The cliffs of the Ngorongoro Crater receive a good amount of rainfall all year round. The altitude of the plateau around Karatu (1500 m), a small town with some 25’000 residents, offers a mild climate that is ideal for growing coffee, bananas and vegetables – which is something the German-East African authorities also knew when they supported the settlement of German farmers here at the end of the 19th century. Coffee is often planted together with banana trees, as their large leaves offer shade to the coffee plants.

A tarred road leads from Arusha via Lake Manyara to Karatu, which is where both the climb to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti ecosystem begins. The lodges in the Karatu region make the perfect base from which to explore the crater.

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