Reviews: Safari in Ngorongoro Crater

"To travel along a bumpy road through thick fog for an hour, to then arrive at the rim, as the cloud clears to reveal a sunny vista of the wide crater expanse is truly memorable. It felt like a film set as various animals entered stage left on cue!

We saw ostriches, hyenas with a kill, lionesses to start and various unusual birds within a short time. A remarkable place with lots of different eco-systems within the crater. We saw many animals, apart from the elusive rhino.

As the sun rose higher the wind whipped up and the dust with it. As there is a large dry area creating the conditions and making it difficult to stay much past mid day. A long zig zag climb back to the top of the crater, provided some amazing views and more sightings." Read more about this whole safari

"Because we stayed so near the crater entrance we were on the floor by 6.15am. We were therefore one of the lucky few to see rhino that day. You need to access the crater early to avoid crowds and get good sightings.

We thought the area was amazing.

Once again much of our enjoyment was due to the organisation of our guide Freddy." Read more about this whole safari

"This and the migration were our main reasons for choosing this trip, and Ngorongoro did not disappoint. The range and volume of wildlife seen runs the risk of making most other safari locations seem tame. In fact if you were really short on time you could fly into Ngorongoro for a couple of days, then hop to the Northern Serengeti for another couple of days, and you would be almost guaranteed to see the vast majority of wildlife available. And amazingly there are clean flush toilets at various locations in the crater which is important if you want to stay there all day!" Read more about this whole safari

"Ngorongoro Crater is spectacular in terms of it's appearance and formation. From geological and environmental aspects it is fascinating but the safari aspect was disappointing. The caldera is 264 sq km and various different habitats have evolved over the floor - marshes, a forest, lakes, open grasslands so there is a wide range of animals.

However the number of vehicles allowed down into the caldera is not limited and so you are constantly aware of many other vehicles and animals were sometimes clearly stressed by the vehicles. We experienced this twice with elephants here - once in the forest area when an elephant wanted to cross a track but a vehicle was in the way and secondly as we were leaving the picnic area. The picnic area was full of vehicles and just as we were leaving a bull elephant came wandering along the shore. We knew it was in musth (as our guide in Tarangire had already explained this behaviour to us). The elephant was therefore potentially aggressive. As he walked along the shore some vehicles edged nearer to get a close position and people actually tried to get very close to take a photos. The elephant looked stressed and angry (so unlike the peaceful elephants in Tarangire). It was very sad to see. Our Asilia guide made a calm exit.

We think the caldera is over rated and It is not a place we would go back to." Read more about this whole safari

"Lots of sighting. Saw a lion pride having their breakfast. Very scenic. Got very beautiful pictures.

Only issue was the driver guide who was very reluctant to explain and was indifferent and unfriendly (this became more apparent to us when we had another guide later on at the Ubuntu who was superb and informative and made us to realise what good guiding could be)." Read more about this whole safari

"The Crater is justifiabl famous for its profusion of wildlife. We saw lions eating not far from the road, both fascinating and kind of gross. Lots of other critters, never far apart. A hint of a rhino, which remained elusive for us the entire trip. One full day is right for the Crater. An early start, picnic breakfast and lunch, then out as it starts to get dark. A long and full day." Read more about this whole safari

"Almost every animal we saw was at a long distance except for one lion that was very close to the road. And in that case, there were so many vehicles, it was not worth it.

I visited the same park about 30 years ago. I'll say it was better than, just because of the crowd this time" Read more about this whole safari

"A spectacular location and very pleased we went, but it felt very crowded

We got up very early to be there at first light, which was well worth it. Left the crowds to it after lunch" Read more about this whole safari

"An amazing place with lots of animals and a beautiful setting.

Note: It can be very cold – like down jacket and hat weather. Bring layers." Read more about this whole safari

"Alfred "Papa" Sakita was a great guide who was with us for the whole of our stay at the amazing Ngorongoro Crater, he knew exactly where to go for the best places and positions for wildlife photography, including finding three black rhino, two of whom were mating - and yes, I have the photograph.

The crater is quite amazing in it's size and the amount of big game and birds that are there, the view from the hotel on the crater edge is spectacular when the early morning mist burns off.

We managed to see our first leopard standing in the mist beside the track as we left on our last day." Read more about this whole safari