A Full Day In The Ngorongoro Crater
A Full Day In The Ngorongoro Crater : Looking for a thrilling wildlife sanctuary in Tanzania? Ngorongoro Crater is a fascinating place to go. It is endowed with diverse dazzling wildlife, natural features as well as massive bird species. In Tanzania, we do have three iconic natural features, and Ngorongoro Crater is among these features. These three features are the great Serengeti National Park, the giant Mount Kilimanjaro and the iconic Ngorongoro Crater. Ngorongoro Crater is also among the seven wonders of Africa, thanks to its iconic caldera which has made it reach that far.
When is the best time to visit Ngorongoro Crater?
The best time for visiting Ngorongoro Crater higly depends on what you desire to get from the visit. If you are fond of wildlife safaris, then the best time to visit the crater is from June through Mid-October. For those in love with birds, then the best time to visit the crater is November through April.
Ngorongoro Crater is well-known as the largest intact caldera in the world with the dimensions of 20 kilometres across, 600 meters deep and 300 square kilometres in area making it a breath-taking crater which plays home to a dense population of wildlife in Africa. Spending a full day (24 hours) inside this magnificent crater would be life-changing as you will have many stories to tell. Thousands of visitors have found this place interesting and remarkable beyond their narrow expectations thus rating it with five stars. Now, let’s see Ngorongoro crater activities you can do for leisure or learning in just one full day in this remarkable caldera;
Game viewing. Your day will be amazing if you view the beauty that the Ngorongoro Crater animals have. A game ride through the crater floor will rewards you with scenic views of stunning animals. The wild bulls, buffalos are usually spotted in open grasslands and woodlands. Ngorongoro Crater is home to over 700 wildebeests, 3000 elands, 3000 gazelles, 4000 zebras, over 90 elephants and about 26 black rhinos. Other animals that can sighted in this enormous crater include striped hyenas, cheetahs, jackals, foxes, waterbucks, reedbucks, impalas, wild dogs, warthogs and various species of antelopes.
It is in this iconic caldera where you can see all the Big Five animals which include elephant, lion, leopard, black rhino and buffalo. Elephants, the largest and heaviest land animals in the world; you will encounter them in woodlands and in tall grasslands usually in groups of up to fifteen. The “Kings of Jungle” themselves are frequently spotted in short grasslands in the pride of up to ten lions. In the short grasslands especially close to water sources, you can sight the wild buffalos grazing in large groups of up to 100 individuals. When in groups, buffalos are polite but very dangerous when they charge. The most dangerous ones are isolated bulls. They isolate from the large herds after being defeated and may harm anything due to self-defence instincts.
The leopard, the clever predator is frequently spotted in both grasslands and woodlands. Their favourite preys are antelopes and impalas. They rarely predate on large herbivores like wildebeests, zebras and warthogs unless it is a self-defence. They live in small groups of three to four individual headed by the female parent. The black rhino is less social animal. You have to drive past shrubs and scrubs where it like to camouflage. You should be carefully if you are on a nature walk, because this animal is brutal when annoyed.
Visit Lake Magadi. Your full day trip will be more rewarding if you come into contact with shallow soda lake found in the southwest of the crater. With its name (Magadi) coming from a Maasai word which means salt, Lake Magadi is home to beautiful flamingos. Your visit to this amazing lake will make you capture a stunning photo of pink flamingos resting on the shallow shores of this lake. Ngoitokitok spring is one of the sources of water for Lake Magadi. This spring is accompanied with a natural swamp named Gerigor Swamp, a proud home to a number of hippos.
Witness sunrise and sunset inside the crater. Watching the sun rising from the rim of this majestic caldera is an once-in-a-lifetime experience you would ever have done in your safaris. Sunset is also superb especially when you watch it from Lake Magadi. Animals and the wildlife are colored with the magical rays from the sunset, making them appear more beautiful. The waters of Lake Magadi reflects the light rays from the sunset create a marvellous scene.
Go for a nature walk in the wild. A full day trip is enough for you to walk safely in the Ngorongoro Crater. The feeling of stepping on this mighty crater is worth a picture or short video for your social media feeds. For safety purposes, all the nature walks must be accompanied by an armed guard.
Watch the colourful Ngorongoro Crater birds. As you explore through the beauty of Ngorongoro Crater you will hear the songs of singing birds and you will also witness the dazzling birds. Your eyes will convince you to keep staring at superb birds such as the Ashy starling, secretary birds, lesser flamingos and many other birds among 500 bird species found in the Ngorongoro Crater.
Some frequently encountered birds of Ngorongoro Crater include White-eyed flycatcher, black kite, African spoonbill, lesser flamingo, grey crowned crane, Kori bustard, Black-winged lapwing, living turaco, Egyptian vulture, Hartlaubs turaco, Verreauxs eagle, Hildebrandt’s spurfowl, ostrich, secretary bird, Red and yellow barbet, Jacksons widowbird, Namaqua dove Rufous-tailed weaver, Rosy-throated long claw among others.
A full-day trip to Ngorongoro Crater will make you think of revisiting this crater one more time when you get a holiday. Whenever you want to visit Ngorongoro Crater make a plan with a reliable tour operator. Planning a trip to Ngorongoro Crater is one of the way of being satisfied with the fascinating views of this iconic crater.
