Ngurdoto Crater

The beautiful Ngurdoto Crater in Tanzanias Arusha National Park was created by the collapse of an ancient volcano, leaving a ring of dramatic cliffs approximately 3km across.  Some 400m below, the secluded crater floor is half swamp and the rest grassy plain dotted with elegant thickets of trees - in an echo of English parkland, a thick forest at the northern end.

Much of the walking is the forest of the rim, though, so come prepared to enjoy this as much as the more glamourous crater views.

You can follow the 10km 4x4 track around the crater rim, through lush montane forest which includes strangler fig, orchids and ferns. Other than near the top of the access road, there is little traffic, and you will be alone with the birds - vast hornbills may flap ponderously overhead - and the forest.

Every so often, you will catch outstanding views of the crater floor: animal tracks crossing the grassland like a complex pattern of veins; a huge herd of buffalo; hippos, perhaps, in a pool in the exuberantly reeded swamp. One thing is for sure: no humans interfere with life down there.

For practical information relevant to this walk, see our Mt. Meru page, much of which is relevant to this page.