Ngorongoro Crater
Tanzania
A collapsed volcano six hundred metres deep, with its own population of black rhino
Photo by Matthew Stephenson on Unsplash
Photos by Dmitrii Zhodzishskii and joel herzog on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Tanzania
June to October, January and February (the short dry spell between the rains)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 190mm in Apr
Where it is
3.34°S, 35.67°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Be at the gate when it opens and down before the vehicles queue: the first two hours on the floor are the best
- Spend the night before in Karatu or on the rim, not Arusha, or you arrive at midday
- Look for rhino early and far off, with binoculars — there are only a few dozen and they keep to the grass
- Climb to Empakaai Crater, a walk down to a soda lake with a ranger and almost nobody else
- Stop at Olduvai Gorge on the way to the Serengeti, and give it an hour
- Do not go looking for giraffe: the crater walls are too steep for them, and there are none on the floor
Ngorongoro Crater travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Tanzania
Very expensiveThere are two charges, and people expect one: the conservation area's entry fee per person, and a separate crater fee charged per vehicle for each descent. Both are large, both are paid by card, and an operator's price should show them as separate lines. Sharing a vehicle splits the crater fee, which is the main reason a group day costs less per head. Shillings are for tips and Karatu.
ATMs & cards
Karatu has CRDB and NMB machines on the main road, and they are the last before the crater and the Serengeti. Draw tip money there.
Avoid these
- looking for a machine on the rim or in the crater, where there are none
Use these instead
- CRDB
- NMB (both in Karatu)
Entry and crater fees are card-only and usually inside the operator's price. Tips and the village shops are cash.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Tanzania
SafeThe rim sits at about 2,300 metres and is cold, wet and often in cloud: bring a fleece, and expect single figures at night in the dry season. The road along the rim is the hazard most visitors never think about — narrow, unsealed in places and in fog. Stay in the vehicle on the floor. Malaria is lower up here than on the plains but present in Karatu and Mto wa Mbu.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Karatu
- Ngorongoro Crater — from inside the vehicle
Worth more attention
- Ngorongoro Crater rim road — narrow, partly unsealed and often in fog, with buffalo and elephant on it at dusk
- Leaving the vehicle on the crater floor anywhere except the marked picnic and toilet stops
- Ngoitokitok picnic site — the kites, which dive for food in your hand
- Walking between rooms at night in the rim lodges, where buffalo graze outside — take the escort
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Tanzania visa rules
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$50 ($100 for US passports)
Available on arrival too, but the queue at Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro is long and the e-visa avoids it. Compulsory travel insurance is now sold on arrival in Zanzibar (~$44) unless you hold a qualifying policy.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Apply at visa.immigration.go.tz, allowing up to ten working days. Yellow fever certificates are checked if you are arriving from an endemic country, including via a long layover.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Tanzania
Evacuation likelyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate if arriving from a country where yellow fever is present — including via a layover of more than 12 hours in one
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Malaria prophylaxis — Zanzibar is a genuine malaria area
- Rabies for longer stays
- Cholera for extended rural stays
Getting treated
The weakest on this list. Zanzibar has clinics that handle minor problems and a private hospital in Stone Town, but anything serious means an evacuation flight to Dar es Salaam or Nairobi. Travel insurance with air-evacuation cover is genuinely essential here, not a formality.
Malaria is the real risk and prophylaxis is strongly advised — take it as prescribed and use repellent and nets. Do not drink the tap water. Watch the yellow-fever transit rule closely, because it catches people connecting through Nairobi or Addis.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodA crater day is a packed lunch on the floor, and the picnic site's black kites will take it out of your hand — eat in the vehicle. Karatu is coffee and wheat country, and the lodges on its farms grow much of what they serve.
Travel tipsGetting around
Car needed- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
Uber Dar es Salaam
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper in the cities. On safari the vehicle is the operator’s and none of this applies.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Dar es Salaam — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Tanzania, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Swahili
- HelloHabariha-BA-ree
- PleaseTafadhalita-fa-DHA-lee
- Thank youAsantea-SAN-teh
- Yes / NoNdiyo / Hapanan-DEE-yo / ha-PA-na
4 more phrases
- Excuse meSamahanisa-ma-HA-nee
- How much is it?Bei gani?bay GA-nee
- The bill, pleaseBili tafadhaliBEE-lee
- No problemHakuna matataha-KOO-na ma-TA-ta
Jambo is the tourist greeting; habari is what locals actually say to each other. Using it changes how you are received.
Travel tipsReligion
Muslim on Zanzibar, split on the mainland
The mainland is roughly half Christian and half Muslim; Zanzibar is around 99% Muslim and noticeably more conservative. Cover shoulders and knees in Stone Town, and swimwear stays on the resort beach.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Cover shoulders and knees away from beach resorts — Zanzibar is conservative and predominantly Muslim
- Greet with habari and take the time for it; greetings are extended here
- Use the right hand to eat, give and receive
- Ask before photographing anyone
Don't
- Do not wear swimwear off the beach, including walking through Stone Town
- Do not show public affection, including between couples
- Do not eat or drink publicly during daylight in Ramadan
- Do not use the left hand for anything social; it is the toilet hand
Where to stay in Ngorongoro Crater
No Holistay rentals in Ngorongoro Crater yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Ngorongoro Crater on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Kilimanjaro JRO
3h 30mfrom the airport· 156 km as the crow flies
Three and a half hours by road through Arusha, or a light aircraft from Arusha to the Lake Manyara airstrip and twenty minutes by road.
Also worth pricing: Arusha ARK — where the light aircraft to Lake Manyara and the Serengeti leave from.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
