DESCRIPTION

• 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

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is perched on the edge of the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater at the eastern edge of the Serengeti in northern Tanzania. It 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.

LOCARION: Perched on the lip of the famous Ngorongoro Crater - one of the Wonders of the World and a designated World Heritage Site. At the eastern edge of the Serengeti, and nearly three million years old, Ngorongoro is one of the most perfectly formed and certainly the most spectacular calderas on the planet. With over 40 000 predominantly Maasai pastoralists inhabiting the Ngorongoro Conservation Area it is a prime example of mankind living in harmony with wildlife.


ACCOMMODATION: 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.

GAME VIEWING: WILDLIFE SAFARIS AT NGORONGORO CRATER LODGE, TANZANIA.

• 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

ACTIVITIES: 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.

Daily game-drives into the Crater in closed game viewing vehicles with pop-up roofs. Bird watching, half-day trips to Olduvai Gorge and Shifting Sands subject to vehicle availability. Optional activities at an additional cost include walking on the rim of the Crater or in Empakaai Crater, a cultural Maasai boma visit, sundowners with spectacular views over Lake Eyasi, excursions to Lake Ndutu and private bush breakfasts and lunches.