Ngorongoro Hotels

• fishandchips
• Reviews: 869

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Simba A: Simba A

The camp ground at Ngorongoro is at 2500M so gets very cold at night - especially if you have just gotten used to hot days in the Serengeti! The camp ground, like the Serengeti, has wild animals roaming so safety needs to be considered when walking about at night. The camp ground has 2 sets of shower blocks with separate male and female facilities.

• Opinion of Price: about average
• Related to: Safari, Adventure Travel
• Written October 24, 2009

Camp fire

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• easterntrekker
• Reviews: 1961

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Serena Lodge: A Room with a View

Serena Lodge – Ngorongoro Crater
http://www.serenahotels.com/tanzania/ngorongoro/home.asp

Perched high on the crater rim,blended into the cliffs is this wonderful lodge. Even for the toughest critics this lodge would not disappoint.It has a wonderful atmosphere with lots of exposed stone, both inside and out , heavy beams and a cozy fire pit in the lobby/bar area. Drinks came with a bowl of warm roasted cashews. Who could resist? Our room was located down a stone walled corridor . We had a huge king bed and floor to ceiling windows to look out over the crater. All the food was great and dinner was truly 5 star, delicious and elegantly served. It was four courses chosen from a menu. We had pork tenderloin as our main. We enjoyed the Serena Lodges so much we considered trying to change the reservations for the other lodges for our remaining trip to Kenya.

• Opinion of Price: more expensive than average
• Website: http://www.serenahotels.com/tanzania/ngorongoro/home.asp
• Related to: Seniors, Safari, Luxury Travel
• Written October 14, 2009

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• toonsarah
• Reviews: 2924

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Ngorongoro Serena Hotel: Stunning location

This was the most luxurious of the places we stayed in Tanzania, and one glance at the photo on the website below will show you why we thought it was worth splashing out on. It has the most stunning of settings, perched on the crater’s edge with views from all public rooms and bedrooms. And its clever design means that viewed from below it almost disappears into the landscape.

At the centre of the lodge is a large lobby bar with a huge window to make the most of that view, and opening from this is the restaurant where we had a couple of excellent dinners and equally good buffet breakfasts. Long passageways, partly open to the crater views, lead out on both sides along the rim and take you to your room. If you find walking difficult you should perhaps say so when booking, as our room was a good five minutes from the centre, but for us that was fine and the walk was part of the charm of this special place. Once in your room you have your own private balcony from which to enjoy the view and of course all the facilities you expect from a five star hotel. To be honest though I don’t remember a lot about our room – it was definitely the setting and the bar/restaurant area that made the biggest impression on me.

Unique Quality: The blurb on the website is perhaps a little over the top, but will give you an idea:
” Perched on the jagged rim of the crater, wreathed in morning mist, camouflaged in river-stone and cloaked in indigenous creepers, the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge is a triumph of ecological and architectural fusion. Sensitively constructed so as to take nothing from its environment whilst affording endless vistas over the heat-shimmering reaches of the crater below, the clustered boulder-built buildings of the Lodge hug the crater rim, linked by rope-lashed timber walkways that skirt the buttressed roots of ancient, liana-hung trees.

The interior, radiating out from the primeval log fire glowing at the heart of the Lodge, blends the concentrated hush of a game-viewing hide with the ochre, rust and charcoal images of a prehistoric cavern. Lit by flaming wall-lanterns, clad in gigantic volcanic boulders and decorated by the iron spears, bright-beaded robes and intricately carven artefacts of the Maasai, the Lodge is a unique blend of world-class luxury, timeless volcanic splendour and ethnic style. As for the views, from lilac-streaked sunrise, to indigo star-studded night, the immeasurably ancient Ngorongoro Crater delivers a theatre of vistas, most unchanged since the dawn of time.”

See what I mean? Over the top maybe, but irresistible too ...

All this luxury doesn’t come cheap, but you can save a bit by visiting in the wet season (current rates quoted vary from $238 - $540 per room depending on the time of year) or by booking a package.

• Opinion of Price: most expensive
• Website: http://www.serenahotels.com/tanzania/ngorongoro/home.asp
• Written April 6, 2009

Moon over Ngorongoro Crater from Serena Hotel

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• maharaja_joe
• Reviews: 62

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On the rim of Ngorongoro: It was cool, literally !

