In 2004, Clarissa and I made a short camping safari to Ngorongoro. We camped at Simba A, a large and noisy public campsite on the rim of the crater. What a difference this was from the school holiday I had enjoyed four decades before at the original log cabins! This newer public campsite was disapointing. The restrooms and showers were filthy and in the late afternoon the large open area rapidly filled up mobile safari vehicles filled with eager passengers. By evening the campsite resembled a music festival - very noisy with hundreds of tents pitched alongside each other - but with no music!
However beyond the campsite the slope quickly falls away into the vastness of the Ngorongoro Crater. What a fantastic view! Despite the difficult camping conditions and even though definately not the pure wilderness experience that Clarissa and I normally search for, nonetheless we had a tremendous few days wandering about the floor of the crater looking for material for paintings, marveling at the scenery, and absolutely blown away by sightings of mega-tusked elephants.