Ngorongoro Crater
Deep in Maasai territory, this otherwordly Highland setting brings wildlife and culture together for a truly unique experience.
A lambent world of wildlife and the planet’s biggest unbroken volcanic crater.
2 to 3 million years ago, a volcano bigger than Kilimanjaro imploded; and the magma retreated leaving a vast collapsed hollow. Now in the shadow of 3000ft high crater walls, the resident wildlife is diverse and easily tracked - cheetah, elephant, hyena, hippo, lion, leopard, and a vast array of bird-life, including lesser flamingos. Views from the rim bring flashes of how the planet's first humans must have experienced it.
Beyond, lie Empakai, Olmoti, OlDonyo Lengai: legendary volcanic peaks and valleys for us to explore, absurdly deserted due to the rock stardom of their famous cousin. The adventurer in us absolutely loves these places: a crowded field of Jackson’s Whydah birds all a-pogo, a pair of leopards peering through old man's beard on a pillarwood tree, one elderly Maasai lady tending her pots in a deserted highland village.
Serengeti Safari Camp
Lamai
Mkombe's House
Kusini
Entamanu
Kuro
Charlie, Sanjan
Charlie, Southwest Serengeti
Camps in Ngorongoro
The table below provides a clear overview of suggested locations, durations and key highlights to help plan a memorable and authentic Nomad adventure.
Ngorongoro Crater
Trip planning information
Location
Northern Tanzania, between Lake Manyara and the Serengeti, part of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley.
Type of safari
High-density wildlife viewing in an ancient volcanic caldera, with a strong sense of landscape, geology and Maasai culture.
Getting there
Usually reached by road as part of the northern circuit, often before or after the Serengeti.
Wildlife
Lion, elephant, buffalo, black rhino, hyena, zebra, wildebeest, flamingos and excellent plains game viewing.
How busy is it?
This is a popular destination on the safari circuit; plan your visit - stay on the Crater rim to gain early access and a more considered pace.
Best time to visit
Good year-round. Wildlife is strong throughout the year, with different seasonal shifts in scenery, birding and visibility.
How long to stay
3 nights is perfect for a proper Crater experience without rushing.
Nomad Camps
Best combined with
Best for
First-time safari travellers, families, photographers, Big Five interest and anyone wanting to see one of Tanzania’s most dramatic landscapes.
Why go?
Go to Ngorongoro for the scale of the Crater, the concentration of wildlife and enjoy the rare chance to stay right on the rim.
Cost range
Costs vary by the camp and it's location, season and routing.
No matter how many times you see the Ngorongoro crater, the first view always stops you. Standing on the rim and looking down into that huge bowl, sometimes with mist sitting inside it, you realise this is a place like no other.
The best time for me is early in the morning, when we are the first vehicle going down the descent road. The air is cold, the grass is wet, and everything is quiet. Inside the car, there is always a feeling of excitement as guests wonder what they might see that day, cuddling their hot water bottles supplied by the camp team, ready and waiting as we begin the descent.
Festo Msoffe
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Nomad safari guides operate the best camps in the best locations.
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Greystoke Mahale, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, has been around for many years. In the far and not much-explored west of Tanzania, it’s the best place in the country (probably in all Africa, actually, outside of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to observe chimpanzees in their natural habitats.
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You might say the 20-year-old Nomad Tanzania knows this corner of the world more intimately than most—which might explain how their next venture is the first to secure a previously untapped viewpoint. Six canvas bungalows, lined up along the Ngorongoro Crater Rim, feature unprecedented vistas of both the crater floor sunrises and Serengeti sunsets.
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Get up close and personal with our genetic cousins at Greystoke Mahale. Perched treehouse-like on the sandy shores of Lake Tanganyika, it’s your base for tracking the fascinating troops of chimps that occupy the emerald Mahale Mountains.
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The Mahale Mountains in western Tanzania are famous for their chimps: there are some 800 of them here, around 75 of them habituated. Guests at this spectacular beach lodge on Lake Tanganyika are likely to spot other primate species, too, including red colobus, red-tailed monkeys and vervets.