Ngorongoro Crater

Tanzania’s prehistoric Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Eighth Wonder of the World, has yawned heavenward for millennia. Deep within its immense walls is a breath-taking blue-green landscape dotted with plains, lakes and forests; an eerie, otherworldly “land that time forgot” thick with massive bull elephants, rhinos, wildebeests and the highest concentration of lions in Africa. 

Nestled high above the plains into the Crater’s jagged rim, cloaked in river stone and indigenous vines, Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge is barely visible to the naked eye. Framed by arched stone passages and timbered decks, its torch-lit walls are adorned with stylized cave paintings. At the stone heart of the lodge burns a glowing fire, which is kept constantly alight. Rooms are looped around the Crater rim. Each has its own rock-enclosed balcony, and all enjoy completely uninterrupted views of the volcanic amphitheatre far below. Our Ngorongoro hotel lodge is a place that feels as ancient as the Crater itself, yet no modern comfort has been spared in an effort to bring you the best safari adventure in Africa and one of the most unique travel experiences in the world. 

Explore the Cradle of Mankind at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge. 

NATURALLY, OUR TAKE ON THIS WILDLIFE SHANGRI LA IS WILDER, WOOLIER AND SO MUCH MORE ABSORBED.

Here, we define our own Ngorongoro, off the beaten track, in Maasai territory.  Following one of the world’s most stunning private drives, we bring you up to a dizzying edge of elemental Africa with panoramic views spinning forward into the Crater and back to the Serengeti plains. This is much more than a great vantage point for visiting the Crater, this is where we live the Ngorongoro life.

The Highlands has redefined the Ngorongoro Crater experience, offering an array of activities afforded by the camp’s exclusive location and a combination of comfort and contemporary style. 

The award-winning camp with its eight domed canvas and glass suites is situated on the edge of a forest that skirts Olmoti Volcano. The surrounding Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The camp feels remote, but is within easy reach of Ngorongoro, where guests can go on day-long game drives to spot lions, elephants and giraffes, with a midday picnic break under a shady tree. From camp, hike up to the top of Olmoti for staggering views, or take a half-day trip to the soda lake in Empakaai Crater, where thousands of pink flamingos congregate. Guests can also interact with the local community, learning about Maasai culture and walk the cattle back to the boma at the end of the day.  

At night, gather around a crackling fire with a glass of wine or whiskey before sitting down to a delicious three-course dinner. 

Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp is located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area - situated in the Ngorongoro Crater rim valley, close to the access road into the crater, giving guests unrivaled access to the crater floor.

The park is full of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo and elephants. Supported by a year-round supply of water and food; the park supports a massive variety of animals, including its impressive population of predators, including lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the elusive leopard.

The camp offers ten classic safari tents - each with its own en-suite bathroom. The tents also feature hairdryers and plug points and a small sitting area in front of each of the tents where early morning coffee and biscuits can be enjoyed before starting the day of incredible game viewing. The main common areas include a dining area, bar area and lounge area as well as comfortable sofas placed in specially-selected locations around the camp.

Lemala Ngorongoro is intimately set in a delightful ancient acacia forest close to the rim of the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater. As it is located next to the quiet Lemala crater access road on the eastern side, a key advantage of staying at Lemala Ngorongoro is the quick and easy drive down on to the crater floor in the morning; Lemala guests usually have an hour’s head start over others descending via the far busier Seneto crater access road on the western rim. And of course can stay later in the afternoon before returning to camp. As Africa’s game is most active in the early morning and late afternoon this means better wildlife experiences for Lemala guests.

Game drives from camp may start as early as 6.15am and guests can be down among Ngorongoro’s abundant wildlife on the floor within 10-15 minutes – crucial for photographers who demand the best light conditions. Escorted walks are also available into the forest and along the crater rim with an armed ranger and Maasai guide.

Intimate Private Camp Ngorongoro is set up for your own private and exclusive use in a strategic location on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. As one of  “short stay” luxury mobile camps which are only ever set up for specific bookings, the camp is never shared with anyone else. This enables all aspects of the camp to concentrate on your needs and wants.

Your camp is staffed by private chefs, private butlers and private tent attendants, all of whom are on call to look after you and your group for the duration of your stay with us. Camp sizes may vary between one accommodation tent for two people up to a maximum of fifteen accommodation tents for a maximum of thirty people as required.

