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User Reviews of Ngorongoro Crater (593 Reviews)

Ngorongoro Crater Safaris Ngorongoro Crater
Sort By: Date Most Helpful 51-60 of 86 Reviews

Average User Rating

4.7841 / 5 4.8 /5
4.7885 / 5 4.8479 / 5 4.2421 / 5 4.3401 / 5

Rating Breakdown

5 star 487 / 10 487
4 star 86 / 10 86
3 star 19 / 10 19
2 star 0 / 10 0
1 star 1 / 10 1
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Male avatar icon Xavier Switzerland flag CH       Visited: August 2016 Reviewed: Aug 27, 2016

Email Xavier  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

4 / 5 4 /5
5 / 5 2 / 5 5 / 5 4 / 5

Stunning but way too crowded!

Female avatar icon princetontigeruk Kenya flag KE       Visited: December 2015 Reviewed: Jul 17, 2016

Email princetontigeruk  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

4 / 5 4 /5
3 / 5 2 / 5 5 / 5 / 5

You have to be in Ngorongoro on the right day to experience all the wildlife that prospers there. Sometimes you can be just unlucky. But the crater is an amazing sight - it is so vast that you cannot see it all properly in one go. It is worth going but be prepared to have an "off" day.

Male avatar icon Tom United States flag US       Visited: February 2016 Reviewed: Jul 14, 2016

Email Tom  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Excellent but crowded

4 / 5 4 /5
5 / 5 2 / 5 5 / 5 3 / 5

The Ngorongoro Crater offers both amazing experiences and large crowds due to its smaller size. It's one of the best places in Tanzania to see rhinos, and in general the wildlife is very accustomed to vehicles so you can get a close view of interesting behavior. On the downside, everyone makes it a stop on their safari, so it can get quite busy. We had a rhino near the road on our trip, and I counted at least 35 vehicles jockeying for position to see it. Certainly not a feeling of being out in the wilderness!

Male avatar icon Hari L Ratan India flag IN       Visited: February 2016 Reviewed: Mar 18, 2016

Email Hari L Ratan  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Easy wildlife spotting and in quick succession

4 / 5 4 /5
4 / 5 3 / 5 4 / 5 3 / 5
We left our hotel rather early in the morning to enter the crater hoping to leave behind the crowd. A large number of sightings and in quick succession are possible as the crater or in fact the Ngorongoro Caldera holds a variety of mammals and birds. All mammals are contained within the crater and most of them live here till they die, without easy access to the outside world.

Within a few minutes of entering the Crater we were rewarded with a sighting of a Serval cat, which according to our driver is not rare but difficult to spot. Then started a series of spottings, rhinos, elephants, gazelles, hyenas, lions, kori bustards, wildebeests, ape buffalos and many birds.

If in a short while one wants a taste of African wildlife then one must visit the Ngorongoro crater.

Go there early in the morning and take in the wonderful landscape in the early morning sun. The landscape changes with every minutes with the sun changing the quality of light swiftly.
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In a couple of hours and after more than 20 minutes with the black rhinos we decided to drive over to Ngoitokitok Springs for our breakfast, Ngoitokitok means a bubbly spring and this is a great spot to spend some time watching the Hippos grunting, coming close to the shore and staying away at a respectful distance. Weaver and other birds coming over to share your food, the ducks making noise all add to the wonder of this place. A drive to Lake Magadi to watch the flamingos though from a distance and at the same time watch the numerous mammals that graze there will make one believe that this a Garden of Eden.

The walls of the crater offer a great background for photographing the animals here in the open crater and this along with the quality of light make it a photographers delight.

No visit to Tanzania can be complete without a visit to Ngorongoro crater.
Female avatar icon Mildred Theunisz Netherlands flag NL       Visited: July 2015 Reviewed: Feb 21, 2016

Email Mildred Theunisz  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

4 / 5 4 /5
4 / 5 4 / 5 5 / 5 / 5

It is a natural wonder, but we found that the wildlife was less overwhelming than in Serengeti and Tarangire. We spotted a rhino far away. But hey, we can tick the box of the Big 5. Certainly a wonder that you want to visit. But one day is enough.

Avatar icon Muntaka Chasant Ghana flag GH       Visited: November 2015 Reviewed: Feb 17, 2016

Email Muntaka Chasant

A once in a lifetime experience that makes me wish I'm back on the caldera floor everyday.

4 / 5 4 /5
4 / 5 3 / 5 5 / 5 / 5

It was an excellent safari drive on the caldera floor, and to our surprise, we bumped into a zebra with a hump like a camel. The Mirror (online) UK and Solent News carried this story. The floor of the crater is littered with zebras running and playing, hyenas, lioness and several other species. We even spotted a black rhino!

Overall, it was an amazing experience that I recommend to every wildlife enthusiast.

Avatar icon Matthijs United States flag US       Visited: June 2015 Reviewed: Feb 1, 2016

Email Matthijs

Great to visit for a day

4 / 5 4 /5
4 / 5 3 / 5 5 / 5 / 5

The Ngorongoro Crater is a beautiful, Garden of Eden-like park where lots of wildlife lives together in the relatively small crater. It is the place to spot a rhino. Be sure to be there early in the morning when the gate opens to beat the crowds.

Female avatar icon K Snow United States flag US       Visited: January 2016 Reviewed: Jan 17, 2016

Email K Snow  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Best chance at seeing a rhino

4 / 5 4 /5
5 / 5 3 / 5 5 / 5 / 5

The crater is a must-see destination for it's overall beauty and number of animals in such a compact location. But more importantly, it is your best chance at seeing the black rhino in the wild. We saw two of the 20+ rhinos that reside in the crater. Compared to the Serengeti, where we saw none, this is your best chance. Another interesting surprise is the Maasai herding cattle in the crater. It is quite a contrast to see the wild herd animals aside the cattle.

Avatar icon Elaine Canada flag CA       Visited: October 2015 Reviewed: Dec 28, 2015

Email Elaine

Excellent day at the start of a 9 day safari adventure

4 / 5 4 /5
5 / 5 2 / 5 5 / 5 2 / 5

We arrived in time to have lunch overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater from our hotel. We were up before sunrise and set out to the gates. As the first vehicle into the crater, we instantly spotted a white rhino. From there we experienced the sunrise over the crater as we continued to see all the animals we had dreamed of seeing on safari, including lions finishing off a meal from the night before, elephants, ostriches, baboons. We had breakfast looking out over the hippo pool - very scenic and beautiful spot for a rest. Later on, we were fortunate to be able to see a serval cat hunting its prey. We headed back out of the crater in time for a late lunch. Prior to departure for the Serengeti, we enjoyed one last sunrise over the crater.

Male avatar icon Critidoc United States flag US       Visited: May 2015 Reviewed: Nov 16, 2015

Email Critidoc  |  65+ years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

First time not in a private concession

4 / 5 4 /5
5 / 5 3 / 5 5 / 5 4 / 5

Abundant wildlife sometimes not as close as you would like. Due to the rules of staying on the road, it was luck of the draw if the animals came close. We did see lots of black rhino, wildebeast, zebray, giraffe, elephants and hippos, few lions in the distance and solitary hyenas. Lots of birds byr could not get close to the flocks of flamingos . It became crowded with tourists as the day progressed with the best sightings early in the morning. We were lucky in that we stayed on the crater rim close to the entrance to the crater floor. the lodge was great.