7 Things to do in Ngorongoro Conservation Area are Game Drives, Crater Rim Walk, Masai Village Visit. The 7 Things to do in Ngorongoro Conservation Area get you to explore the vast Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania while on safari holiday.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area in northern Tanzania, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where you’ll spot lion, elephant, giraffe, and more. Enjoy a guided hike to the top of Olmoti for staggering views or take a trip to the soda lake in Empakaai Crater to see thousands of pink flamingos. Around 25,000 large animals live in the 30,000-hectare Ngorongoro Crater – one of Africa’s new Seven Natural Wonders.
Ngorongoro is one of the biggest protected areas in Tanzania that attracts a big number of tourists annually. The wildlife, great landscape, birdlife and the various calderas all attract tourists to explore this place that is gifted by nature. The Ngorongoro crater is what attracts tourists the most to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Things to do in Ngorongoro Conservation Area
1. Ngorongoro Crater safari drive
The crater is an enormous, unbroken caldera. This means that long ago a volcano collapsed in on itself, creating a bowl-like feature that now overflows with wildlife.
This wildlife includes the Big Five. The crater wall rises 600 m. Visitors are driven down into the crater along one of a handful of zigzagging roads. This ride, with its hairpin bends, is thrilling in itself.
Once you reach the crater floor, you start to spot the various animals that were too small to be seen from the rim.
Your safari guide will take you to explore the various sections of the crater, which include Lake Magadi and Lerai Forest. Some of the wildlife to look for include wildebeests, zebras, elands, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, hippos, flamingoes, baboons, jackals and hyenas.
This is an entire day’s outing, and there’s a lovely picnic spot by the Hippo Pool where you can buy coffees and snacks to enjoy with your lunch.
2. Ngorongoro Crater rim walk
While visitors aren’t allowed to hike into Ngorongoro Crater, you are allowed to go on guided hikes along the top of the crater wall. The upper rim is densely forested with tropical trees, plants and creepers.
The rim is a very beautiful section of the crater, and full of birds as well as some other wildlife, including the odd leopard. Some birds you might see include the martial eagle, olive sunbird, cinnamon-chested bee-eater, and European roller.
The western wall of the crater, which is a little shallower, is a drier environment and forested with euphorbias. Your guide will tell you interesting stories about the plants and animals you see, from which plants are used in traditional medicines to what animals are near based on scat and spoors. Be sure to ask many questions.
We encourage you to wear proper, waterproof hiking boots and trousers on this hike, as it’s very likely to be muddy. A pair of trekking poles will help you with any slippery and treacherous sections. And be sure to pack a rain jacket in your backpack.
The views down into the crater are the highlight of any crater rim walk. It’s a great way to experience this natural phenomenon from a different perspective.
3. Empakaai Crater hike
While nobody except the Maasai is allowed to walk inside of Ngorongoro Crater, one crater that you can explore on foot is Empakaai Crater. Although again, like Ngorongoro Crater, it’s technically a caldera, not a crater.
Empakaai Crater which is 300 m deep and 6 km wide – sits in the remote northeast of the NCA, so it takes a little commitment to get there. But it’s much, much less visited than Ngorongoro Crater, and so offers you a very private safari experience.
You hike down into the crater, a steep walk that descends the eastern crater wall and takes about 30 minutes. It can be tricky in places, so wear proper hiking gear. And remember that you’ll need to hike back up, which will take longer, so be prepared for a workout.
During your hike, keep an eye open for various wildlife, including blue monkeys, bushbucks, waterbucks and Cape buffaloes. You will have an armed ranger accompany your party on the hike, just to be safe.
When you reach the crater floor, you explore the shore of pretty Lake Empakaai. There are frequently stands of pink flamingoes in the lake, which enjoy its acidic waters. Maasai herdsmen with their cattle are also often in the crater, and the sound of cow bells is a lovely background soundtrack.
You can only explore Empakaai Crater in the company of a guide. This is the historical territory of the Maasai people, and so you will have a Maasai guide. The guides speak very good English, and so you’ll be able to ask questions as you go along.
4. Olduvai gorge and shifting sands visit
It’s a little over half way on the long drive from Ngorongoro Crater to the Serengeti, and thus serves as a really nice stopping point for some exercise and exploration.
