Empakai & Olmoti Craters

North of the Ngorongoro Crater, the Crater Highlands rise into a chain of old volcanoes that few safari vehicles reach. Empakai and Olmoti are the two craters most visitors explore. Both lie within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where Maasai families graze their cattle alongside the wildlife.

Empakai is a steep-sided caldera about six kilometres across, with a deep soda lake covering much of its floor. A path drops through forest from the rim to the shore, where flamingos often feed, and on a clear day the rim looks out towards Ol Doinyo Lengai and Lake Natron. A ranger goes with every walking group.

Olmoti is shallower and grassier. From the village of Nainokanoka a short climb leads to its rim, and a trail follows the Munge River to the waterfall where it spills out of the crater on its way down to the Ngorongoro Crater.

We include Empakai and Olmoti in our Crater Highlands treks and longer safaris, walking between villages and camps with Maasai guides and donkeys to carry the load, before continuing to the Serengeti, Lake Natron or the Ngorongoro Crater itself.