Because our camps are for private use, we are able to tailor the services we provide to your specific desires. Hence, the menus served during the course of your stay, the drinks available from our well-stocked bar, the types of beds made available in your tents and even the distances between one tent and another are all discussed and agreed with you during the planning stage of your camp.

All Intimate Camps have a fully equipped kitchen with a gas fridge, freezer, oven and stove.

YOUR PRIVATE HIGHLAND RETREAT OVERLOOKING THE NGORONGORO CRATER

There is surely no truer way to appreciate the magnitude and wonder of the Ngorongoro Crater, than from Entamanu Private where its done entirely on your own terms and schedules. A highland retreat designed to be entirely removable with minimal impact on this precious place, this is your exclusive Crater experience. 

Crater Forest is a small tented camp located on a highland coffee plantation at an altitude of 1800 m, directly bordering the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area (NCAA). The camp is a 10 kilometer drive away from the main road leading from Karatu town to the famous Ngorongoro Crater, offering you some nice views of the surrounding hills and coffee plantations.

Crater Forest Tented Camp is operated as a small scale eco-friendly camp with only 15 spacious tented rooms, with en-suite bathrooms with a hot shower and flush toilet. There is even an African-style fire pot in every room, to keep warm at night during the chilly African winter times. The rooms are all set on highly raised platforms offering some magnificent views over the Ngorongoro Forest. From your veranda you can enjoy romantic sundowners or watch wildlife, like elephants, roaming through the dense forest, and hear the lions roar.

In the morning you will wake up to the sounds of the awakening forest, when the nocturnal wildlife makes way for a mistily rising sunlight. Rise and shine for a new day in the middle of nature.

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge has been called the game lodge at the top of the world. Between the natural riches of the Crater spread out at its feet and the incredible architecture, it’s easy to believe that you have entered a realm of pure fantasy.

Nearly three million years old, the ancient caldera shelters one of the most beautiful wildlife havens on earth. Endangered black rhino are protected within its rim, giant tusked elephant wander the forests, male lion stalk the grasslands and flamingo crowd the soda lakes.

Nowhere else on earth can you wake up among all the trappings of an elegant baroque châteaux that transports you into one of the most famous African landscapes. An eclectic blend of teak panelling, Victorian furnishings and whimsical African touches creates a sumptuous atmosphere that is as elegant and unique as the Crater itself. In this place of dramatic contrasts, anything is possible and the natural luxury of the beautiful setting ensures the dramatic interior of your suite blends perfectly with its stilted thatch architecture.

Divided into three camps, 30 suites with banana leaf ceilings and grass roofs provide an intimate and exclusive experience. Each camp has its own sitting and dining areas, with private butlers who provide warm, personal service. With ever-changing views as mists swirl over the huge wildlife cauldron below, the location is truly breathtaking. Guests can be forgiven for losing track of which era, or even continent, they are experiencing at this lodge. Everything is chosen to delight the imagination and enhance the spectacular views of the magnificent surroundings.

Live the legendary atmosphere of past times on a colonial style coffee plantation farm house

Hand plaited thatched roof tops, ample verandas and colonial interiors at Ngorongoro Farm House, a small and exclusive hotel built on a 500 acre coffee plantation, all of which has been designed to take you to the comfort and style of past times. Take a walk around the farm to contemplate the daily activities, relax in the fragrant gardens or enjoy the spectacular sunsets with the Oldeani volcano as a backcloth.

A wonderful stop-off during a safari on the north circuit of Tanzania and a privileged place from where one can visit the crater or enjoy activities such a walking safaris to the volcano or excursions to Lake Eyasi on the Rift Valley still inhabited by the Hadzabe tribe.

Like a green oasis, The Plantation Lodge rests on the red-brown hills. The individually furnished rooms and suites melting harmoniously into the flowering garden offer comfort and relaxation. Everywhere you look, you can see and even feel the personal atmosphere of this owner-run lodge with furnishings that were selected with great attention to detail. The Plantation Lodges cordial service leaves no wish unfulfilled. The lodges location promises maximum safari enjoyment: a stones throw from the entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Lake Manyara national park, and just a short journey from the Tarangire national park and the Serengeti.

