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Marc Whitlock
GB
Visited:
August 2015
Reviewed: Sep 3, 2015
Email Marc Whitlock | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A breathtaking journey to a magical place with a surprise around every corner
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course our accommodation and a peaceful night's sleep.Our driver, Chaz could not have been any more accommodating. He was very knowledgeable and could be relied upon to tell us about the culture, flora and forna of the area; occasionally pulling to a halt, en route to the reserve, to show us animals he had spotted (on one occasion Masai Giraffes). He had also advised us to make an early start to make the most of the day and we were so glad that he did. The Ngorongoro Crater itself is one of the natural wonders of the world and our first view of it was breathtaking, in its beauty and sheer scale! (260 square kms). We wound our way down the 600m to the crater floor. If you are an animal lover (or even if you are not) this is heaven! We saw everything we hoped to see and so much more. Chaz's keen eye spotted animals we would never have otherwise seen and he was always on hand to identify animals for us. On the day we went, the weather was warm and sunny and perfect for taking pictures or for seeing more elusive animals through our binoculars (like black rhino!). It was surprising how close we could get to wild animals in their natural environment: elephants, lions, wildebeest, zebras, hippos, buffalo, baboons, ostrich, hyaena, gazelles and so much more. All from the safety of the 4X4! We only had the 2 of us and our driver in the car and this allowed us a little more flexibility, I think. Chaz was always happy to stop when we asked him or drive to where we could view animals we had a particular interest in and he played a big part in making the trip so special and one we will never forget. A MUST for anyone who finds themselves in Tanzania!
Diana Moss
ZA
Visited:
June 2015
Reviewed: Sep 3, 2015
Email Diana Moss | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A once in a lifetime experience.
We went to the Ngorongoro Crater in our own vehicle (on a self-drive safari) and it was a great experience. The roads are well kept, and the camping was excellent. We saw great sightings like a white rhino, lions in the forest and more antelope, zebra & gnu herds than you can shake a stick at. It's also wonderful seeing the Maasai with their herds in and around the crater, where they live.
Stefan van Schaik
NL
Visited:
August 2015
Reviewed: Aug 31, 2015
Email Stefan van Schaik | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An amazing and majestic experience that should be on everyone's bucketlist
There isn't another place in the world where there are more wild animals per square miles as in this crater. Everywhere you look, you will see animals. What makes it more special is the amount of different animals that are living in this crater. There is a chance to see almost everything exept giraffes (they cant climb down the steep walls), cheeta's and leopards becouse of the territorial lions and huge amount of hyena's. For the lucky ones there is also a chance to see a glimp of the extremely endangered black rhino.
Scenery:
However the crater isn't big, there is a big variety of scenery. At first, when you drive down, you will see a kind of bush against the steep walls. On the floor there are two small forrests (good spots for elephant and birds), some small lakes and a river (good chance to see hippo's and grey crowned cranes), a salty lake full of minerals and of course the savanna.
Transportation:
The
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only way to visit this crater is by small jeeps. They are realy comforteble and have open roofs so you realy can see in any direction.The roads are sandy and bumpy but thats the beauty of Africa.
Guide:
Our guide was a realy friendly person who had alot of knowledge of the African wildlife. They also know the greatest spots for observing animals. Just ask what you want to see and they will drive towards it.
Higlights:
1: There are two picknickspots in this game reserve where you have permission to leave the car. One is in a small forrest and another at one of the most beautiful lakes in Tanzania where you can observe some hippo's from a realy close but safely distance. There are also some special birds at picknickspot 2 like: great white pelican, african spooners and lesser flamingo.
2: If you are lucky then there is a chance to see some black maned lions or black rhino's at the savanna.
3: Viewpoint when you have left the crater. It's on top of the crater and if the sky is clear, you realy have a good view that's breathtaking.
The Ngorongoro crater has also lots of kind of birds. Especially in the forrests and at the small lakes. It also has the most biggest amount of grey crowned cranes that i have ever seen before. Sometimes in groups of 100 and more.
Also see: www.natuurfotografiestefan.jimdo.com for some beautiful images that i have taken in this crater and on my journey trough Kenya and Tanzania.
Mustafa Kasapoglu
TR
Visited:
July 2015
Reviewed: Aug 29, 2015
Email Mustafa Kasapoglu | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The are has been naturally well protected. Because the creter has been surrounded by the mountains and the wild like has been surrounded like in a natural pool. The guides and and the animals seem to have agreed in timing. Every morning during the animals breakfast the guides are driving the visitors to watch the game. Hyenas are almost ther at the same place every morning.
Nicole
BE
Visited:
December 2014
Reviewed: Aug 28, 2015
Email Nicole | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The density of wildlife was overwhelming and seeing two rhinos was the highlight of that spot.
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.
Aviram Ostrovsky
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