We recommend first visiting Olduvai Museum at the eastern terminus of the gorge. While small, the museum is very good. It has interesting fossil displays and tells the story of the highly important discoveries made in the exposed strata of the gorge of what are believed to be hominid fossils.
Important archaeological discoveries in Olduvai Gorge led to it being considered the Cradle of Mankind for many years.
Next, go on a Maasai-guided Walk along Olduvai River, which created the gorge. Your guide can tell you all about the wildlife and nature surrounding you, as well as where the hominid discoveries were made in the twentieth century. You’re likely to also see local Maasai children herding cattle and goats in the gorge. Please bring cash to tip our guide afterwards.
The volcanic ash that makes up the dunes contains iron that’s highly magnetic. As a result, the ash clings together, forming dunes. These dunes are forever shifting eastwards with the wind, moving approximately 17 metres a year.
5. Maasai village visit
The Maasai have lived in the region that’s now the Ngorongoro Conservation Area for centuries. They have resisted change to their culture, and as such have a remarkably distinct culture that’s steeped in tradition. And unlike the Maasai that live further east and have adopted certain western ways, the Maasai of the NCA live very traditionally.
The Maasai in the NCA have a mostly subsistence lifestyle that relies on their herds of cattle, goats and sheep. They also collect honey, and visitors can purchase bottles of this at many spots along the side of the main road.
For many years now, the Maasai have been inviting tourists to visit their villages as a way of generating some income. This income is needed for certain unavoidable expenditures, like buying water in the dry season and providing what’s needed for their children’s schooling, as all Tanzanian children must attend school. Your safari guide will pay a set fee per person to visit the village.
Visitors to a Maasai village are always made to feel extremely welcome. Ladies are given elaborate beaded necklaces to wear whilst there. And both men and women are encouraged to join in during the energetic and traditional jumping dance.
Your safari guide will likely stay by the car during your visit. A village elder, who invariably speaks great English, will be your guide during your visit. You’ll be invited into a home, and shown how the community lives, eats and sleeps.
6. Lake Ndutu safari
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area shares its northwestern border with Serengeti National Park. The two protected areas share an ecosystem, and have no fence between them. In fact, only a dirt road marks the boundary.
This being the case, many of the wildebeests, zebras and antelopes that form the Great Wildlife Migration move into the northwestern section of NCA around Lake Ndutu in summer to enjoy its nutrient-rich grasses.
Summer is also birthing season for the Great Migration animals. So, you can look forward to seeing thousands and thousands of baby zebras, wildebeests and other antelopes like gazelles.
You can also hope to see many predators like lions and cheetahs around Ndutu Lake in summer. These animals are on the lookout for defenseless newborns for an easy kill. Other carnivores in the region include hyenas, jackals and leopards.
If you like birds, Ndutu Lake is a great location for spotting an array of large, varied and beautiful species. We’re talking grey crowned cranes, greater kestrels, snake eagles, kori bustards, secretary birds, Fischer’s lovebirds, and many more.
7. Olmoti Crater walk
Similar to Empakaai Crater, Olmoti Crater allows visitors to go on guided nature walks. This is a fantastic opportunity to see animals while also getting some exercise.
Olmoti is also closer to the main NCA road. In fact, it’s less than 20 km from Ngorongoro Crater, which makes it a relatively short drive if you stay overnight on the north side of Ngorongoro Crater. Remember that the roads here are dirt and very bumpy, so they take time to navigate.
The Olmoti Crater walk is much less arduous than the Empakaai Crater hike. The walk takes about one to two hours. It can therefore be done alongside some other activity in a day, like an Ngorongoro Crater game drive.
The Maasai believe in living harmoniously with the land and have a wealth of knowledge about the wildlife and plants around you. So be sure to ask all of your questions! Again, we recommend bringing along some cash so that you can tip your guide afterwards.
While there are no fences within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which means all animals can roam freely, Olmoti Crater isn’t known for hosting lions and giraffes. It does, however, regularly see Cape buffaloes, hyenas, zebras and bushbucks. There are also sometimes elephant and leopard sightings.
In conclusion
Planning a Tanzania safari and wondering what to include and not miss out on some of the most experiential encounters? Ngorongoro Conservation Area is just what you need. Have your preferred tour operator include it on your Tanzania safari tour for an opportunity to cultivate only the best memorable experiences.