Reviews: Safari in Ngorongoro Crater

"The very physical nature of the crater means that the animals located within the crater do not easily leave or migrate, therefore the viewing opportunities are plentiful. Having said that, one has to counter that by the realisation that you cannot always get as close as you would like to the animal for photography as vehicles are restricted to designated roads and there is no "off-roading" permitted.
Things are changing. Imagine our surprise to see a mobile refreshment van and trailer pull into a lay-by and start supplying customers! How long before McDonald's opens up a branch?" Read more about this whole safari

"A Beautiful and breathtaking experience.

However we were there in February and it seemed busy with safari vehicles (over 100 at the picnic area) we would not want to be there at high season !" Read more about this whole safari

"Based on everything that we had read beforehand and reports from friends who had visited Ngorongoro Crater, my wife and I had very high expectations for our visit to the crater. We were not disappointed. The wide variety and amount of wildlife were amazing and the scenery, both within the crater and framing it, was spectacular.

We stayed at Entamanu Ngorongoro camp located on the crater rim which provided beautiful views of the crater, especially at sunrise. We arrived on the crater floor at 6:30am, well before many other safari vehicles arrived. During the almost 12 hours that we spent there, we visited the many different ecosystems on the crater floor - the forest, the grasslands in the savannah, Lake Magadi (a soda (salt) lake), fresh water streams, swamps, and rocky outcroppings. Different types of animals seemed to cluster in these ecosystems - elephants in the forest, hippos in the swamps, the various ungulates - wildebeests, buffaloes, zebras, the two different types of gazelles - and lions in the grasslands, and flamingos and pelicans in the soda lake.

It was amazing to see such a variety of wildlife in one place. We saw incredible numbers of buffalo, wildebeests, zebras (all of these probably in the thousands), Thompson's and Grant's gazelles, hippos, smaller numbers of warthogs, spotted hyena, lions, elephants, and jackals, and just one eland and black rhino.

We were just as amazed by the variety and abundance of bird life - the aquatic birds such as lesser flamingos, pelicans, African spoonbill, Egyptian geese, ibises - and the land birds - ostrich, Kori bustard, grey crowned crane, secretary bird, guinea fowl.

A list of the favorite viewing experiences during the day includes:
- watching the wildebeest, with zebra in their midst, run, cavort, and chase each other
- observing a very large group of hippos of all sizes lying and yawning in a pool in a swampy area, a few of which had an ibis sitting on their back
- watching flamingos and pelicans search for food in the soda lake
- watching elephants devouring leaves on the acacia trees in the forest
- watching ibises and storks searching for food in the pool close to where we ate breakfast
- eating lunch on a hill overlooking the grasslands with a large group of buffalo below us

Two other things bear mentioning. First, the views of the crater walls (approximately 600 meters tall) framing the crater floor provided an amazing backdrop for game viewing. This was such a different perspective from the other parks that we visited on this trip - Maasai Mara, Samburu, and Serengeti. Second, having a guide who: is very familiar with the area, knows where to find different types of wildlife and how to avoid the crowds of other safari vehicles; has the patience to sit for extended periods of time while we observed wildlife "doing their thing"; and who graciously stopped every time I wanted to take a photograph, is critical to having a memorable experience. Rowland, our private guide, was such a guide." Read more about this whole safari

"It is only a short trip from Plantation Lodge to the crater, we left early and got back for a late lunch.

it is a unique experience, astonishing to grasp the size and to imagine the impact when it exploded.

Game viewing as we expected is a very different experience from selous where you can spend a whole day and see no other safari truck and you need to search out the animals. In the crater, it is more like a wildlife park/zoo but a good experience none the less." Read more about this whole safari

"We enjoyed our private safari in Ngorongoro Crater very much! It was very interesting to see the habitat that they crater created for the animals. It's a vast area, but there was a high concentration of animals especially near the water sources.

Overall it was a place you had to see, but if we went back, the other locations had better scenery and animal sightings in our opinion. There is a higher concentration of black rhino here though, so if that is important to you, you are more likely to see them in the Crater. We didn't see one, but most of the people in our camp did on their only day in the Crater.

Most of the people in our camp were staying only one day in the crater and then moving on just like we did and we would recommend not more than 2 days max in the crater in our opinion and one day felt perfect for us." Read more about this whole safari

"You can see a lot of animals. They are easy to see, because there is nearly nothing, where they can hide. There are a lot of cars around, more than in other regions of Tanzania. We couldn't see the rim clerly, because of the clouds." Read more about this whole safari

"We had a number of amazing up close and personal encounters with elephants, a lioness (who actually approached our car) and a pregnant zebra with an itch! The crater is vast - we did a bit more than a half day ride, but not a full day outride. I think because it was near the end of our two-week trip and we'd seen so much in the Serengeti - but definitely worth the visit!!" Read more about this whole safari

"It is incredibly touristy. But there are a lot of animals to see.

But expect 20 plus jeeps at every cat sighting" Read more about this whole safari

"Fantastic, a truly amazing experience.

The only adverse comment is that the safari companies are not regulated and there are some cowboys operating in the crater, ignoring the rules for driving, speed and crowding the animals.

Easily solved by licensing knowledgeable guides ( as ours was) and enforcing the rules." Read more about this whole safari

"Our guide was Kassim, a relatively newly-qualified guide, who worked exceptionally hard to give us a really enjoyable safari. He knew the park well and took us to every section in order to maximise the diversity of our experience. He was also very attentive to the need of our party for the washrooms! He served us a lovely picnic breakfast and lunch on a long, full day, leaving at 6.00 am and not returning until after 7 pm.

We travelled with another couple and their teenage daughter, in a closed vehicle, the roof of which could be opened to allow you to stand up and gaze around. This type of vehicle is essential here, as it’s quite cold for the first few hours (we had an overcast morning, and a sunny, warm afternoon).

The park is crowded, but it never felt oppressive (except once when we had to join a 10 minute queue to view a sleeping python by the roadside). We saw four good active lion sightings, a wonderful serval on the move, elephants, huge flocks of crowned cranes, hyenas and many antelope and gazelles. We might have glimpsed a sleeping rhino, but we didn’t count that.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable start to our African trip." Read more about this whole safari