holds out.

How long do you spend in the crater?

A full morning. Vehicles must be off the crater floor by late afternoon, so an early descent matters.

Plan this journey

Tell us your dates and we will build it around you.

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