The rugged and beautiful Ngorongoro Highlands offers one of the finest blends of culture, landscapes and wildlife in Tanzania. The best way to experience the highlands is no doubt on foot.
This Ngorongoro crater trek takes you on a bucket list adventure through diverse landscapes consisting of elevated volcanoes and craters, forests and vast grassy plains offers a remarkable experience for those hiking through this area.
If the dates below don't suit your requirements get in touch with us today and we can plan a unique trip for you!
Booking fee: 200 Non-refundable & not included in the total cost of this trip.
Single payment: 2800
Single payment: 2150
Monthly payments: 127.27 x 22
Monthly payments: 97.73 x 22
Include flights:
IncludedExluded
Price is per adult in a twin share room
Secure your trip at this cost and pay your booking fee by clicking book now.
Book nowThe rugged and beautiful Ngorongoro Highlands offers one of the finest blends of culture, landscapes and wildlife in Tanzania. The best way to experience the highlands is by foot on this epic Tanzania trekking trip. Its diverse landscapes consisting of elevated volcanoes and craters, forests and vast grassy plains offer a remarkable experience for those hiking through this area.
Hikers will experience first-hand how the Maasai people, who inhabit these highlands and the wildlife, coexist. The 54km journey through the highlands and Kilimanjaro National Park takes us to the edge of the Great Rift Valley where we then descend to the base of the escarpment wall right on the foot of Mt. Ol Doinyo Lengai. Known to the Maasai as the “Mountain of God”, Ol Doinyo Lengai is one of the most unique active volcanoes in the world.
Our trek ends up on the shores of the beautiful Lake Natron, an alkaline lake which serves as the breeding ground for the Lesser Flamingo.
Flights
Accommodation
Selected meals
Transfers
UK and local guides
Wildlife viewing
Depart from the UK and arrive Kilimanjaro Airport. We will be transferred to Karatu town near the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The transfer takes approximately 31/2 hours so it is highly recommended you arrive with the midday flight at the latest.
While at the camp your guide will brief you about your upcoming trek through the highlands.
After your briefing you will enjoy your dinner and drinks by the fireplace before retiring for the day to get your much needed rest.
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.
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 a packed lunch half way 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.
Today you will change environment from temperate grassland to montane forest zone on the crater rim. Plenty of spectacular panoramic views of the landscape. We have packed lunch half way 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 hours walk back up.
Today we will be camping right on the rim of the Empakaai crater.
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 a carbonatite, a type of igneous rock rich in carbonates such as calcite and dolomite.
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.
Late afternoon excursion to Lake Natron shores to view the Lesser Flamingos in their breeding habitat or for the fitter ones a hike up to the Engare Sero waterfalls.
Today you have the opportunity to enjoy a Tanzanian safari add-on or a day of R&R!
Today you can relax at the lodge while you wait for your transfer back to the airport.
Here’s what some of our awesome customers had to say:
I have just returned from the most epic trip to Kilimanjaro
We enjoyed the hustle of the local markets, the
I am so glad that we chose to climb Kilimanjaro with the Bucket List Company!
Before our trip the team were quick to respond to any queries (including very last minute kit queries!) and provide assurance.
Our trekking group was fairly large (20). This provided a great social experience but did not impact the superb level of individual support/service provided to each member.
Everything was extremely well organised from start to finish – which is very much appreciated on this sort of trip. I am thankful for this experience and will definitely book future adventures with the Bucket List Company!
Fantastic trip to Kilimanjaro with the Bucket List company. It was a thoroughly professional and well thought out travel experience, that attracts an eclectic group of
I booked this trip on a little bit of a whim back in November last year. Although I am fairly well travelled have never done a trip with a company in quite this way before, generally I book and arrange everything independently. The Bucket List Company made everything super easy and took any stress out of planning for the trip (except maybe the training – but they even run training weekends for those who may be interested).
The whole experience ran smoothly from start to finish. Yes summit night was as hard as, if not even harder, than I had ever imagined but we had a 100% success rate to the top (which was far higher than some other similarly large travel groups going up at the same time as us). This was purely down to the quality and dedication of the team of guides and porters that Keith uses on every expedition. Our head guide Whitey was one of the friendliest and happiest individuals I have ever met, he had all of our names memorised on the first meeting and kept everyone motivated, smiling and feeling very safe throughout the expedition.
Either side of the expedition we were taken to see some of the local area, a market pre hike and a local school thereafter. This was not a tourist trap, The Bucket List Company has genuine links to the local area and is making a very real difference to the school. This part for me was one of the unexpected highlights and being able to spend a while playing with the children one of the more emotional parts of the trip. Such little extras are for me what makes a company like this and the whole experience even more special. I would 100% recommend The Bucket List Company. I have made some fantastic new friends, some wonderful memories and am already looking at making my next booking! Thank you Keith and Co.
“Kilimanjaro has always been high up on my bucket list, and when I saw that The Bucket List Company were running another trip, I knew it was time to get myself booked on.
Keith and his team were always at the end of the phone to answer questions and Keith’s Guide to Kilimanjaro just answered all of my queries. I attended the pre-expedition training weekend, which enabled me to meet the other people I would be travelling with. It also gave me chance to meet Keith and the Bucket List team and put faces to names. The training weekends are certainly a must.
On the expedition, Keith was very aware of his whole group’s needs and made sure everyone was coping well. The team’s in-country guides and porters were also amazing. They cooked for and looked after us amazingly. Summiting Kilimanjaro was a dream of mine and the Bucket List Company made that a reality. I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to book another trip with The Bucket List Company, and would urge anyone considering a trip to just book and start training!”
“If you want to realise your dreams, the team at The Bucket List Company need to be your travel companions. From the ease of booking, preparing kit lists and training encouragement to the summiting of Mt Kilimanjaro, the team are there to support you 100% of the way. The knowledge and in country support was amazing. We came back a team of successful climbers, full of knowledge and experiences of Tanzania and her wonders.
We laughed (a lot) and we cried; we sang and danced and we ate extremely well. They even managed pizza and chips halfway up the mountain! Everyone became one big family, relaxed and laid back, each of us supporting everyone’s ambition to get to the top. A truly life changing experience. We are already planning our next trip with Keith and the team.”
If the dates below don't suit your requirements get in touch with us today and we can plan a unique trip for you!
Booking fee: 200 Non-refundable & not included in the total cost of this trip.
Single payment: 2800
Single payment: 2150
Monthly payments: 127.27 x 22
Monthly payments: 97.73 x 22
Include flights:
IncludedExluded
Price is per adult in a twin share room
Secure your trip at this cost and pay your booking fee by clicking book now.
Book now