Ngorongoro Crater Safari

What this journey covers

Arusha National Park. Arusha National Park is the closest park to town, and the most overlooked. It has no lion and rarely elephant, which is exactly why it can offer things the bigger parks cannot.

Tarangire National Park. Tarangire is the closest of the northern parks to Arusha and is often the first stop on a northern circuit. It is defined by baobabs, by rolling country rather than flat plains, and by the river that runs through it.

Lake Manyara National Park. Manyara is small, and that is part of its appeal. The park runs in a narrow strip between the Rift Valley escarpment and the lake itself, which packs several very different habitats into a short drive.

Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is what remains of a volcano that collapsed in on itself. The rim stands at around 2,300 m and the floor about 500 m below, enclosing roughly 260 square kilometres of grassland, swamp, forest and a soda lake.

The rhythm of a day

• An early start. The first hours after sunrise are when predators are still active and the light is at its best.
• Back to camp mid-morning for breakfast and a few hours out of the heat, when most animals are resting anyway.
• Out again from late afternoon until the park closes, which is usually the second-best period of the day.
• Full days with a packed lunch are an option wherever the driving distances justify staying out.

Who it suits

• Travellers with under a week
• Anyone who wants the crater without the long drive to the Serengeti
• A gentle introduction with short driving days

How we adjust it

Every one of our journeys is a starting point. We lengthen or shorten them, make them private, change the comfort level, swap a park, or add the coast. Tell us your dates and what matters most and we will shape it around you.