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StoufferLSU
US
Visited:
May 2015
Reviewed: Aug 21, 2015
Email StoufferLSU | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I wasn't that keen on the crater at first- it seems almost like a zoo. But it is spectacularly beautiful and loaded with great mammals. Birding could be great if you had the money and time to really go after it, but that's not possible for most visitors.
Destination of rare beauty
We stayed at the Simba camping ground at Ngorongoro national reserve, which offers decent commodities - fair amount of bathrooms and showers for the amount of people that stayed there with us, also providing streaming water throughout the entire day. Another important fact - the water at Ngorongoro is said to be drinkable, since it's pumped from mountain-side springs. We did use the water for drinking and experienced zero side effects.
The beauty of the crater is built from several aspects - it being a high ground (allows experiencing night sky like never before and having chilly weather throughout the year), covered in green vegetation at the peaks and naturally surrounding a marvelous open area within.
It's great to watch all the animals inside the crater, walking
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freely, slowly moving from one source of food to the other. While in the Seregeti you'll encounter mostly savannas, in the Ngorongoro crater you can cross various types of terrain within a couple of hours - from high mountain peaks covered in green vegetation, to salt lakes, streams, river, fresh lakes and savannas.I wish I'd have stayed several days at the Ngorongoro crater instead of just a single day.
echinsf97
US
Visited:
June 2015
Reviewed: Aug 1, 2015
Email echinsf97 | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful scenery
The scenery and wildlife in the Crater was truly breathtaking. As a hobbyist photographer, the early morning clouds with the sunrise creates a really unique photo ops for you landscape photographers. Wildebeasts are abundant in the park, but watching them on the move or stampeding is really a site to behold. We almost checked off all of the Big 5 except the Rhino. This seemed to be the most elusive to track down in the park, so was a bit disappointed - but that does not take away from the overall experience visiting Ngorongoro. I would highly recommend this park to anyone planning a safari.
Rich Vliet
US
Visited:
July 2015
Reviewed: Aug 1, 2015
Email Rich Vliet | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our trip to the Ngorongoro Crater was fantastic!
Our trip to and stay at the Ngorongoro Crater was a very good part of our overall safari experience. This was our second stay at a high altitude lodge on our trip, so we were prepared for the temperature differential between the base of the crater and the rim. The varying terrain at the crater was fascinating, and there was a larger variety of wildlife than we originally anticipated. The accommodations we had were great - we stayed at the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge and I would highly recommend it. Our room looked out on the crater from the top of the rim, and we even had a few Waterbuck grazing right outside of our room early in the evening! Our guide was part of Grumeti Expeditions, and was very knowledgeable about the crater and the general area.
Overall, I would highly recommend including the Ngorongoro Crater as part of an overall safari package.
SRIDHAR
EG
Visited:
July 2015
Reviewed: Jul 31, 2015
Email SRIDHAR | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Anders
NO
Visited:
August 2014
Reviewed: Jul 28, 2015
Email Anders | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ngorongoro is a great place to spot African wildlife, mainly because all the animals are "locked" into a small place. While all the wildebeasts in the Serengeti wander off to Kenya once a year, all the animals in Ngorongoro live there all the year around. The opportunity to see dramatic lion hunts or similar is bigger than in Serengeti. In other words you can probably spot more animals in shorter time than you will in Serengeti, which of course is much, much bigger.
Diana023
CA
Visited:
January 2015
Reviewed: Jul 24, 2015
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mind blowing scenery and such concentration of wildlife in a few kilometres is inconceivable till you see it.
Pinar Erc
TR
Visited:
July 2015
Reviewed: Jul 18, 2015
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Heaven on earth
The scenery is excellent. Very suitable for safari if you have short time. All land is visible, you can spot lots of animals in a short time. A little bit cold in the rim. It is a must if you are travelling to Tanzania for safari.
Donal C Wells
Visited:
June 2015
Reviewed: Jul 12, 2015
The Land That Time Forgot
Photographers should take their longest telephoto lenses ((I used my 150-600mm zoom the most), but there are many occasions, as when a lion
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pride or elephant walks right in front of your vehicle, that a normal or wide angle lens is essential. The rhino is the rarest animal (we were very lucky to see seven) and keeps its distance. so even with a 600mm I couldn't fill a frame.If possible find accommodations on the rim. Think hard before spending big bucks for a room view into the Crater, because it's often obscured by mist and clouds. We loved our stay at the Rhino Lodge--excellent food, comfortable, rustic rooms, attentive staff, and exceptional service. When we had three flats in our own Land Cruiser and needed assistance driving up from Serengeti, Rhino Lodge sent us a Land Cruiser and two guides to shepherd us up the last two hours after dark. (Cost? $25) The manager and his wife met us and kept our dinner warm.
Rhino Lodge also arranged a Land Cruiser, excellent box lunch and guide (Peter) for our day trip into the Crater, and it was a day all of us will treasure forever. Nothing like a knowledgable, friendly driver/guide, a pop-top for viewing and ten hours watching thousands of animals in a habitat they chose to live in.
Be prepared for very cool and damp weather on the rim and even in the Crater early and late--down sweater or Polartec and a rain jacket will do--and a light shirt for the warm, sunny days.
Davide Manicardi
IT
Visited:
August 2012
Reviewed: Jul 12, 2015
Email Davide Manicardi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
so big variety of animals in a limited zone.
so easy to see rare animals because the different guides coperate with each other