Empakaai Crater

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.