Safari: Ngorongora Crater (Sopa Lodge)
Plan of the Day: Travel to Ngorongora Crater National Park for a game drive and then stay one night Ngorongoro SopaLodge
Our Itinerary: February 2012
14th: Depart Naples, Italy
15th: Arrive Kilimanjaro, Africa *Transport to Arumeru River Lodge, Arusha (adjust for jet lag)
16th-17th: Tarangire National Park
*Stay two nights at the Kikoti Camp
18th: Lake Manyara National Park
*Stay one night Ngorongoro Farm House
19th-21st: Ngorongora Crater
Stay one night Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Stay two nights (20th-21st) Ndutu Camp
22nd-23rd: Serengeti National Park
*Stay two nights the Soroi SerengetiLodge
24th: Depart Serengeti National Park for flight back to Seronera Airstrip and transfer to Kilimanjaro airport
25th: Arrive Naples, Italy
Ngorongora Crater
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area stretches from the northern edge of Serengeti National Park to the eastern Great Rift Valley, covering over 8,000 km² (3,200 sq. miles) and offering an astonishing variety of landscapes and wildlife. Within its bounds lie the famed Ngorongoro Crater, the seasonal plains of Ndutu—where we’ll be spending a couple nights—Olduvai Gorge, the volcanic basins of Empakaai and Olmoti, and the iconic Oldonyo Lengai. Forests, valleys, savanna, craters, lakes, and swamps weave together here, creating habitats for everything from great herds of grazing mammals to rare birdlife and predators, making the area a living mosaic of East Africa’s ecological and geological wonders.
You can often see the Maasai grazing livestock in this area, moving quietly across the savanna in harmony with the wild—cattle, goats, and sheep sharing the same grasslands where zebras, gazelles, and elephants roam. Dressed in bright shúkà cloth and carrying long wooden staffs, Maasai herders follow seasonal rhythms and ancestral knowledge, reading the land and weather to find the best pastures while respecting wildlife pathways. Their presence creates a living tapestry of coexistence, where traditional pastoralism and natural predator-prey dynamics coexist, and community practices—such as rotational grazing and careful water use—help maintain the delicate balance between domestic herds and native ecosystems. Observing them is a reminder of how human stewardship, culture, and the wild can sustain one another when approached with respect and deep local understanding.
Ngorongoro Birds
Ngorongoro Crater is a birdwatcher’s paradise, where a dazzling variety of species share its rich mosaic of habitats—from swampy lakes and grasslands to forested rims—creating nonstop avian theater; flamingos sweep the shallow soda lakes in pink arcs, African fish eagles perch sentinel-like over deeper waters while hammerkop and egrets haunt the marshes, and glossy starling flocks flash iridescence among acacia and fig trees; raptors such as bateleur and tawny eagle ride thermals above the crater floor as secretary bird strides the plains hunting snakes, and glossy ibises, herons, and pelicans frequent wetter zones; smaller birds add bursts of color and song: weavers and kingfishers bustle in reed beds, sunbirds flit around flowering shrubs, and the melodious sylvan warblers and olive babblers inhabit the forest edges, all coexisting with the crater’s iconic mammals to form an unforgettable soundtrack of wings, calls, and motion.
Ngorongoro Lodge
The central areas of Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge sit within a single glass-fronted structure shaped like two rondavels joined by a bright, airy atrium, creating a welcoming hub for guests. The dining room seats around 200 and is arranged to maximize social dining and the sweeping panorama beyond. A decorative open fireplace anchors the center of the space, adding rustic charm without its former function, while more than half of the room’s walls are glass, ensuring uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape and filling the interior with natural light.
We stood at the rim as the sun slipped down into the massive crater and painted the sky in molten golds and bruised purples; the vast hollow below swallowed sound and distance, turning ancient rock faces into layered silhouettes while the last warm light traced the crater’s ridges in a glow so pure it felt like a private blessing.
