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Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge


3°14’23.9"S 35°29’46.2"E

Reviews of Crater Lodge

Wildlife sightings and reviews

27 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Crater Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Jul-2018, 3 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Crater Lodge.
Lion

100% success

Leopard

0% success

Wild dog

0% success

Black Rhino

100% success

Buffalo

100% success

Eland

100% success

Elephant

100% success

Hippo

100% success

Wildebeest

100% success

Zebra

100% success

Spotted Hyena

67% success

Aardvark

0% success

Pangolin

0% success

Striped Hyena

0% success

Showing 21-27 of 27
Duration
Arrival date
Ms S
Hertfordshire

"Wonderful lodge! Great views of the crater!"

2 nights Arrived 8 Oct 2011
"The location of the lodge is great! I was in Tree camp, but I think South camp is best located for views of the Crater! Love the fire, electric blanket and bath decorated with rose petals. It was very cold when I visited

My guide Kitoi was great. The crater gets very busy with tourists, so too many vehicles per sighing. Also the sighting can be very far away!" See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs M
Bristol

"Fantastic views from north Ngorongoro Crater"

2 nights Arrived 6 Sep 2011
"We were met at Manyara airstrip by & Beyond with a delicious picnic before our drive up to the crater. Unfortunately our transfer from Oliver's camp was not efficient enough to allow a trip into the crater on the way to the Lodge. However it did give us a chance to enjoy the excellent facilites.

We were bowled over by the size and luxury of our accomdation in North Lodge. Our concern about having good views of the Crater was unecessary as every part of the suite had views down into the crater. The room was always beautifully serviced by Falwel with rose petal hot baths, drinks and a log fire in the evening. Peter, our butler, was helpful and attentive to our needs both in the room and in the restaurant. The food was excellent. We were especially appreciative of the celebration provided on the eve of my husband's birthday. A really unexpected surprise especially the entertainment from the lodge choir. A very impressive and luxurious stay.

Our game guide, Mudy was very good. Taking us into the crater early in the morning and giving us a very complete tour of the whole crater. We sadly missed seeing rhino, but mating lions and a hyena hunt made the visit memorable. Our game viewing was completed in the evening by the visit to the lodge of a large tusker and a charming group of zebra.

The only downside was the large numbers of vehicles in the crater about which we had been warned." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs G
Michigan

"Crater Lodge experience"

2 nights Arrived 21 Oct 2010
"Arriving at Ngogongogo Crater Lodge is a breathtaking experience. The architecture borders on the bizarre, but the rooms are extravagant yet comfortable. As noted by some of the other reviewers, it does feel a bit more like a hotel than the other camps. But since it is divided into three separate locations that each have their own lodge, it still retains a small, personal atmosphere. We were in North Camp which doesn't look right over the crater rim, but it was still lovely to have zebra grazing on our lawn overlooking more distant views of the crater. We were there in low season, so they didn't have guests in the other two camps.

The food was good, and it was interesting to be served a "bread course" with various spreads and spices. One evening we enjoyed entertainment by a choir made up of lodge employees. The North Camp manager Irene was always present and made us feel welcome.

The game drive on the next day felt a bit different from the drives in other camps we visited. It was the only camp where we had an enclosed vehicle, but the dust kicked up by the other cars makes that necessary. We did see a lot of game up close, but often were joined by a dozen other cars. One highlight was watching a mother and baby rhino who came within 20 meters of the cars while grazing. The drivers were amazed to see her approach so close while having a youngster with her.

One highlight was returning from the game drive for lunch, and then upon entering our room, we found a cozy fire and a bubble bath awaiting us. That evening we enjoyed cocktails on the lawn, sitting on low stools around campfires. All in all, the Crater Lodge is a lovely place to spend a couple of nights and was a beautiful ending to our safari trip." See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr F & Ms L
London

"Ngorongoro Crater Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 15 Jun 2010
"Incredible rooms - best of the trip. The decor was sumptuous, the facilities impeccable, and the views majestic. This place MADE our honeymoon!!

Food was consistently good - only comment is that sometimes if you wanted something simple and plain it was not easy to come by. The food was very rich

Was slightly frustrated that we landed at midday but did not manage to get into the crater that afternoon (instead we had a leisurely picnic lunch then ambled to some random african shops to pass time and then on to the crater). It seemed to us that had this transfer been arranged more swiftly then we could have reached the crater before the 3pm cut off for entry time - so rather frustrating. We did then manage to get a walk in with the resident naturalist Joachim which was v rewarding and would recommend to guests with spare time" See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs B
E Susx

"Ngorongoro Crater Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 1 Nov 2009
"We were a little underwhelmed by the Crater Lodge. Our expectations were high and we thought that this would be the highlight of the holiday, but it was probably our least favourite of the safari lodges. Partly this was due to the room we were given (room 12), which wasn't overlooking the crater directly, but did over look most of the other rooms - given the rooms are designed so that they are very open to the views on one side and some windows have no curtains this left the room feeling quite exposed to others seeing in (particularly in the loo!). Inside the accommodation was very impressive.

The game viewing was comprehensive, but lacked the excitement of other locations and felt like we were following a standard schedule on the drive.

Service was generally very good although felt a lot less personal than other lodges." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Service:
Good
Activities:
Average
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Miss P-A
China

"Breathtaking!"

2 nights Arrived 26 Jul 2008
"Breathtaking! This lodge was the most unique ultra luxury lodge that we stayed at Tanzania! We were speechless when we got here. It was the best place to end our journey through the safari experience.

It's very hard to describe this lodge, if you see the photos in the internet and travel guides you are already enjoying it, but when you get there you will love it!" See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 6n in Tanzania
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr T & Mr L
Amsterdam

"Excellent Location and views"

3 nights Arrived 8 Jul 2008
"Somewhat rococo but we expected that. Felt most like a hotel of all the lodges we visited but proably inevitable in Ngorongoro.

We hired private vehicles which made a big diference to our visit and stayed on the crater floor all day. Mudy (Mohammend) was a really good guide (please do feed that back if you get the chance). Gets pretty cold at night.

The visit to Odupai Gorge was really good." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar; 1n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Showing 21-27 of 27
93%
27 reviews of Crater Lodge by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
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0
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