NGORONGORO CRATER
NORTHERN TANZANIA

• Famous Ngorongoro Crater - a World Heritage Site
• Three intimate safari camps with breathtaking views
• Spectacular year-round game viewing
• Interpretive Big Five safaris
• Nearby Olduvai Gorge and Shifting Sands
• Private butler service

General information

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge lies within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which covers more than 8,000 square kilometres (3,100 square miles) of pristine African wilderness. Inspired in design by the Maasai mud-and-stick manyatta (homestead), Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is without doubt one of the most architecturally spectacular safari lodges in Africa.

Nearly three million years old, the ancient caldera of the once-volcanic Ngorongoro shelters one of the most beautiful wildlife havens on earth, ringed with towering walls and sheltering forests, grasslands, fresh springs and a large soda lake. Nearby Olduvai Gorge - a famous early archaeological site - is situated to the west of the Crater in the eastern Serengeti Plains. In the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, 42 000 Maasai live and herd their livestock in harmony with Africa's wild animals.

Accommodation

SAFARI ACCOMMODATION AT NGORONGORO, TANZANIA, EAST AFRICA

One-of-a-kind safari lodge: Inspired in design by the Maasai mud-and-stick manyatta (homestead), three intimate camps comprise romantic suites perched on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater - a World Heritage site.

• North and South Camp (12 suites)
• Intimate Tree Camp (six suites)
• Each with spectacular Crater views
• Private viewing decks
• Exclusive butler service
• Spacious en suite bathrooms
• Extraordinary guest areas
• African gift shop and art gallery

Steeped in romance, each mud and thatch suite is reminiscent of a bygone era, with the stilted, handcrafted structures adorned in graceful antiques, grand chandeliers and African treasures. The bedroom, sitting room and en suite bathroom boast floor-to-ceiling glass windows, overlooking the magnificent Crater below. Your personal butler will discreetly tend to your every need, bringing you tea in bed, stoking your fireplace and drawing your bath.

Described as Maasai meets Versailles, each extraordinary camp operates independently with its own central living and dining areas and viewing decks. Early settler-style interiors combine silver, gold and ruby colours under banana-leaf ceilings and grass roofs. Beaded chandeliers hang above large gilt mirrors, and antiques, plump cushions, voluptuous raw silk curtains and leather-backed chairs blend harmoniously with African art elements.

The domed dining room, with its fireplace, crystal, silver and massive wooden platters, makes every meal a special occasion. Delicious Pan-African cuisine may also be enjoyed on the outdoor dining deck.

Activities

Exhilarating safari activities: Experience thrilling daily game-drives into the Crater and Ngorongoro Conservation Area at no additional cost, as well as an exciting range of optional extras.

Exciting Game-Drives

Expert guides will lead you on interpretive game-drives in closed 4x4 safari vehicles with pop-up roofs into the Crater (half or full day) and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, boasting exceptional game and bird viewing opportunities. Driving into the Serengeti is an optional extra, and highly recommended during the first four months of the year.

Crater picnics

Enjoy lavish picnics or bush brunches on the Crater floor.

Interpretive bush walks (optional extra)

Enjoy exciting walking safaris on the rim of the Crater led by skilled guides.

Olduvai Gorge and Shifting Sands (optional extra)

Explore the roots of mankind on our half or full-day excursions to the famous archaeological site of Olduvai Gorge - a 60-minute game-drive from the Lodge. There is a fascinating museum at the Gorge, and the volcanic ash dune of Shifting Sands situated nearby is an absolute highlight.

Ngorongoro Massages (optional extra)

To ensure your stay at Ngorongoro is as memorable and relaxing as possible, we offer a range of therapeutic treatments, from head and neck shoulder massages to aromatherapy sessions.

Private picnics and sundowners (optional extra)

Private picnic sites on the Crater floor may be reserved - advance notice required. Sundowners just 20 minutes from the Lodge overlooking Lake Eyasi are memorable.

Maasai cultural visits (optional extra)

Visit a Maasai boma (traditional village) in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Browse through the local handicrafts or watch traditional Maasai dancing.

Your Private Guided Tanzanian Safari (optional extra)

This unique Specialist Safari is an unforgettable way to experience northern Tanzania, accompanied throughout by a professional guide in a safari vehicle for your exclusive use. Make each day a tailor-made adventure as you choose your own itinerary and choice of accommodation from our four spectacular lodges located in Tanzania's wildlife high spots - Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Klein's Camp and Grumeti River Camp.

Game viewing

Big Five African wilderness: Ngorongoro Crater Lodge lies within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area at the eastern edge of the Serengeti. There are four distinct habitats which are home to 25 000 animals - boasting excellent year-round game viewing.

• Big Five, including black-maned lion
• Tanzania's best locality for viewing black rhino
• Resident bull elephants with spectacular tusks
• Abundance of lion prides and spotted hyena clans
• Thousands of lesser and greater flamingo in the soda lake
• Excellent montane forest birdwatching on Crater rim
• Excursions to annual breeding grounds of over one million wildebeest (January to February)
• Excursions to famous Olduvai Gorge (world-famous hominid fossil site)

Ngorongoro Crater Habitats

The Crater floor's open grassland habitat supports resident herds of grazing herbivores and their attendant predators. Pillarwood, nuxia, mountain bersama, hagenia and ficus trees, all draped with lichens and epiphytic orchids, dominate cloud forest on the Crater rim. Lerai fever tree forest is home to elephant and nesting raptors. The soda-rich Lake Magadi on the Crater floor attracts flamingos and other wading birds, while ducks and other waterfowl favour freshwater ponds. West of the Crater, the 'short grass plains' are the traditional calving grounds (January - February) of the Serengeti's huge wildebeest herds.

