Rhino Lodge

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Rhino Lodge

It is where we were all born. Get to know yourself.

We have turned the house of the first conservator of the Ngorongoro into a tourist hotel.
You can feel the atmosphere he felt. Get to know the current inhabitant of the area, the proud Masaai, and their wild animals friends roaming through the hotel premises, with which the Masaai have shared such land for hundreds of years.
The Rhino Lodge has 24 rooms overlooking the lush forest and the Oldeani peak and is the perfect location to unwind as you watch bushbacks and buffalo grazing from your verandah.

Share our eco lodge with the wild animals who roam the grounds freely. Spend your days in the crater and enjoy a picnic bush lunch.

The Ngorongoro is also home to the proud Masaai tribe. See how they continue to live in harmony with wildlife and the natural environment as they have done for hundreds of years. Experience their world first hand as they tend their herds. Visit a Masaai village.

Relax in front of a roaring lodge fire in the evening as you enjoy an apertif and savour a delicious dinner.

Ideally located on the edge of the Ngorongoro crater rim, Rhino Lodge offers a perfect base from which to explore the Ngorongoro crater and its surroundings. With its comfortable ensuite rooms, a cozy living space, friendly local staff and generous African-inspired meals, Rhino Lodge welcomes guests to Africa’s most remarkable game park.

There are 24 guest rooms, all with verandah overlooking a stretch of high montane forest. Each room has its own shower, toilet and hand basin.

To keep away the cold each room has a wood-burning stove, and hot water bottles can be filled if you want one.

The lodge is situated at an altitude of 2,200 metres, a few hundred metres back from the rim of the Crater. What it loses in terms of outlook over the Crater, it more than makes up for with its views of untouched high montane forest with Mount Oldeani (3,200 metres) dominating the background, and Mount Makarot in the distance (3130 metres).

In the bar/dining-room there are two large fires which are a natural focus where our guests like to meet and exchange stories of the day. The new extended wooden deck offers an incredible view point from where overlooking the forest and the roaming wildlife, such as buffalos and waterbucks, while having the sundowner warmed by the deck fire.

Hot, tasty food is available from the buffet. And after dinner our Maasai staff may entertain you with some traditional dancing.

If you want to catch up with the news, there is a television at reception, available when the generator is on.

The Lodge’s shop will help you to find the souvenirs to bring back home!

Game Drive
From Rhino Lodge, it is only 20 minutes to reach the Seneto descent road into the Crater, and the Lerai ascent road is less than 5 minutes drive away.
Driving into the Crater can be done only with a 4-wheel drive vehicle. If guests have not arrived with a suitable vehicle, it is possible to hire one locally.
The vehicles are owned and operated by local residents who usually charge US$200 for a day’s hire plus the Crater Entry fees of US$300 for the vehicle. The Lodge does not act as an agent in arranging these tours, but will be happy to put guests in touch with suitable operators.
The rules of the Ngorogoro Conservation Area Authority do not permit driving before 06.00hrs. and after 18.00hrs.
We are happy to provide packed lunches they are ordered the evening before.

Walking Safari
When you hear the word Ngorongoro, what is the next word that comes to your mind? Crater, perhaps? Yes, indeed the Ngorongoro Crater is rightly renowned for its outstanding natural beauty and abundance of wildlife. However, there is a lot more to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area than the Crater itself and many visitors leave the area without having had the opportunity to see more of what is on offer. The surrounding highlands include seven extinct volcanoes full of outstanding beauty and spectacular scenery. The best way to appreciate these attractions is by walking. Even a short walk of only an hour or two can be very rewarding and there are also many opportunities for longer hikes. After spending days sitting in a vehicle, some visitors do say that they would like to stretch their legs.

At Rhino Lodge we are happy to organise a variety of walks. Even a short walk of only an hour or two can be very rewarding and there are also many opportunities for longer hikes. Some can be done as a simple add-on either at the beginning or end of a day of game-viewing. Longer ones require either a half-day or a full-day with a second night at the lodge. The above are just a few options which Rhino Lodge is happy to organise for its guests.
During these walks small numbers of animals will be seen but the main attraction of the walk is the beauty of the scenery, not the game viewing.
All walks are accompanied by an armed Ranger from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority.
Costs: Please enquire with us as costs depend on the number of persons in a group.

Rhino Lodge:

– maintained quite intact both size and extension of the original building (the house of the first conservator), saving the surrounding environment and not impacting it more than what existed before it.

– employs form the local community. You will meet especially Maasai as staff of the Lodge who are the community leaving in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

– buys supplies locally, reducing to the minimum good’s road transportation and again creating alternative and more environmental respectful local economies.

By Air: he nearest airstrip, serviced with scheduled flights by Coastal Aviation, is Manyara, about 45 minutes’ drive from the lodge. Coastal Aviation operates a daily service from Arusha with connecting flights from both Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. Guests can also fly-in from other parts of the country: Selous, Ruaha, Serengeti and Mwanza.

By car: Rhino Lodge is about a 45-minute drive from the small town of Karatu and an easy 3 hours from Arusha. Coming from the Serengeti, it is about an hour and a half’s drive from the Naabi Hill gate.
Coming from the East, Rhino is the first lodge after entering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area through the Loduare Gate.