It was very comfortable. I dont know how much it cost us, it was part of the safari expenses. The campground had a community kitchen that the cook (provided by the safari company) uses to make dinner. The view of the crater was magnificent.

The only thing to worry about is the cold. The rim of the Ngorongoro is so high that there are no mosquitoes. Make sure you bring warm clothing, or get a good sleeping bag. The temperature is about 5-10 deg C.

I did not see any animals next to the camp ground. Usually animals stay away from places inhabited by humans, unless there is food involved.

Unique Quality: Great view.

• Opinion of Price: N/A
• Related to: Backpacking
• Written April 30, 2007

View of the campground at the rim of the crater

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• croatia2006
• Reviews: 61

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Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge: Great view to the crater from the rim

- It is the only lodge having prime position on the eastern rim of the crater
- Too bad it was too cold water in the pool! Otherwise it was nice sitting in the cool garden in the evenings :)

• Opinion of Price: N/A
• Website: http://www.sopalodges.com/
• Related to: Photography, National/State Park
• Written January 30, 2007

View from own bungalow is also to the crater

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• kentishgirl
• Reviews: 1390

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Ngorongoro Campsite: Camping on the Rim Of the Crater

Camping at Ngorongoro Crater was a fab experience.
We set up our tents with a view over the crater that was astounding, we made a big campfire and sat around that eating a dinner of rice that night.

Even though this is Africa, at night it was FREEZING.....wear layers and make sure that your sleeping ag is sufficent.


Unique Quality:
Falling asleep to sound of the animals is an amazing experience. We had zebra in our camp and later on that night while we were all sleeping we had bush pigs come in scuffling around looking for food.
The main rule is - if you wanna be safe - dont have foof in your tent - then you will be fine and have a great time!

• Opinion of Price: least expensive
• Related to: Safari, Camping, Backpacking
• Written January 27, 2007

Camping at the Rim of the Crater

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• sarahandgareth
• Reviews: 591

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Gibbs Farm and Manyara Serena Lodge: Ngorongoro Accommodation

We spent two nights while on our Tanzanian safari - one at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge and one at Gibbs Farm. Since both places are actually closer to Lake Manyara than Ngorongoro, we decided to put those tips on our Lake Manyara page.

We highly recommend Gibbs Farm!

• Opinion of Price: N/A
• Written July 26, 2006

Gibbs Farm garden

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• PeteG
• Reviews: 84

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Camping on the crater rim

The public campsite is right on the crater rim. Don't get there too late in the day as this site will get very busy in high season.

Whatever the time of year you must take some warmer clothes to wear in the evening. It gets quite cold on the crater rim at night so you will need something warm to put on.

Unique Quality: Get up in time to see the sun come up over the crater. Sensational. The view is breathtaking as you stay right on the rim.

When we got up in the morning, you could see 3 layers of cloud, 1 above the soda lake, 1 around the rim of the crater, and 1 above us. So odd but fantastic.

Also, we had elephants come right up to the campsite, and even nightime visits from zebra and bush-pigs!

• Opinion of Price: least expensive
• Related to: Adventure Travel, Photography, Camping
• Written April 9, 2006

6:30 a.m. view into the crater from the campsite

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• Rusket
• Reviews: 625

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Simba Camp: Camping at the crater edge

This was a large camp site with armed guards to protect us from wild animals. We were at the outskirts, and had to walk quite a bit to get to the shower- / toilet room. We were advised to use a torch, as bushpigs used to come to the camp to steal food. We thought it was a joke! But it wasn't. On my way back to the tent, I suddenly heard weird noices and looked around, and there I saw them, running between the tents in search for food. Back by the tent I told my son, and he and one of the others went looking for them. After a while we heard a tremendous noice, and saw that the pigs had run straight through our cooks's outdoor kitchen! This time we had local guides / cooks, and they had been eating when ambushed by the pigs. Luckily nobody had gotten hurt, and the guys who lost their food got some from the others. (Afterwards my son admitted to me that he had been chasing the pigs when it happened ;-)

I did not get any picture of the bush pigs, but caught this African Marabou Stork waiting for a bite.

• Opinion of Price: N/A
• Address: At the edge of the Ngorongoro crater
• Related to: Camping, Safari, National/State Park
• Written October 11, 2005

Marabou Stork, Simba Camp, Ngorongoro

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