Search walks in Walkopedia

• home
• the walks
  • The World's 100 Best Walks
  • All Walks
  • Latest Walk
  • Walk of the Month
  • Random Walk
  • William's Favourite Walks
  • Day Walks
• walks grading
• fun & competitions
  • fun & competitions
  • First Story 2012 Competition
  • 2011 competition results
  • 2011 winning travel writing
  • 2011 winning photography
• magazines/writing
  • Magazines
  • Writing and Ideas
• expedition planning
  • Check List
  • Responsible Travel
  • Portable Cooking
• links
• participate
  • Participating in the Project
  • Recommend a Walk
  • Give Feedback
  • Comments on a Walk
  • Keep Updated
• community
• about us
  • Press

Walk summary

The superb but relatively obscure Empakaai Crater lies some 40km north-east of Tanzania's famous Ngorongoro Crater.

This extraordinary caldera (collapsed volcano) consists of a ring of cliffs encircling, some 300m below, a salt lake around 6km across. Its colours range from vivid turquoise to sparkling marine to pewter, depending on the time of day and the mood of the cloudscape. 

A well-constructed path winds down the eastern rim, through the lush montane forest that clothes the crater walls. Marvel at some magnificent specimens, some organ-piped strangler figs in particular. You may meet buffalo (scary), hyena or the occasional elephant; as well as an assortment of birds.

The wildlife highlight here is, however, the multitude of flamingoes that form a salmon-pink band around the shore for most of the year. Bring binoculars: they are fascinating but are shy and stalk off or even take to the air if you get too close. Watch them parade en masse, feed and (most remarkably) fly. The rasping buzz of their massed ranks can be heard back into the forest.

Other than the proximity of the flamingoes, the shoreline is perhaps a tiny bit disappointing after the views from above. The salt crust by the lake is too flimsy to let you get near the water. The tough short grass is a bit depressed. The far shore can look very distant and the hillsides a bit hazy.  But it is nonetheless a remarkable place.

The walk down will take around half an hour.  Allow at least an hour on the floor -  it takes around 4 hours to walk round the lake.  It will take 45mins to 1 hr back up the steep path.

It takes around 3.5hrs on rough roads from the main Ngorongoro village to Empakaai, so it is a long days expedition.  Or you can camp here and take a two-day donkey trek toward Lake Natron.

Responsible travel matters, a lot. How you travel will make a real difference - for better or worse. PLEASE consider this when making plans. Read more

Practical information for walking in Tanzania, Empakaai Crater

We have a lot of helpful practical information and tips about this walk, covering everything from the best books and maps, to timing and weather, geting there, possible problems, whether you need a guide and where to find them, and useful websites. This section is only open to members.

Membership is FREE AND JOINING TAKES 30 SECONDS. To login or sign up click here

Add your experiences, suggestions and photos. We would be delighted to receive your writing and ideas (which will be attributed appropriately where published).

See our Fun page for some entertainment and to read about our travel writing and other competitions.

Anyone planning an expedition to this place should see further important information about this walk.

Other great walks in Tanzania

• Top 100 Walks in Tanzania

• Empakaai Crater
  
• Mt Meru
  

• Other walks in Tanzania

• Empakaai toward Natron
  
• Kilimanjaro Massif
  
• Kilimanjaro Summit
  
• Ngurdoto Crater
  
• Ol Doinyo Lengai
  
• Salous Walking Safari
  

Responsible travel matters, a lot. How you travel will make a real difference - for better or worse. PLEASE consider this when making plans. Read more