Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro is unusual among protected areas in that it was designed from the outset as a shared landscape. Around 100,000 Maasai live within its boundaries, grazing cattle across the highlands and bringing livestock down to water on the crater floor, though permanent settlement there is prohibited.

The arrangement dates from 1959, when the Maasai were moved out of the newly created Serengeti National Park and granted grazing rights here in exchange. It has been contested ever since, and restrictions on cultivation and grazing remain a live political issue in Tanzania today.

Olduvai Gorge gives the area a second cultural dimension entirely. The Leakeys' excavations there traced nearly two million years of human ancestry, and the small museum on site explains the finds well. The Laetoli footprints, preserved in volcanic ash 3.6 million years ago, lie nearby.

Cultural visits operate from villages across the highlands, covering herding practice, beadwork, house building and traditional dance. Booking through your operator or a community-run programme ensures the fees reach households directly, and yields a more substantive visit than roadside arrangements.

The crater floor holds roughly 25,000 large animals in 260 square kilometres, one of the densest concentrations anywhere in Africa. Because the walls are steep, much of that population stays year-round rather than migrating.

It is among the most reliable places on the continent to see black rhino, and the crater's lions are unusually easy to find. Elephant bulls with exceptional tusks favour the Lerai fever tree forest, and buffalo, wildebeest, zebra and eland cover the grassland. Beyond the crater, Empakaai and Olmoti offer quieter walking country.

Lake Magadi on the crater floor draws lesser flamingo in numbers that rise and fall with the water, and the surrounding grassland and highland forest push the area's list well past 500 species.

Kori bustard, crowned crane, ostrich and a strong range of raptors are all regular. Empakaai crater lake is the better flamingo site when Magadi is low.

By Car

Ngorongoro lies about 180 kilometres west of Arusha, a drive of three to four hours on good road as far as Lodoare gate. It sits directly on the route between Lake Manyara and the Serengeti, so almost every northern circuit itinerary passes through.

By Air

Light aircraft serve Lake Manyara and the Serengeti airstrips, with a road transfer on to the crater rim. A 4×4 is compulsory for the descent, and only authorised vehicles may go down.

That altitude makes Ngorongoro the coldest place on the northern circuit by a clear margin. Morning mist on the rim is a near-daily feature and often does not lift until mid-morning, though it frequently sits above a clear crater floor.

The long rains run March to May, with April the wettest at around 180 millimetres, and short rains fall through November and December. Annual rainfall on the rim is roughly 1,000 millimetres, considerably more than the Serengeti plains to the west.

Warm clothing matters more here than anywhere else in northern Tanzania. Visitors who pack only for the tropics regularly find themselves genuinely cold at dawn and at dinner, so bring a fleece, a windproof and long trousers.

June to October is dry, clear and cold at night, with the easiest driving and most reliable descent roads. It is peak season, so expect significant vehicle numbers on the floor through the middle of the day.

December to March is green and coincides with wildebeest calving on the adjoining Ndutu plains, arguably the finest time to be in the wider conservation area. Predator activity around the calving herds is intense.

April and May bring heavy rain and persistent rim mist, and descent roads become slippery, though rates fall sharply.

Whatever the month, descend early. Floor time is capped at six hours, and the first vehicles down get a quiet hour before the main flow arrives.

Whatever the month, descend into the crater early. Floor time is capped at six hours, the gate opens at dawn, and the first vehicles down get a quiet hour before the main flow arrives, which is when predators are most active.

Descent and ascent roads are steep, one-way and slippery when wet, and only permitted vehicles with authorised drivers may use them. Crater floor time is capped at six hours, which is enforced.

The usual wildlife rules apply, with the addition that baboons at the Ngoitokitok picnic site are notoriously bold. Keep vehicle windows shut and never carry food in the open. Altitude on the rim can leave visitors short of breath on the first day.

The rim is high enough that malaria risk is low, but the surrounding lowlands are not, so prophylaxis is still advised for a northern circuit trip as a whole.

Consult a travel clinic about yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis A and B and tetanus. Nights are genuinely cold and chest complaints are common among visitors who pack only for the tropics. The nearest hospital of any size is at Karatu.