Safari to Ngorongoro North

the hypnotic and remote Empakai Crater

Ngorongoro North is an area of dramatic highland scenery just to the north of the Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania.

Considering its proximity to the main safari route, this area is incredibly quiet and little-visited. We reckon that fewer than 1% of the vehicles visiting the Ngorongoro Crater venture into this northern sector. There are rarely more than a handful of safari vehicles down this way on any given day, it’s the kind of place where you stop to chat with passing traffic.

The area has some superb hiking and trekking options, as well as being one of the very best areas for interacting with the local Maasai people. If you come out here for walking, you will be accompanied by Maasai warriors. If you do multiple day trekking then you will also be joined by donkeys and their attendants. As you pass by herders or through villages, your guides will know most of the people you meet and will introduce you as personal friends. It really is a very special way to travel.

The main reason that this area is not filled with people is that it’s not big for wildlife. Out on the grasslands you may see wildebeest and elands, we have even seen lions out here on very rare occasions.

A major highlight of the area is the mysterious Empakai Crater, whose steep forested flanks are home to elusive buffaloes, jackals, hyenas and various monkeys, whilst its soda lake is often dotted with flamingos.

There are no lodges out here, the only accommodation is bivouac camping, which is to say a light mobile camp which is carried with you, either by vehicle or donkey, depending on your route.

The ultimate way to visit is to camp overnight at Empakai and then undertake the two day trek through Maasai villages and past the magnificent active volcano, Oldonyo Lengai, down to the Lake Natron area.

Hiking

Starting from the junction where the main Crater Rim Road meets the Northern Crater Decent Road, a simple dirt track heads north across high altitude grasslands, the perfect pyramid of the active volcano, Oldonyo Lengai, looming ahead.

These treks are an incredible experience. You are accompanied by real Maasai warriors, with whom it is a real honour to spend time.

Olmoti Crater

The first minor highlight, Olmoti Crater, is reached after around 12 km.

Having traversed through acacia forest and open grasslands, the road pulls into the Maasai village of Nainokanoka. From here a footpath leads up across open ground for around half an hour to the rim of this little visited crater.

As the track gains altitude, views open out increasingly to the west and south over the Ngorongoro Crater, which is tucked behind a substantial tract of acacia woodland.

Olmoti Crater itself measures about 4 km diameter and is relatively shallow sided, with a largely flat bottom. Some of the peripheral slopes are covered in forest, giving out onto the grasslands of the crater floor.

A walk up to the crater rim takes between one and two hours, but to explore or circumnavigate the crater could easily take all day. When we ventured up there in June some years ago the weather was foggy and miserable, but we did see some limited wildlife in the crater, including zebras and wildebeest.

In the right season, perhaps Sep-Oct, there could well be more wildlife up here, we imagine that the forest elephants would really like it up here, they had certainly left their marks on the surrounding forest.

Overall we don’t rate this hike as one of the best in the highlands, the routes that travel between Ilmisigiyo to Serengeti and Empakai to Natron, as well as the trail around the Western Crater Rim, would all usually rate higher. But if you are a repeat visitor to the area or you find yourself staying in the camps on the north rim of the crater for an unusually long time, then it can make for an interesting diversion.

Empakai Crater

From Nainokanoka village the road passes around the edge of a huge bowl of grasslands, dotted with Maasai herders and their animals. Various volcanoes provide a backdrop, most notably the active volcano, Oldonyo Lengai, which looms increasingly as we progress.

After about 20 km the road starts to skirt around the side of a substantial flat-topped hill and it’s not until you reach the top that the landscape reveals its magnificent secret, as the land suddenly drops away into the legendary Empakai Crater.

This crater is perhaps the most dramatic and mysterious of the various calderas in and around these highlands. It’s around 5 km in diameter and very steep-sided all around, the floor lying at perhaps 300 metres below the rim.

The sides are swathed in thick forest, across which a blanket of mist often hangs, whilst down on the crater floor a flamingo-covered lake lies encircled by a narrow band of open grassland.

The tough half day hike down into the crater is usually undertaken early morning, after camping on the rim. It’s a very steep and arduous descent to the lake, with chances of encounters with wildlife including buffaloes and flamingos.

After the tough ascent back to the rim, we usually have lunch back at the bivouac before starting the long walk down to the next stop at Acacia Bivouac.

Trekking route : Empakai Crater to Lake Natron

From Empakai the road leads on a further 10km to a substantial and rather pleasant Maasai village, where we pick up the trail for Lake Natron.
Having usually hiked the Empakai Crater in the morning, we tend to arrive in the village around lunchtime. The afternoon hike takes us around 5 km to an overnight spot in light woodland at Acacia Bivouac.

The next day the trail leads a superbly scenic descent around the wonderful volcano Oldonyo Lengai and down the folds of the Rift Valley escarpment to reach the flatlands of Lake Natron, a hike of around 5 to 7 hours.

The best months to visit are generally considered to be Jun-Oct, although the early part of that season can be very cold at night.

Getting there

All our visitors to the Ngorongoro North area arrive by guided overland safari, so travel around in their private vehicle.

We almost always service any bivouac camps by using a separate vehicle to deliver the staff and equipment to the first site, usually at Empakai Crater. When trekking on down to Lake Natron, we rent donkeys and handlers at the local village in order to porter the equipment, whilst the vehicles drive an enormous route back around the Ngorongoro Crater, down to Lake Manyara and back up to meet you down at Lake Natron two days later (since there is no road on the direct route).

Where to stay

There are no permanent accommodation options in this area.

We most often choose to camp at Empakai Crater Bivouac and Acacia Bivouac, two overnight stops on the trekking route down to Lake Natron

the impressive trek down the escarpment to Lake Natron