Ngorongoro Trekking tour itinerary
Your Arrival Day
Upon your arrival at the airport, pick up and transfer to Arusha or Karatu for dinner and overnight. Be ready for your Ngorongoro Trekking tour in the following day.
DAY 01; INTO NGORONGORO;
Your day starts off with a 2-hour drive to Nainokanoka Village where you will be based tonight. During your transfer, if it’s not too foggy, you may get great views of the Ngorongoro Crater from the viewpoint on the edge of the crater rim. You then proceed along the Henry Fosb Rooke road through the dense forest towards Nainokanoka, where you will get to see wildlife such as buffalos and wildebeest. Today you will explore the Olmoti Crater and Munge waterfalls on a 3-hour hike. The Olmoti Crater is a shallow grassy crater where the Munge River originates.
Total Walking Distance: 3hrs
Accommodation: Camping at Nainokanoka Campsite
DAY 02; NAINOKANOKA – BULATI CAMP;
We depart Nainokanoka camp at 0800hrs and commence our trek to Bulati Village. We will pass a few Maasai Bomas on our way. We will have packed lunch halfway to Bulati. We cross the Elbulbul depression, a vast grassland with no trees, but many zebras can be seen grazing, wildebeests, raptors due to the many mole rat mounds found in the area. We arrive in Bulati early in the afternoon for rest and refreshments. Late afternoon Maasai Boma visit in the village of Bulati where we will be spending the night.
Total Walking Distance: 14km
Accommodation: Camping at Bulati Campsite
DAY 03; TREKKING IN EMPAKAI CRATER;
Today you will change the environment from temperate grassland to montane forest zone on the crater rim. Plenty of spectacular panoramic views of the landscape. We have packed lunch halfway on the trek. In the afternoon you will descend into the crater where you can see lesser flamingos who reside on the crater soda lake. The Caldera is 300m deep and 6kms wide. The trek is roughly 45 minutes down and an hour walks back up. Today we will be camping right on the rim of the Empakaai Crater.
Total Walking Distance: 14km
Accommodation: Empakaai Campsite
DAY 04; EMPAKAI CRATER – ACCACIA CAMP;
After breakfast, we walk a short way around the Empakaai crater to stretch our legs and get some good panoramic photos of the caldera. The first half of the trek is to Nayobi village where you will stop for lunch. From Nayobi we head down to Acacia Campsite. You will head out on a late afternoon walk to view the surrounding area and to take photos of the majestic Mt. Ol Doinyo Lengai, which is a Maasai name for “Mountain of God”. This mountain is unique amongst geologists because it is the only active volcano on Earth that erupts with carbonatite, a type of igneous rock rich in carbonates such as calcite and dolomite.
Total Walking Distance: 11km
Accommodation: Acacia Campsite
DAY 05; WALKING FROM ACCACIA CAMP TO THE BASE OF OLDONYO LENGAI;
We finish off our last day of trekking with a very early start from Acacia. The terrain is very dry and recently covered by ash from the 2008 Oldoinyo Lengai eruption. We maximize our trek in the early hours of the day to avoid the late morning sun intensity and heat. We descend the Rift Valley Escarpment, via Pembe ya Swala to the base of Ol Doinyo Lengai. At the base we are picked up by our vehicles and transferred to our camp in Lake Natron for Lunch.
Total Walking Distance: 15km
After long walking, meet your driver guide at the base of Mountain Oldonyo Lengai, after lunch drive to Arusha. Then it will be end of Ngorongoro trekking tour.