Route 01
A collapsed caldera floor holding one of the densest concentrations of large mammals in Africa — best at first light before the rim fills with mist.
The Ngorongoro Crater is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a natural amphitheatre roughly 20 km across. Black rhino, large lion prides, and hyena clans share the short-grass floor with thousands of wildebeest and zebra.
We schedule an early descent for quieter game viewing, then exit to highland forest or the Serengeti depending on your wider itinerary.
The crater is a half-day, not a week. What surrounds it — the highlands, Olduvai, the Maasai communities who still graze inside the conservation area — is what turns one descent into a proper stay.
Six hours on the floor, entered at first light before the day-trippers arrive from Karatu. Lerai forest for elephant, Lake Magadi for flamingo, and the central grassland for lion, hyena and — with luck — black rhino.
Descent fee $295 per vehicle
The excavation site where the Leakeys established that humans evolved in East Africa. The museum was rebuilt in 2018 and is genuinely good. Forty minutes, on the way to or from the Serengeti.
Small entry fee
A guided descent to a soda lake inside a second, smaller caldera, usually thick with flamingo. Around three hours down and back, with an armed ranger. The best walking in the highlands.
Ranger fee, on request
The conservation area is the only protected area in Tanzania where Maasai still live and graze cattle. Visits arranged directly with a family rather than through a roadside operation are worth the extra effort.
On request
Costs nothing and takes twenty minutes. Mist sits on the floor until about seven and then burns off in minutes with two thousand animals underneath it.
Included
Likelihoods are ours, not the marketing department’s. Where something is genuinely uncommon we say so.
Black rhino
Likely · Roughly 30 on the crater floor
Lion
Near certain · High density, entirely habituated to vehicles
Elephant
Likely · Large old bulls in the Lerai forest
Flamingo
Seasonal · Lake Magadi, water level dependent
Cheetah
Uncommon · The floor is too crowded with lion
Season by season
January – March
Clear mornings on the rim, a green floor, and the crater at its most photogenic. Calving on the nearby plains pulls extra predators through.
Fees, per day
| Adult, non-resident | $70.80 |
| Child 5–15 | $23.60 |
| Crater descent, per vehicle | $295 |
The descent fee is charged per vehicle per entry — a second crater day means a second fee, which is rarely worth it.
Read off the park relation on each itinerary — nothing to keep in sync by hand.
seven days · 2 nights in this park
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six days · 2 nights in this park
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6 days · 2 nights in this park
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7 days · 3 nights in this park
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six days · 2 nights in this park
A classic six-day arc through the three great northern parks. We compose this safari for travellers descending from Kilimanjaro who want the icons, taken slo…
View itinerary →
9 days · 2 nights in this park
View itinerary →
nine days · 1 night in this park
Our deepest northern circuit, taken slowly. Nine days through the four flagship parks, with extra time in the Serengeti and a quiet day at Lake Manyara. For…
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seven days · 2 nights in this park
Composed for travellers who want the Mara River crossings. Seven days through Tarangire, then north Serengeti for the river, central Serengeti for the cats,…
View itinerary →
Every camp and lodge we place guests in here, cheapest tier first.
A few questions
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