Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Perched on the 8000ft high rim of the crater, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge occupies one of the most spectacular settings of any small luxury hotel.

Inspired by ancient African architecture, the lodge offers modern, comfortable accommodation in keeping with the natural splendour of its surroundings and takes the form of three small villages. Each village commands awe-inspiring views of the crater floor below.

The spacious suites all have a private bathroom, lounge area, huge bed and Victorian bath with a view. Open terraces and wide courtyards enhance the lodge's unique panorama.

Each day you can venture down the crater's steep slopes to explore its floor below that teems with animals. Elephant, rhinoceros, lions, giraffe and antelope inhabit this immense natural sanctuary.

Ngorongoro Crater was originally a volcano larger than Mount Kilimanjaro but approximately three million years ago a huge series of eruptions caused the centre to subside forming a vast volcanic caldera ten miles wide. The floor of the caldera is 1500ft below the rim and on this 80 mile² area live 20,000 animals of all kinds. There are thousands of wildebeest, zebra, antelope, giraffe and other plains game, lion, leopard, hyena and bat-eared fox and seventeen rhinoceros which have been preserved from the poachers and are now beginning to flourish again. The animals in the crater are used to the presence of mankind, which makes this a good area for wildlife photography, particularly as the crater floor is so diverse with areas of swamp, woodland and dry savannah grassland, all set against the backdrop of the forested crater walls.

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