DAY 1: Arusha - NGORONGORO CRATER – BACK TO ARUSHA.
We start the day with an early morning game drive before heading to Ngorongoro Conservation area, a drive that will take only 3 hours at most. Arrive at the parks gate at Ngorongoro and after your driver has sorted out the paperwork you inter in Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Ngorongoro is a special place in that it is a Conservation Area, not a National Park; this means that the whole area is managed for both the animals and the local Masai people who graze their cattle alongside the indigenous wildlife. During the drive in Ngorongoro we have a chance to glimpse something of the Masai way of life.
After stopping at the entrance gate, where there is a chance to learn more about this fascinating volcanic landscape, we will drive around the rim of the Crater itself, and from here we can look down and see the herd of wildebeest or buffalos, finally we descend into the crater, the floor of the largest unbroken caldera in the world also called the Ngorongoro Crater.
Home to over 120 species of mammal including the fabled Big Five, the Ngorongoro Crater Area is one of the most sought, after safari destinations in the world. It's a particularly good place to see the endangered black rhinoceros enjoying a lonely meal out on the grass plains, as well as a place to see large numbers of hippopotamus enjoying the cool water.
You will spend this whole day at the Crater floor doing game drives in search of animals that can spotted at very close range, From the comfort of your open-top vehicle you will spot many wildlifes including, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals (silver backed), and if lucky enough you can spot the rare species like the Caracal, leopards and the black Rhinos. Picnic lunch will most likely be taken at the Hippo Poolside Picnic site where you can also visit a washroom then continue with game drives in the afternoon as you head out of the Ngorongoro Crater. You will later on in the afternoon drive up the Crater rim and dive back to Arusha town where the safari ends again.
