How to Enjoy Ngorongoro Crater
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.
I have to say this is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever searched for wildlife, and the only place where I’ve seen wild black rhinos. I saw four, to be exact.The crater is also home to one of the the densest known population of Masai lions, which I saw as well, playing in the grass.This was due to a combination of being lucky and doing a few key things right – though mostly the latter.
These are my tips for seeing the best of the best in the Ngorongoro Crater:
#1. Stay the night on the rim:
I suggest arriving at your lodging on the crater rim by the mid afternoon. This gives you a chance to watch as golden hour and then sunset come and paint the crater various hues of green and blue. It’s a beautiful sight. There are campsites and hotels of varying luxury. which is within the Crater Conservancy and In my 4 visits to Ngorongoro I stayed at: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater lodge and Ngorongoro Wildlife lodge, all these have grea view of Crater, if you book early you can ask a nice room with the view of crater!
#2. Go early (I cant insist enough!):
Leave very early, I advice 5:55am for your game drive into the Ngorongoro Crater, and and thank me for this decision after your game drive! This is what happens when you do not start your game driver early: The animals get lazy and tired and try to hide from the heat, more and more cars arrive so the crater gets crowded, and the light gets quite harsh for photos.
#3. Get a good guide and let him drive:
Make sure you get a proffesional, knowledgeable, flexible guide, if you get all this, trust him and let him do his work! The tour guides are very important they know where to look to find each animal, they also radio to one another to communicate that they have found something exciting.
It’s a good idea to meet with your guide in advance so that they have some ideas about the animals that you’re excited to see. And remember, try to get out there as early as possible!
#4. Talk to the guide about what you want to see the day before:
Let your guide know what you want to see the most so that he knows what to prioritize when you enter the crater. We wanted to see rhinos, so he made that priority number one from the get-go. He also knew that we really wanted to see hyenas, because for whatever inconceivable reason they just appear to be really cute to me.
#5. You don’t have to eat at the picnic areas:
There are designated picnic areas where you can go and have your breakfast and lunch, sometimes with a little plaid table cloth over the hood of the car, if you fancy, but you can have even better breakfast view.
Another incentive for eating in the car is the aggressive birds. Every now and then, they make off with some of the tourist’s food and some are even brazen enough to grab your food right out of your hands! These are huge birds, and you don’t want those talons to meet your face.
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