Crater Lodge
Ngorongoro Krater
Accommodation
The best way to describe Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is probably ‘Versailles meets Maasai'. The interior of the lodge is reminiscent of a castle decorated with elaborate furnishings but from the outside, the lodge looks more like an African mud village.
The lodge is separated into three autonomous camps: The South and North camps, each with 12 suites, and Treecamp with 6 suites. Each camp has its own lounge, indoor and outdoor dining areas and viewing decks. Treecamp has less room and feels more personal but the rooms are smaller and not as luxurious as the rooms in North and South camp. Please also take into consideration that the crater rim lies at 2300m above sea level and therefore the nights, especially from June to August, can be very cold and fog can sometimes be found over the crater. Luckily, all rooms have a fireplace and the beds are equipped with warm blankets to keep you warm.
Location
The lodge's position on the edge of the crater is fantastic and certainly one of the reasons for the rather high price. The Lerai ascent road starts south of Lake Magadi and reaches the rim near Crater Lodge. To access the crater, your guide will choose either the Lemala Route in the east or the Seneto Route, which leads down into the crater not far from the lodge.
The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera with 19km in diameter and walls 600m high. Its floor covers 260 square kilometres and acts like a natural zoo, providing food for a high resident animal population.
Wildlife
The mineral-rich crater floor is covered with nutritious grass and attracts large herds of animals. Up to 25'000 mammals, primarily herbivores can be found at any one time in the Ngorongoro Crater. The list includes wildebeest, eland, hartebeest, zebra, gazelle, buffalo, rhinos and warthog. Moors and forests provide food for hippo, elephant, baboon, waterbuck and bushbuck. Big cat such as lion, cheetah, leopard and serval find rich pickings here. Large packs of hyena also roam the crater, hunting or pinching the prey of other predators.
Activities
The lodge offers game drives on the crater floor and excursions on foot.
Good to know
The steep road to the crater floor is an adventure in itself.
