Ngorongoro or Serengeti — which park do you choose?

I get this question at least once a week. And honestly I understand why: both parks top every bucket list, both promise the Big Five, and the photos look spectacular in both cases. But if you have a week and have to choose — what do you take?

The short answer: choose both. But if that really isn't possible, here is my honest comparison.

The Serengeti — space, freedom, infinity

The Serengeti is big. Very big. 14,763 km² big — almost twice the size of the Netherlands. When you drive around there, you sometimes feel like you are the only living creature on earth. Then suddenly a leopard appeared from the grass, three metres from the car. That is the Serengeti.

The park is fantastic year-round, but the month does matter. In January and February you sit in the south for the calving season. In July and August you drive north for the river crossings. In April and May you have it mostly to yourself — and that has its own magic.

Disadvantage? No real disadvantage for wildlife. However: the park is so big that you need to plan strategically. With an inexperienced guide you can drive all day without seeing anything special. With Jonas or me, never.

Ngorongoro — the world's greatest wildlife arena

The Ngorongoro Crater is not a park but a world in itself. 260 km² of enclosed wilderness, surrounded by a crater wall 600 metres high. Once this was a volcano — larger than Kilimanjaro. Now it is the most concentrated wildlife area on earth.

You can do the crater in one day. But that doesn't do it justice. The mornings are special — mist over the crater rim, silent plains, and then suddenly a lion working on its prey ten metres from the road.

The only disadvantage: you can't leave the crater once you're in it. Everything plays out in that bowl. That is also its strength: everything is there. Rhino included — in the Serengeti you almost never see one anymore.

My advice: combine them

Most of our trips do both parks. Ngorongoro is two hours' drive from the Serengeti entrance. There is no reason to do only one. If budget is really the issue: do the Serengeti for three nights and Ngorongoro for one night. That is the minimum for both.

But if you have one day for just one park — take the Ngorongoro Crater. The chance of seeing the Big Five in one day is nowhere greater.