Safari Overview
Our 3 Days Ngorongoro Crater Safari is the best trip available to the Ngorongoro Crater. Ngorongoro Crater, often known as the Eden of Africa or the 8th Wonder of the World, is the place to go if you just have a few days in Tanzania and want to make the most of it. 3 Days Ngorongoro Crater Safari provides a unique opportunity to see the Big 5 in such a short period of time. The Crater floor itself is just roughly 21 kilometers in circumference, and animals may be seen from a very short distance. The crater floor is home to over 20,000 creatures and is a birder’s paradise, with over 500 bird species documented.
Detailed Itinerary for 3 Days Ngorongoro Crater Safari.
Day 1: Pickup and Transfer to Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
On the first day of your Ngorongoro Safari trip, depart Arusha at 07.00 – 08.00 AM and drive through the Masai Steppe, across Lake Manyara in the Rift Valley, up the escapement, and over Karatu to the Loduare Gate of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. After a quick stop at the gate for registration, we drive up to the View Point, where we make a brief halt to photograph some of the most stunning views of the Crater bottom. We next drop into the Ngorongoro Crater bottom for the remainder of the day’s wildlife drives.
Picnic lunch will be provided at the picnic location by the hippo poolside, followed by game drives up the Crater rim and out to Karatu for overnight at a lodge. At Karatu, stay at Marera Valley Lodge, Country Lodge, or something similar. Lunch and supper are also included.
Day 2: Full Day Game Drive in Ngorongoro Crater Area.
After breakfast, you will descend into the Ngorongoro Crater, widely known as the “Eden of Africa.” The Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s biggest continuous crater, is unsurpassed in terms of wildlife concentration. Your driver will be in regular communication with other drivers to discover the greatest animal sightings, and with luck, you will be able to glimpse the big five inside the Crater. It’s always impossible to express the magnificence of this caldera, therefore a visit is well worth it.
The crater area is home to a variety of animals, including great predators like as lions and leopards. Elephants, buffaloes, hippos, jackals, flamingos, zebras, and a variety of bird species are also found in the park. Lunch will be given at the picnic location, then in the late afternoon, we will return to the Crater rim and travel to your preferred lodge.
Day 3: Game Drive and Transfer back to Arusha.
After a relaxing breakfast at the lodge, you will have the option of seeing a Masai Village or embarking on a nature walk in the woodlands of Ngorongoro (for an additional cost). You will be led by an armed ranger into the forest paths, where you may encounter herds of buffaloes, elephants, and other forest creatures like as duikers, as well as lions, leopards, and other predators. After the activities, you will return to Arusha through Karatu and Mto wa Mbu market towns, where you may interact with the people and do some shopping if you desire.
What you should know about Ngorongoro Crater Area?
The bigger Ngorongoro Conservation Area, located roughly 160 kilometers from Arusha, is characterized by mountains and plains, but the real gem of the area is the Ngorongoro Crater. Geographically, what has long been known as the Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s biggest uninterrupted crater. As a safari location, Ngorongoro Crater is included in the majority of our Tanzania safari excursions, which may be tailored to your specific needs, ideas, and budget.
The Ngorongoro crater is a UNESCO world heritage site with a circumference of around 20 kilometers, a depth of 600 meters, and an area of roughly 300 meters’ square kilometers. Unlike national parks, it allows for many land uses. The Maasai nomadic people are permitted to graze cattle in the region, and through their culture and customs, they have managed to coexist peacefully with the wild animals.
What you can expect during your safari to Ngorongoro Crater Area?
Lake Makat is located in the heart of the Ngorongoro Crater, which has been termed the Eden of Africa or the eighth wonder of the world. This soda lake, which is supplied by the neighboring mountains, ensures a consistent supply of water all year round, resulting in a concentration of species unparalleled in east Africa. There is no other area where you can view animals at such close quarters, and with a little luck, you can sight the BIG 5 in only one day of game drives.
Wildlife in Ngorongoro Area
The Ngorongoro Crater is thought to contain the world’s largest concentration of animals in a natural setting (animal / per area ratio). The distinctive animal species of the Ngorongoro crater is definitely the black rhino! Rhinos are a rare animal that is difficult to spot in Tanzania if you want to see them in their native habitat. Because the creatures like to hide in dense foliage, they might be difficult to identify.
The situation is different at the Ngorongoro Crater. They have a tendency of spending the evenings in the Lerai Forest, which is located on the bottom of the Ngorongoro Crater, so your guide will assist you in attempting to find the Black Rhino and, ideally, all of the Big Five that live in the Crater: Lions, Elephants, Buffalos, Leopards, and Rhinos. Aside from black rhinos, other uncommon animals seen on the Crater floor include golden jackals, black backed jackals, and spotted hyenas.
Other animals and birds regularly seen in the Ngorongoro Crater include hippos, buffalo, zebra, wildebeests, elephants, lions, hartebeests, warthogs, and many others.
