People sometimes call it Africa's Garden of Eden: the Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact volcanic caldera that never filled with water, a self-contained ecosystem walled in by a 600-metre rim, and one of the densest concentrations of wildlife anywhere on the continent. This full-day trip takes you down onto the crater floor for a long game drive among lion, elephant, buffalo, hippo and the crater's black rhino, across a floor of grassland, swamp and soda lake with the rim rising around you.
Day HighlightsYour guide picks you up from your Arusha or Karatu hotel before sunrise for the drive up to the Ngorongoro Crater rim, with views over the highlands on the way.
Descend the steep crater access road onto the caldera floor for a long morning game drive across open grassland, swamp and soda lake, tracking lion, elephant, buffalo and the crater's black rhino.
Break for a picnic lunch in the shade of the Lerai Forest, a spot elephants favour and where black-and-white colobus monkeys turn up regularly (leopard sightings are more down to luck).
Continue the game drive toward Lake Magadi to check for flamingos, then climb back up to the crater rim and return to your hotel by early evening.
The Ngorongoro Crater offers strong game viewing all year, since most of its wildlife stays inside the caldera rather than migrating out. June to October brings the driest, clearest conditions, while January and February bring milder weather and, most years, newborn wildebeest calves on the surrounding plains.
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