The Ngorongoro Crater

The Lake Manayara Airport Terminal


Our next port of call (so to speak) after Grumeti was the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. We were picked up at the airport by Wilfred our ranger for the next few days (he would later earn the nickname Lewis Hamilton) . We would spend some time driving to the Crater Lodge and it grew colder as we climbed higher to the edge of the crater where the lodge was located.


Entrance sign to Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Men checking papers at the entrance to Ngorongoro

Ngorongoro Conservation Area it is 8,288 km - about the size of Crete and is 180 km west of Arusha. The area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The reason for our visit was the Ngorongoro Crater, which is the world's largest volcanic caldera. The Crater, which formed as the giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself around 2 million years ago, is 610m deep and the floor is 260 square km. The sides of the crater mean that it has become a natural cage for animals and there are an estimated 25,000 of them within the crater. However, the highlight of my stay was a visit to the Oldupai Gorge (more about the name later). Oldupai was wonderful and moving experience , another chance to check off something on my travel list.

I have to say that I really didn’t enjoy the game drives here although I think Jeff might disagree. I felt like I was in a game park. Game viewing is so completely different here from the Serengeti. I understand that it was the height of the tourist season but the place was packed with tourists. I think the park really needs to start restricting the number of cars it allows in everyday. Around every animal there would be about 20 jeeps. There were traffic jams. Though, we did get to see some elephants, hilarious hippos, lions, flamingos, baboons, rhinos.

The Ngorongoro Crater Lodge was outstanding though. This is the view of the crater from our room when the clouds had lifted. It has to be one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in my life (and there have been quite a few!). The staff was outstanding. Our butlers name was Safari (yes, he was born while his mother was on Safari!). Here we met staff members Mike and Sarah, who we would see again on Mnemba Island and met a lovely English couple. From the Grumeti camp we would see the Canadians, Brad and Christine again.