Mammals at Ngorongoro Crater

A population of around 15 endangered black rhino exists on the Crater floor. Powerful spotted hyena clans regularly clash with lion prides. Huge-tusked elephant bulls occupy the Lerai forest. Golden and black-backed jackal compete with six species of vultures at carrion sites. Buffalo herds number up to 300. Resident wildebeest and zebra do not join the migratory herds of the adjacent Serengeti. Grant's and Thomson's gazelles are the prey of nomadic cheetah. Buffalo, bushpig, blue monkey and Peters' duiker occupy the forest on the Crater rim. Kirk's dik-dik are abundant at nearby Olduvai Gorge, where rare striped hyena have been recorded. Abundant hippos reside in various hippo pools.

Birds at Ngorogoro Crater

There are 371 species recorded at Ngorongoro. Ostrich, kori bustard and grey crowned crane are regularly encountered in the grassland on the Crater floor where superb starling, rufous-tailed weaver and rosy-breasted longclaw are abundant. Five sunbird species (malachite, tacazze, bronze, eastern double-collared and golden-winged) visit flowering shrubs on the Crater rim and around the Lodge. Cinnamon-chested bee-eater, white-eyed slaty flycatcher, hunter's cisticola and Montane nightjar are common around the Lodge. Augur buzzard, forest buzzard, long-crested eagle and Egyptian vulture are among resident birds of prey.

Other African Wildlife

High-casqued chameleon can be seen at the forest edge close to the Lodge. Large gatherings of reed and grass frogs occur in freshwater pools after rain on the Crater floor. Attractive epiphytic orchids cloak large trees on the Crater rim.

Conservation

ECOTOURISM AT NGORONGORO CRATER LODGE, TANZANIA

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is committed to the core principles: Care of the Land, Care of the Wildlife, Care of the people.

The focus is

Community equity, income generation, education and health care are a primary concern. In consultation with community organisations such as the Africa Foundation - a not-for-profit rural development organisation - Ngorongoro Crater Lodge has contributed significantly towards improving the prosperity and living conditions of the Maasai community.

About 42 000 Maasai pastoralists inhabit the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, tending their herds of cattle, sheep and goats, and living in peaceful co-existence with the wildlife. Grazing of livestock on the Crater floor is permitted, offering a glimpse of bygone Africa.

NGORONGORO CRATER LODGE COMMUNITY ACHIEVEMENTS

• USD30 000 invested in community projects
• Electrification of the clinic and school at Karatu
• Built teachers' accommodation and two new classrooms at Misigyo - Olorobi Primary School
• Built an office, two new classrooms and refurbished another two at Endagshang'Weti Primary School
• Built one new classroom and refurbished six at Mokilal Primary School
• Over 1000 desks provided for the above schools
• Desks built for Embarwai Secondary School - Endulen
• Ongoing Conservation Lessons
• Visits to Maasai villages increases local revenue
• Skills training - carving, building, weaving and ironmongery
• Employment opportunities provided
• Implementation of Edu-peg - a self-corrective early learning tool

Ecotourism in Africa

Guests play a critical role in helping realise the dream and vision: to create a model in wise land management, integrating international travellers and rural people to their mutual benefit and demonstrating that wildlife can be preserved on a sustainable basis by all.

Positive Health Programme

Our partner CC Africa strongly believes in its people and was recently listed as one of three finalists in the Investor in People category of the 2005 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The October 2005 edition of Africa Geographic featured an article on AIDS and conversation, and highlighted the activities and programmes that various African companies are implementing in order to increase AIDS awareness and, in doing so, empower the communities taking care of some of the world's richest wilderness regions.

"Probably the most attractive program ... is that of CC Africa... CC Africa launched a Positive Health program in 2003 and in April and May last year ran two seven-day courses.... Their approach focuses on home-based care, gardens, counseling techniques and gender issues.... The health of the habitat is critical to the health of the individuals in it.... The conservation industry is uniquely positioned to take the treatment of HIV/AIDS in radically new directions.... Benefits [of the program] include acquiring 'hard skills' such as maintaining clean water, producing food, and home-based methods of dealing with illnesses that are not life threatening.... It takes only the will of ecologically minded people to make sure that the wild places are not lost."
Africa Geographic, October 2005

Getting there

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is easily accessible by scheduled flight or private charter, followed by a 1.5-hour road transfer to the Lodge - we can pre-book and package all of your regional/internal flights and transfers, and provide a meet and greet service at all airports.

• There are regular international flights from Europe and South Africa to Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro International Airports
• Daily scheduled flights from Nairobi's Wilson Airport via Kilimanjaro to Manyara airstrip followed by a 1.5-hour road transfer
• If you arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will overnight in Arusha, departing early the next morning on a scheduled flight to Manyara airstrip
• Daily scheduled flights from Dar es Salaam to Arusha, followed by an afternoon scheduled flight to Manyara airstrip and a 1.5-hour road transfer to the Lodge
  Let Amanzi Travel arrange your flights for you

What is included

• Accommodation
• Three meals daily
• Soft drinks, house wines, local brand spirits, and beers
• Teas and coffees
• Refreshments on game drives
• Laundry
• Scheduled safari activities
• Emergency medical evacuation insurance

What is not included

• Telephone calls
• Safari Shop purchases
• Champagne, cognacs, fine wines, premium brand spirits, and cigars
• Gratuities
• Transfers not stipulated above
• National park fees and Crater conservancy fees

[ ASK QUESTIONS ]  [ BOOK NOW ]  [ CALL BACK ]  [ ADVICE & INFO ]

›› Back