7 days Ngorongoro Highlands Trek — Seven Days
The walking, without the game drives. Straight from the crater rim into the highlands, out to Empakai, and down to Natron with a day for Ol Doinyo Lengai.
Hiking & Culture
Ngorongoro Highlands Trek — Nine Days
Three days of game drives, then five on foot across the volcanic highlands to Empakai and down the Rift wall to Lake Natron. Donkeys carry the loads.
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At a glance
- Destinations
- Tarangire · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro Highlands · Empakai · Lake Natron
- Best for
- Hiking, Wildlife safari, Culture & history
- Travel style
- Highland trek & wildlife safari · Road transfers
- Activity level
- Moderate — walking days on forest and mountain paths
- Best time to travel
- June to October usually gives firmer trails for the Ngorongoro Highlands trek and drier game drives in Tarangire and Manyara. Highland camps can be cold, Lake Natron is hot, and the March to May rains can make walking muddy.
- Start and end
- Starts and ends in Arusha
Why this journey
- Five walking days across the highlands, camp to camp
- Empakai crater, with a flamingo lake 300 m below the rim
- The descent of the Rift wall to Lake Natron on foot
- Nights at Nainokanoka and Bulati, in Maasai grazing country
- Tarangire and Manyara at the start, before the walking begins
Day by day
The highlands north of the crater are grazing country, walked with Maasai guides and pack donkeys between village camps. This is the longer version — Tarangire and Manyara first, then the walk from the crater rim out to Empakai and down to Natron.
Day 1 — Arusha to Tarangire
Pickup from an agreed Arusha location, transfer to Tarangire with a picnic lunch and a game drive. The park covers 2,600 sq km and was established in 1970. The park has numerous baobab trees that will primarily catch your attention. Named after the Tarangire River, it draws thousands of migrating animals in the dry season — wildebeest, zebra, eland, elephant, hartebeest, buffalo and fringe-eared oryx. Tarangire National Park is said to have the highest recorded number of breeding bird species for any habitat in the world.
Stay Tarangire Public Campsite Meals Lunch & Dinner
Day 2 — Tarangire to Manyara National Park
Early morning game drive, then breakfast at the lodge and an afternoon drive to Lake Manyara for game viewing. The park is one of Tanzania's most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a massive but shallow soda lake (covering two-thirds of the park) at the foot of the Great Rift Valley's western escarpment. The varied habitat attracts one of Africa's largest elephant concentrations, unique tree-climbing lions, and large flamingo flocks drawn by the algae.
Stay Jambo Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 3 — Manyara to Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After breakfast, descend to the crater floor for a game drive. Ngorongoro Crater is the giant collapsed volcanic crater in the world and has fourteen kilometres of isolated natural beauty. A ring of extinct volcanoes surrounds it; the floor with its watering holes shelters roughly 30,000 animals including lions, elephants, zebras, hippos, flamingos, jackals, rhinos and antelopes. The birds seen here include eagles, vultures, flamingos in the Crater Lake, storks, bats, giant vultures, sacred ibis, kori bustard, blacksmith plover, long-necked heron, and the cattle eagle. Picnic lunch at the hippo pool, then ascend the rim for dinner and overnight.
Stay Simba Public Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 4 — Ngorongoro Crater to Nainokanoka
After breakfast, drive to Nainokanoka and hike to Olmoti Crater, then an early night before the next day's long trek.
Stay Nainokanoka Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 5 — Nainokanoka to Bulati
Walk from Olmoti to Bulati, passing through the Embulbul Depression to observe savanna animals and birds.
Stay Bulati Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 6 — Bulati to Empakai
After the savanna of the Embulbul Depression, we walk through bushy plains with scattered acacias and up onto Empakai's rim. Looking down into the crater is a glorious rainforest and a flamingo-lined lake.
Stay Empakai Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 7 — Empakai to Acacia Forest
Walk from Empakai to the acacia forest, passing through the Maasai village of Nairobi.
Stay Acacia Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 8 — Acacia Forest to Lake Natron and Ol Doinyo Lengai
Walk from the acacia forest to the foot of Ol Doinyo Lengai, then drive to the Lake Natron campsite. Options include walking to the Ngarasero waterfalls or Lake Natron. Then, you will climb the Oldonyo Lengai at midnight to see the hot orange lava before daylight!
Stay Lake Natron Viewpoint Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 9 — Lake Natron to Arusha
After descending the mountain, pickup at the base and return to camp to shower and have lunch before departing for Arusha.
Meals Breakfast & Lunch
Stay and travel
Comfortable mid-range lodges and tented camps, inside the parks wherever the route allows.
A 4×4 with a roof hatch and a window seat for everyone, driven by your guide throughout.
Camps fill, and roads change with the rains. Where something has to change we substitute at the same level and tell you before you travel, not after.
Included and excluded
What is included
- Every activity named in the day-by-day
- Accommodation as listed, or a similar alternative if a camp is full
- Meals as noted against each day
- Transfers between the agreed pick-up and drop-off points
- Park, reserve and conservation area fees
- An English-speaking Tanzanian driver-guide
- A 4×4 with a roof hatch, or the vehicle the route calls for
- Drinking water through the day
- Government taxes
- Boat safari and transfers
- TANAPA armed ranger where the park requires one
- Ngorongoro crater service fee
Not included
- International flights, airport taxes and visa fees
- Travel, medical and baggage insurance
- Personal spending — drinks, laundry, telephone
- Tips for your guide and crew
- Anything not listed as included
Practical information
- Activity level
- Walking days on forest and mountain paths, some of them steep and often wet underfoot. Ordinary walking fitness is enough.
- Visas, insurance and tipping
- A visa is arranged before travel or on arrival. Travel and medical insurance is a condition of booking. Tipping is customary and we will suggest a range rather than set one.
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Every route here can be changed
Tell us what you would keep, what you would drop and how long you have. We will send back a version that is yours.