Crater-rim stays at Ngorongoro.

Ngorongoro: the garden of Eden

The Ngorongoro Crater is a collapsed supervolcano 20 km in diameter and 600 metres deep. Its walls form a natural enclosure that has kept a remarkably stable population of approximately 25,000 large mammals for decades — including the rarest sighting in Tanzania: black rhino.

The crater floor is a permanently water-rich environment: the Lerai Forest (fig and fever trees), Lake Magadi (soda lake with flamingos), the Munge Stream, and open grassland. Lion prides are consistently visible. Elephant bulls descend from the rim. Leopard haunt the forested edges.

Crater rim lodges offer what may be Africa's most dramatic accommodation setting — looking down 600 metres into a wildlife sanctuary as dawn mist lifts from the caldera floor.

Note: Accommodation is on the crater rim. Day visitors descend into the crater in 4WD vehicles for morning and afternoon drives. No overnight camping in the crater.

Getting to Ngorongoro

Ngorongoro is 3 hours by road from Arusha via the main northern circuit route. Most visitors combine it with the Serengeti — Ngorongoro is the eastern gateway and most safaris pass through it. Charter flights to the Ngorongoro airstrip are available.