Ngorongoro Crater
A wildlife amphitheatre inside an ancient volcanic caldera.
Explore Ngorongoro Crater
Tanzania · Fly-in Safaris
Designed for photographers who don’t want to spend hours on the road. You fly in to the Lake Manyara airstrip, photograph Tarangire’s elephants and baobabs in the afternoon light, and spend the next morning on the Ngorongoro Crater floor before flying out.
With a private vehicle and guide, you set the pace: wait for the light, reposition for the shot, and stay as long as a sighting lasts.
Route

We collect you from your hotel in Zanzibar in the morning and transfer you to the airport for your scheduled light-aircraft flight to the Lake Manyara airstrip, a scenic hop over the coast and the Maasai Steppe.
Your guide meets you at the airstrip and drives you into Tarangire National Park, famous for its baobab trees and big elephant herds, for an afternoon game drive with a picnic lunch along the Tarangire River.
In the late afternoon you check in to your lodge in Karatu for dinner and the night.

After an early breakfast you drive up to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and stop at the viewpoint. The view is unforgettable: a 600-metre-deep, 20-kilometre-wide volcanic caldera with lakes, swamps, forest and grassland laid out below you.
Then you descend to the crater floor for your game drive. The steep walls keep most animals inside all year, so wildlife is dense and easy to see: lions, elephants, buffalo, hyenas, zebras, wildebeest, hippos and flamingos are all regulars. The crater is also one of the best places in Tanzania to look for the endangered black rhino, which takes patience to find.
After a picnic lunch by the hippo pool you drive back up the crater wall to the Lake Manyara airstrip for your scheduled flight back to Zanzibar, where you are met and transferred to your hotel.
Northern Tanzania is good all year. The long dry season (June to October) is best for general game viewing, January to March is calving season in the southern Serengeti, and the April–May rains bring green landscapes and lower prices.
Yes. Every itinerary can be tailored: upgrade or change lodges, add extra nights, or combine your safari with Zanzibar or a Kilimanjaro climb. Tell us what you have in mind when you enquire.
Light, neutral-coloured layers, a warm fleece for early mornings (the Ngorongoro rim gets cold), a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellent, binoculars and a camera with a spare battery. Soft bags pack into safari vehicles and light aircraft more easily than hard suitcases.
Tailor-made
Send your travel dates and group size. We can adjust the length, lodges and route, and will reply with an itinerary and per-person quote.
Destination guides
Read more about the parks and places this itinerary visits: highlights, wildlife and the best time to go.
A wildlife amphitheatre inside an ancient volcanic caldera.
Explore Ngorongoro Crater
Baobabs, big elephant herds and the Tarangire River.
Explore Tarangire National Park
Stone Town, spice farms and white-sand beaches.
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