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Terry Divyak
Visited:
November 2014
Reviewed: Jun 15, 2015
Ngorongoro Crater was one of my favorite places to be in Tanzania. We stayed on the rim in the Serena Lodge and the stars at night were brilliant and I was lucky enough to have a full moon night while there too. The amount of wildlife in the crater was almost mind boggling with scenes looking like the garden of eden with many species of animals all gathered together.
nore2025
US
Visited:
January 2015
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
Email nore2025 | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of the seven natural wonders of Africa. The crater is amazing and a must see when you are in Tanzania.
Gaston Maqueda
CA
Visited:
November 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
Email Gaston Maqueda | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excelent, excelent, excelent but a little bit expensive.
Colin S. Johnson Photography
US
Visited:
November 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most unique places I have ever seen. You literally are deep inside of an extinct volcano crater that is so massive you could fit three Washington, DC's inside of it. The best place in the world to see Black Rhinos in the wild. It was almost like being in a natural theme park. An incredible place that must be given two days minumum to enjoy. So much to see and the animals have little movement so they are easy to find. But the rhinos are scarce even in the crater. I could have spent a week here and still wanted more. An incredible experience.
Tom Robinson
GB
Visited:
October 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
Email Tom Robinson | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A relatively small area with quite concentrated wildlife populations. This is your only realistic chance of seeing a rhino! If you like your birds you will see a lot of kori and black kites. We also saw lots of lions and even a serval cat here!
Rontswan
Visited:
August 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
Don Petersen
Visited:
July 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
Beautiful park and the chance to see rhinos. Amazing sunsets, and wonderful accommodations.
Khurram Khan
US
Visited:
March 2014
Reviewed: May 29, 2015
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very satisfied
Most people are interested in the wildlife. As far as that is concerned it is a mixed bag. Lions are plenty but depending on where they are in the crater they can be hard to find and photograph. I am not sure if there are leopards or cheetahs in the crater, but we never saw.
There are definitely a lot of grazers and interaction between the predators and prey can be fascinating if it is close to the road otherwise the action may be too far away. You can get very close to Cape Buffalo, Wildebeest, Zebras and of-course African
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Elephants.From a birding perspective be on the look out as you descend the crater early in the morning. There is a vast diversity of avian life form and they are not shy at all. The accommodations surrounding the Crater are truly amazing for the most part. As far as I am concerned every time I go to Tanzania, I always make a stop at the crater.
sunshine051469
US
Visited:
July 2014
Reviewed: May 26, 2015
Email sunshine051469 | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nature at its finest comes to life
The highlight for me is always the big cats. We were fortunate to see a live kill of a cape buffalo by one of the prides. Visible there were three males, two females and three cubs taking part in the feast. I have photos showing the feast commencing. It is was also interesting
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to note the dynamics among species. For example the it was clear the hyenas were alerting the lions to the fact the vultures were approaching. As a reward the lions allow the hyena to take part in the feast. The jackals had to wait their turn as did the vultures. Seeing a kill on TV is one thing, seeing it in person is entirely different you will not want to look away.The Ngorongoro Crater is an unfilled volcanic caldera. We drove down about 2000 feet to get to the floor of the crater. This takes about 30 mins. There is a salt lake in the center and other tributaries that support the biodiversity in the area. The ride through the park can be rough. For the most part we arrived early in the day so it was overcast but that did not lessen the experience.
Again for me it was about the animals so to share what you will see in order of plenty:
Wildebeest-- many (and you get real close to them)
Zebra-- many (and you get real close to them)
Hippo -- many (and you get real close to them)
Lions -- many (and you get real close to them but from the truck!)
Hyenas -- many
Jackals -- many
Rabbits--many
Cape Buffalo --many
Leopard -- few
Rhino --few
Overall I highly recommend the tour. Do not settle for the 2 hour tour either. It will take you 30 mins down and 30 mins up. Take a day tour wherever possible. It is well worth it.
António Mesquita
PT
Visited:
July 2014
Reviewed: May 23, 2015
Email António Mesquita | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A truly magical experience, taking me hundreds of years back in time!
On waking up early the next morning, the whole place was covered in fog. The slow descend from the 2100m peak to the bottom set the pace followed by an increase in my heart beat from emotions and expectations. As the 4WD went down and the mist slowly faded away, a feeling of time travel to the past filled the atmosphere.
Surprisingly, the first animals spotted were cows, taken care by Maasai farmers. As explained by our guide, they manage to live in harmony with the predators in the crater (apparently the Maasai rub the bodies of the cattle with a smelly protective herb in order to keep lions away.) What a surprise to witness cows and wild predators living so close to each other.
As the vehicle drove along the caldera roads, wildlife popped up like popcorns. In fact, this place has one of the highest
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concentrations of wildlife in Africa.Roaming along we came across ostriches, buffalos, wildebeests, zebras, elephants and many different birds. These are cool animals for first time safaris but the interesting game was yet to come.
Lions were resting on the road and along the side of the road like true kings. Probably their last moments in the open before going away to rest for the day.
Lions are nocturnal and sleep up to 20 hours a day. One can tell they are nocturnal because the area below their eyes is white, just like leopards, to reflect moonlight. Cheetahs, on the other hand, hunt during the day and have black stripes to aid their vision.
We saw a lioness guiding her 4 cubs to safety in the tall grass before leaving for a hunt. It was impossible to tell where the cubs were just moments after their mother left them. We didn't follow the hunt and continued roaming in this nostalgic and amazing reserve until after lunch.
A truly magical time travelling experience, the ancient caldera definitely lives up to its name.
A must see.