WHERE TO STAY IN NGORONGORO CRATER

There is a varied choice of accommodation for bush tours in Ngorongoro, depending on your taste. Lodges, eco-lodges, country cottages, tented camps, bush camps, mobile camps reflect the different Tanzanian safari vacation experiences you are seeking, from total comfort, supreme luxury, and superlative service, with world-class decor, flair of international cuisine and every modern amenity, to an authentic bush wilderness experience with minimal ecological impact and few amenities.

Each accommodation is unique, but experiences are determined by an inimitable system of AfricanMecca Safari Tiers balancing accommodation against food, amenities, activities, guided standards, location, service and privacy to standardize variable value across the entire range. Ngorongoro lodges consist of several cottages or chalets clustered around a central complex of reception, dining room, bar and lounge.



To exemplify some of the options available to you, you can choose the premiere luxury at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge as your Safari Tier 1 option, a surreal experience, combining Rococo decor worthy of a French chateau with all the trappings of personal butler service and international cuisine.

Opt for deluxe Gibbs Farm at Safari Tier 2, which comprises of 17 cottages and a farmhouse set in beautiful gardens, alive with birdsong, but also an hour’s drive from the Ngorongoro Crater gate, or settle for comfort value Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge at Safari Tier 3 up on the crater but where power is limited and hot water is available morning and evening.



The rooms are basic and small but cheerful and clean with an en-suite bathroom and cozy wood-burning stove. Other excellent value options accommodations are Ngorongoro Farm House and Plantation Lodge sited on the lowlands outskirts of the conservation area close to Karatu.

Ngorongoro tented bush camps are small and intimate such as the deluxe Lemala Ngorongoro, which consists of only 9, traditional, beautifully furnished tents and king-sized beds, integrated unobtrusively on the volcanic rim amongst beautiful shaded acacia trees, and ideally sited for early access to the crater, well before the main body of visitors flock to the crater floor.



Lemala offers a very fine standard of comfort and client-centered service with an authentic colonial safari ambience and yesteryear amenities, butler attention, friendly service, exemplary guides and international standards of cuisine, thus ensuring the ultimate mid-range in canvas accommodation for your dream safari in Tanzania.

Accommodations both in Ngorongoro Crater and Karatu suburbs are generally larger to maximize on occupancy numbers, but some still boasts meticulous attention to detail and access to local communities and organized activities. The choices of smaller accommodations are limited. Mobile bush camps are seasonally setup, for limited use during the year, made with custom contractible and portable canvas tents supplemented with use of locally available materials – these accommodations supremely environment friendly, merging gently into wilderness, with flush toilets, comfy beds, basic lighting, open-air or in-tent showers and tasteful campfire meals.



The seasonal Kirurumu Ngorongoro Camp Camp at Safari Tier 3 is an admirable authentic option for a small bush camp, comprising of only 7 tents, but more limited in amenities, is situated an hour’s drive from Ngorongoro highlands down an unmade road. Bush cookery is a delightful feature of this distinct camp. Fused value accommodations at Tier 3, such as Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge, are for more budget conscious guests but are nothing like rough back-packing.

Designed to support the orphan children of Rhotia, the thatched-tented accommodation is deeply embedded in Tanzanian society. Here, you live as an honored guest, in a beautiful landscape, appreciated for the benefits you bring to a thriving cooperative community. Whatever your dream may be, you can realize it on your photographic trip to Ngorongoro with AfricanMecca.