Tanzania

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

World's largest volcanic caldera — all Big Five in a single morning, 25,000 resident animals

2 areas to explore1 photos6 packages

Ngorongoro Conservation Area crater view

About Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area encompasses the world's largest intact volcanic caldera — a 260-square-kilometre natural amphitheatre that serves as a permanent home to over 25,000 large animals. The crater floor, 600 metres below the forested rim, is one of the few places in Africa where all Big Five can be seen in a single morning game drive. Black rhino graze the open grassland, lion prides dominate the central plains, and flamingos paint the soda lakes pink. For golfers, the Ngorongoro Highlands offer cool-climate courses with staggering Rift Valley views, and the crater itself provides the most concentrated wildlife experience available as a complement to championship golf on the Serengeti.

Best Time to Visit

Year-round destination. June to October is driest with clear crater views. December to March offers warmer weather and the best chance of seeing newborn animals. The crater floor can be chilly in the early morning year-round — temperatures drop to 10-15 degrees Celsius at dawn.

Wildlife & Ecosystems

The crater supports one of the densest concentrations of wildlife in Africa: an estimated 25,000 large animals including black rhino (critically endangered), lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, hippo, flamingos, and over 500 bird species. Unlike the Serengeti, the crater population is largely resident year-round.

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Areas Within Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro Crater

All Big Five in a single game drive, black rhino sightings

The 260-square-kilometre caldera floor is a self-contained ecosystem where black rhino, lion, elephant, buffalo, and flamingos coexist in extraordinary density. Game drives descend 600 metres from the rim to the floor, where a full morning reveals more wildlife than most parks offer in a week.

Olduvai Gorge

Cradle of Mankind — 1.8 million years of human history

The 'Cradle of Mankind' — where Louis and Mary Leakey discovered some of the earliest human fossils. The on-site museum tells the story of human evolution stretching back 1.8 million years. Located between Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, it is a natural stop on the transfer between the two.

Getting to Ngorongoro Conservation Area

3-4 hours by road from Arusha via the scenic Rift Valley escarpment. Charter flights can land at Lake Manyara airstrip (45 minutes from the crater). Most Serengeti golf safari packages include Ngorongoro as a road-transfer stop between Arusha and the Serengeti.

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