Lerai Forest
The Lerai Forest on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater is home to the shy leopard and offers shade for elephants. This area is also a favored hangout for baboon and monkey packs. Other creatures that may be seen readily include topis, elands, wildebeests, zebras, hippos, and buffaloes, cats such as serval cats, cheetahs, and lions, and a large number of hyenas that can be seen cooling down in the afternoons in lakes and pools.
Empakaai Crater
The Empakaai Crater is a considerably smaller caldera, yet it is quite picturesque, with a Crater lake on its bottom. The Empakaai is roughly an hour and a half’s drive from the Ngorongoro Crater. The deep soda lake at the Crater’s floor spans around half of the 6 Kilometer caldera. Thousands of flamingos are expected to be seen during your visit because the regions are the shallow portions of the lake, giving the lake’s borders a spectacular pink color. To reach to this location, you will be transported to the outside rims of the Crater in a 4×4 safari land cruiser, followed by a 45-minute stroll down the Crater accompanied by a trained armed ranger equipped with a weapon to assure your safety.
The Empakaai Crater offers one of the most spectacular vistas you’ve ever seen. From afar, the vista from Empakaai down to Lake Natron and Mount Oldoinyo Lengai is undoubtedly one of the greatest in Africa. If you are fortunate enough to have gone here on a lucky day, you may be able to see Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Natron from here. If you have at least two days to see the Ngorongoro Highlands and the Crater, we may incorporate a visit to Empakaai Crater.
Olduvai/Oldupai Gorge
Aside from animals, The Ngorongoro Conservation Area attracts visitors for a variety of reasons, including geology and archeology. Olduvai Gorge, one of the world’s most important prehistoric sites, is located here. The bones of the hominid Australopithecus Boisei (Zinjanthropus), popularly known as the Nutcracker man, were unearthed here and are thought to date back 1.4 million years. Louis Leakey, a well-known archaeologist, and his wife Mary Leakey made the find.
The Olduvai Gorge, which is 48 kilometers long, is a steep-sided canyon in Tanzania’s Great Rift Valley. There is a museum on this site that houses reproductions of the hominid fossils discovered here. Aside from the Olduvai Gorge, you may be interested in viewing the Laetoli Footprints, which are the oldest footprints ever discovered in the world
Where to stay during your 3 Days Ngorongoro Crater Safari?
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area includes a lot of hotel options, however they are limited and cannot accommodate everyone. Many lodges have been established in Karatu in the Ngorongoro Highlands, just a few minutes from the Loduare Gate (major gate), in response to the need for more accommodation. The few lodges found inside the NCAA range from standard luxury lodges and tented camps to high end / top market resorts. Within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, there is only one midrange lodge: Rhino Lodge.
The lodges and tented camps situated on the Crater rim provide wonderful views of the Crater’s bottom, although the quality of the views varies from resort to lodge. The lodges and campgrounds on the Crater Rim provide easy access to the Crater level, so if you don’t mind getting up early, you’ll be among the first to arrive to the Crater bottom in the morning. The rates for staying at the lodge are often costly because there are few inside, but the prices also include concession fees that are imposed to lodges located within parks. These lodges are normally rather spacious, so if you are searching for a tiny place to stay, this is not the place for you.
The Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is the costliest and opulent lodge within the NCAA. Other lodges offering views of the Ngorongoro Crater floor include the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge on the Crater’s eastern rim (with spectacular sunsets), the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge on the western rim, and the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge. The Highlands Ngorongoro (Deluxe resort), the Lemala Ngorongoro Camp, and the new yet stunning Lion’s Paw Camp by Karibu Camps are all located inside the NCAA.
The upscale resorts found in Karatu nearby include Gibb’s Farm, Manor at Ngorongoro, and Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury Camp. The Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge, Plantation Lodge, Oldeani Mountain Lodge, Plantation Lodge, Kitela Lodge, and Acacia Farm Lodge are among the other standard lodges. Ngorongoro Farm House, Marera Valley Lodge, Country Lodge, Bougainvillea Safari Lodge, and Pamoja Olea Farm Lodge are among the midrange lodges.
When is the best time to book a 3 Days Ngorongoro Crater Safari?
Ngorongoro Crater is one of the wildlife locations with superb animal viewing on the Crater floor all year. Ngorongoro is best visited between June and September, when the wildlife game drives are at their finest due to shorter grasslands and hence better visibility. The main season for Ngorongoro Crater is from July to March, so if you visit during that time, expect to see a lot of people.
The beauty in Ngorongoro Crater is at its best during the wet season, which is between November and May. The grasses, on the other hand, may be tall during this period, making it difficult to identify animals, particularly tiny species. The months of March to April are typically the wettest throughout East Africa, not only at Ngorongoro.
SAFARI INCLUSIONS
- 3 meals while on safari
- Specified Accommodation
- Transport in a safari vehicle
- Park Entrance Fees
- English/French Speaking Guide
- Game Drives
- Bottled Drinking Water
- Airport Transfers
SAFARI EXCLUSIONS
- All airport taxes, international flights, and visas
- Insurance9Trip cancellation and Medical)
- Premium drinks/beverages with meals
- Driver and hotel staff tips and gratuities
- Activities/excursions not listed on the itinerary