Facing the always magnificent sunsets to the west, and located at the highest point on Ngorongoro crater’s entire rim, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge stands well over half a kilometre above the crater floor and offers unparalleled views across this enormous caldera.  Themed around traditionally circular African houses with conical roofs, and decorated with examples of Africa’s rich tapestry of artistic traditions by way of rich woodcarvings and sculptures, the lodge harmonizes perfectly with its dramatic surroundings. But the drama does not just stop with the great outdoors: it also flows through the split level interiors of the main building which all offer an unsurpassed generosity of space while somehow managing to combine an almost magically welcoming ambience of both warmth and cosiness.

Crossing the Rift Valley and climbing the steppe onto the green and rolling hills south of the Ngorongoro Crater, there lies a truly undeniable surprise and one that will be a home-away-from-home.

The Manor at Ngorongoro, located in the north west Tanzania and with its 9 luxurious cottages (18 Suites), family cottage, and magnificent main Manor House, is one of the first safari lodges of its kind to blend East African hospitality with old-world Afro-European architecture and decor. Located adjacent to the famous Ngorongoro conservation area and within a 1500-acre Arabica coffee estate, The Manor is reminiscent of an elegant up-country farm home in the Cape Dutch-style of architecture.

Every detail of The Manor has been designed with its guests’ comfort in mind. Each of the cottages has been carefully positioned to maximise the views of the adjacent verdant hills but at the same time to maintain the intimacy and privacy of this old-world Manor home.

The Manor at Ngorongoro provides the perfect environment to relax and take in the outstanding natural beauty of its gardens and the coffee-bush laden hills. However the drama that is Africa is but a short distance away.

Ngorongoro Crater is famed as being the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’, and is a ‘must see’ on anyone’s itinerary. This extinct volcano - with its 18-kilometre wide crater floor - is home to an abundant and unique ecosystem that encompasses almost all of the wildlife that you would wish to see in Africa. This spectacular setting is a ‘once-in-a- lifetime’ opportunity to experience the rawness and beauty of Africa’s natural flora and fauna.

And what better way to enjoy the Crater than in the knowledge that at the end of the day you will return to enjoy an incomparable dinner in The Manor’s restaurant followed by a deeply restful night in a cottage that has been designed both with your comfort solely in mind.

Enjoy an exclusive meal with products produced on the estate or relax in the heated swimming pool which overlooks the foothills of the Ngorongoro crater

Tloma Lodge has been built on the foothills of the highlands of Ngorongoro, a small and exclusive lodge with 24 small cottages built in colonial style and 12 rooms overlooking the garden in the main building. The design of the entire complex looks to create an atmosphere evoking the colonial plantations and farms described in many books and films.

The excellent location of Tloma on the top of a valley offers fantastic views over a coffee plantation and the walls of the Ngorongoro cráter which can be enjoyed from the private terraces of the rooms..

The gardens, full of flowers and bushes, are particularly attractive, although guests find it difficult to choose between a walk around the gardens or relax around the heated pool.

A 5 star colonial lodge situated on a picturesque hill with spectacular views onto Oldeani Mountain and the Ngorongoro Crater Rim. The lodge is elevated with 360 degree views that extend all the way to Lake Eyasi and Lake Manyara. The property is set on 40 acres of pristine lush green gardens and local vegetation with over 130 species of birds.

Farm House Valley was built on a 500 acre plantation with a main central building with a restaurant and leisure area. Every afternoon a fire is lit and drinks and snacks are available for guests whilst they share their experiences of the day and compare the different animals they have seen in the park.

The whole hotel has been conceived to offer the maximum comfort and a touch of luxury in an impressive scene. The ideal place to relax, have a swim in the pool, go jogging or let yourself be tampered after a day of adventures.

Pakulala Safari Camp is located above the ring of the Ngorongoro crater. An exclusive campsite offering a unique experience and spectacular views of the crater caldera. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is considered as the 8th wonder of the world. Inside the volcano´s crater lives the largest stable population of wild animals in Africa. The chances of sighting the Big Five are as real as the air you breath, offering you the fullest and most comprehensive safari experience.

The Pakulala Safari Camp common areas are accented by the vast beauty of the surrounding scenery. The campfire, with views of the crater, is undoubtedly a turning point for travelers. An unforgettable place for a drink under the stars in the Tanzanian sky.