Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Explore the dramatic Crater Highlands, a series of active volcanoes surrounding the crater itself, where time seems to have stood still. Hike to lakes pink with flamingos, or mingle with the local Masai.The Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtakingly beautiful setting and the best place in East Africa to see the Big Five. It is a great way to start your African safari adventure. However, as one of the world's most astonishing and renowned natural wonders, the Ngorongoro Crater does get busy, and at times very busy. Due to the crowds we recommend a two-night stay only here, then moving on to the Serengeti for a quieter, more private safari experience. A healthy population of black rhino and some of the largest tusker elephants left in Africa today are the prize spots, but the crater is also home to good populations of lion, leopard and hyena along with healthy herds of wildebeest, buffalo and zebra. Other wildlife here includes serval cat, cheetah, jackal, Grant's and Thompson's gazelle, flamingo and bat-eared foxes, as well as approximately 400 species of bird.Activities inside the Ngorongoro Crater itself are limited to game drives; there are a couple of picnic spots in the park, but getting out of the vehicle is strictly limited to these areas. However, a full range of activities is on offer in the wider Ngorongoro Conservation Area, including walking, trekking, excursions to Olduvai Gorge and visiting the Masai and other tribes.

• Wildlife wonderlands don’t get much better than the Ngorongoro Crater, possibly one of the most iconic animal-viewing areas in the world.
• A UNESCO World Heritage Site (and with very good reason), the cavernous bowl-shaped crater is in fact a caldera, formed two to three million years ago when a large volcano exploded and collapsed in on itself.
• Today, the flat floor is covered in nutritious grasses and home to an unprecedented number of black rhino as well as black-maned lion, magnificent tuskers and smaller plains game, but surprisingly no giraffe.
• On the crater floor, experience the Big Five with great black rhino encounters, dense numbers of wildebeest, zebra, eland and exciting lions and cheetah sightings.