In this post, we leave Tarangire and head over to Ngorongoro Crater. This is the 3rd post in a five part series on my trip to Africa. Out of all our travels Ngorongoro Crater was probably the most unique place we visited. If you’re not familiar, it’s a huge dormant volcano that now houses or traps many African animals that just never left. It’s a crazy place where lions are not the top predator and the landscape goes from the jungle at the top of the crater to the Serengeti at the crater bottom.
The Road to Ngorongoro Crater
We left the gates of Tarangire about 11 in the morning and then headed back on the roads in Tanzania. We went north on about a 3 hour drive to near the gates of Ngorongoro Crater. Surprisingly, Tanzania is a big country and it takes time to drive through.
Heading further north towards Ngorongoro Crater, the landscape changes dramatically and it becomes lush and hilly. Mountains dot this part of Tanzania and there was a time when all these mountains were active volcanoes. Today Ngorongoro Crater is dormant and has different ecosystems, including lush jungles, plains and savannahs.
On the way, we stopped at a large shopping center that is obviously for tourists passing by. I actually don’t have a problem with these shops as it’s a good way for tourists to feel comfortable shopping. But these buildings are a little tacky and the owners are not Tanzanians. However, we did get to shop for a few souvenirs and take a break with our box lunches at a picnic area.
Ngorongoro Farm House
Instead of staying in Ngorongoro Crater we elected to stay just outside the gates at Ngorongoro Farm House. I’m glad we did it because it was an amazing hotel in a great location. The first thing I noticed was the amazing views of the mountains and the crater’s edge itself. It just felt so lush and peaceful.
Coffee
If you’re not aware that Tanzania also grows its own coffee, this farm house also has a coffee plantation that offers free tours. Because we really didn’t have much to do that day we decided to go on one of the tours and it was a lot of fun. Our guide is from the region and walks every day to give this tour. He was highly knowledgeable and spoke 5 languages. It’s just kind of amazing, really.
And you know what we learned a few things about coffee and got to tour the beautiful grounds. I actually love these mountain type settings. Oh did I mention they provide free fresh coffee from their farm. Amazing!
Nightly Dances
Every night you can get your free coffee and head out on their deck and watch a little dance they put on with the audience. It is the same every night but it’s still fun to see at least once. My brother and I participated!
Buffets
Even the dinners were pretty nice with nightly buffets in a large open air room. For breakfast you have to wake up early and it’s pretty good. For lunch you have to pack your own meals and that is common at all the hotels we stayed at. Here we’ve got to make our own sandwich and choose if we wanted some bread, fruit, peanuts etc. I think out of any hotel or tent we stayed in the farm house had the best food.
Rooms
The rooms themselves were amazing. They were huge and open and at least ours had some beautiful views of the crater itself. The room came with 3 beds but it was just Roman and I in one room so it felt huge. Nice warm showers and heated beds when we got back from our day in the crater. It was pretty amazing.
Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater is unlike anything I’ve ever seen and is truly unique. First, like I said earlier, it’s the remnants of a former volcano, but this crater is still mostly intact.
Now, for the 1 day that we were at Ngorongoro Crater, we had to wake up super early and enter the gates. That takes time, but if you’re one of the first ones, maybe a maximum 10 minutes. And then there’s still another 2 hour drive before you’re even at the bottom of the crater where all the animals are.
First of all, driving is tough. It’s probably one of the roughest roads we’ve encountered. on all of our trips. And once we got to the top of the rim we had to drive on top of that for about an hour on those bumpy roads. On top of that, it’s also very cloudy and foggy in the morning causing us to feel very claustrophobic. It just takes a while to experience and it’s why people usually only do Ngorongoro Crater for one day.
Driving from the top of the crater to the bottom is truly an experience, though. First you pass through the lush jungle. Soon the trees and jungle suddenly stop and you’re on more of a savannah with sporadic trees. And then at the bottom it’s almost totally treeless with lots of grass. And that section of the drive only takes about 15 – 20 minutes to experience.
The Chase
This was one of the only places on our entire trip where we got to see lions chasing other animals. Lions are big deals and anytime a safari car spots them, there will be a crowd of cars around them. In this case we watched for about 30 minutes, lions stalking some wildebeest. Ironically, in Ngorongoro Crater these lions are not the top predator after years of inbreeding that has left them not being the best hunters. However, a female lion tried her best, although ultimately failed.
Exploring the Crater
Once we got down and after the lion chase we kind of just explored the interior of the Crater. It’s pretty big, although not overwhelming, where you couldn’t drive through it in an afternoon. Once at the bottom, the roads are actually pretty good and the crater floor is pretty flat. Animals will be spread out and hang in their respective tribes. There are zebras, wildebeests and some elephants, although they mostly stay in the jungle, hippos, rhinos and hyenas. Hyenas are the top predators as they are highly aggressive and can take down lions.
Now the crater keeps these animals in and is basically trapped for all of their lives. They will never leave as it’s almost like a sanctuary, so these animals may become different from their outside counter parts.
I took plenty of videos of our time here and will edit those and post those here in the future so check back!
Lerai Picnic Site
Our last stop inside the crater was the Lerai Picnic Site on the western end of the Crater. This was actually a pretty cool stop but it was packed and also very windy and dusty. That’s another thing about the crater they don’t tell you beforehand, it’s so dusty and dirty. The winds come down from the mountains and just whip across the plains. Yes it’s annoying and I think it all annoyed us when we stop for a picnic. In fact, I could even eat out, that’s how windy and dusty it was.
Climbing Up
It’s obviously not much different from going down, but there is actually one path up. Everybody must take it as it would be too dangerous for incoming traffic to mix with outgoing traffic. We left pretty early and honestly we don’t regret it. Ngorongoro Crater is great and beautiful but we didn’t feel the need to spend the whole day there.
Going up was amazing too. It was on a nice paved road and I was able to get great videos of various landscapes. Once at the top there was an amazing outlook for the entire crater. It’s a great way to end our time.
Thoughts on Ngorongoro Crater
It truly is a unique place in the world and I’m glad we got to see it. Variations of animals are not the same as Tarangire or even the Serengeti but it was still a great experience and I’m glad we got to do it. Plus, the hotel and surroundings were worth the trip alone. I’m glad we got to partake, and one day was for sure enough.
