Chapter Seven: First Views & Nights Above Ngorongoro

The First View of Ngorongoro

Eventually, our Land Cruiser climbed to approximately 2,200 meters above sea level, where we reached the Ngorongoro viewpoint.

And then the landscape opened before us.

It was breathtaking.

From high above, we could see the enormous sweep of the Ngorongoro Crater — an ancient volcanic caldera transformed over time into one of Africa’s most remarkable wildlife sanctuaries.

The scale is difficult to comprehend until you are standing there.

The plains, forests and shimmering waters of the crater floor seemed impossibly distant below us. Somewhere down there, lions were roaming, elephants were wandering, zebras and wildebeest were grazing and, if fortune favored us, perhaps a rhinoceros was waiting to be discovered.

For a few moments, there was really nothing to say.

You simply stand at the edge, take a deep breath and absorb the magnitude of what lies before you.

I tried, as always, to capture it through my camera. But some landscapes refuse to fit neatly inside a photograph.

After taking far too many pictures — if such a thing is possible — we continued toward our home for the next two nights: the A&K camp.

The Road to Camp — The African Massage Returns

The road became progressively rougher as we left the main route.

Our familiar “African massage” had returned.

And this time, it appeared to have been upgraded to the premium package.

The closer we came to camp, the more effective the massage became.

Eventually, after being thoroughly shaken, bounced and rearranged inside the Land Cruiser, we arrived.

And suddenly, every bump along the way seemed worthwhile.

Perched high within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, our A&K camp occupied a spectacular hillside overlooking seemingly endless plains stretching toward the Serengeti.

It felt wonderfully remote.

Rolling grasslands, acacia woodland and enormous African skies surrounded us, yet we were only about 25 minutes from the road descending into the Ngorongoro Crater.

That was what made the location extraordinary.

We were sleeping in the wilderness between two of Tanzania’s greatest landscapes — the ancient highlands of Ngorongoro behind us and the vast Serengeti ecosystem opening ahead.

As evening arrived, the landscape slowly disappeared into darkness.

Then the stars took over.

Once settled into our tents, the six of us gathered around the glowing campfire for drinks.

Sitting beneath the African sky, glasses in hand, we reflected on everything we had already experienced — Arusha, Tarangire, the wildlife, the landscapes and the people we had encountered along the way.

It was difficult to believe how much we had already seen.

And yet we were equally curious about what was still ahead.

Dinner followed, and before long we retired to our tents. The next morning would begin early.

Very early.

We were going down into Ngorongoro Crater.

From Our Trip

This chapter is drawn from our firsthand Ngorongoro journey. It describes our experience, not a promise of wildlife sightings or a fixed schedule.