Name: Crater Forest Tented Camp
Address: Ngorongoro Conservation Area Karatu Arusha Region, Karatu, Karatu, Karatu, 0000, Tanzania
Rating: 7

Smoking areas

Smoke-free property

Garden

Terrace

Private check-in/check-out

Patio

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Shower

Linens

Mosquito net

Toiletries

Rooms

Safe-deposit box

Services and amenities

Restaurant (buffet style)

Packed Lunches

Meals

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Bike rental

Hiking

Sun Deck

Recreation

Offsite parking reservations required

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Crater Forest Tented Camp

Karatu

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

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limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

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water-view

with-view

annex

basement

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Wow I loved our stay at this place! The tents were not the usual camping tents, they were more like glamping tents. And the views from ours was amazing! Sunset was right in front of our porch. The beds were comfortable with clean sheets and pillows. The shower and toilet were clean and fullly functioning. They even lit our little pot at night for warmth.

The staff was incredible. We had some time to sit in front of the bonfire, drink, and relax and they were very attentive making sure that we got what we needed.

Dinner was delicious. We loved everything and appreciated that the chef considered that we were lactose intolerant. 

No wifi in the rooms, only in the dining area/reception. I didn't use the plugs, but I believe there were some in the tent.

The 10km drive from the main road to the lodge was pretty rough. You pass though a coffee plantation on the way. They even jokingly call it an African massage, but once you get through it, you get to stay at this lovely place.

peaceful place in nature

If you are looking for a delightful, rustic, remote but very nice location, this is it.  Yes, there is a long bumpy road trip to the remote location (10K); however, it travels through a lovely area and you feel like you are going somewhere very special.  One of the absolutely best parts of this remote location is that there is amazing internet in the main lodge (best coverage in all that we had in Tanzania).  The food is nice but not many choices.  The rooms are comfortable, clean and have hot water.  We loved it and you will too if you are looking for a quiet removed cool tented lodge.

Wonderful Remote Experience!

Had a lovely and peaceful stay in the Crater Forest Camp. We were staying in small wooden huts with an excellent view towards the forests of the Ngnorongoro Conservation Area. We were able to spot elephants roaming the forest from our terrace!! Fantastic and very friendly staff and nice food. I just wish the bathroom in the huts would be separated by a door, not just with a curtain. 
To reach the camp, our driver had to navigate through a huge coffee farm on what he called "African Massage Road". The road was a challenge, so I would not want to visit the camp during rain season. Presumably some local children had some fun changing the direction of the road signs. Our guide still managed to deliver us safely without any problem.

Quiet Tented Camp off the beaten track

Nice tented camp located on a hill close to the Ngorongoro Crater, surrounded by coffee plantations and maize fields. Rooms, inside individual tents, are spacious and offer a terrace with a view of a lush green hill. There are private showers and flush toilets in every room. They're not very well-lit at night however, so bring flashlights. There is unlimited wifi available in common areas (dining tent, reception, and lounge). You can also charge your devices at the reception. The staff, including the security guards, are very friendly. One security guard called Lazaro took us for a long afternoon walk in the surrounding area; he introduced us to the local plants and fruits and told us about his own life as a Maasai.

Dinner is served at your table; it is not a buffet, unlike most safari camps and lodges. We had beef goulash with rice, cabbage and seasonal veg; bread and pumpkin soup; Russian salad; and lemon cake with chocolate syrup. Everything tasted really great and the portions were perfectly sized. Breakfast is also not a buffet. We had a fruit platter, 1 toast, 1 crepe, and a choice of eggs. Lunchboxes are provided for those going on safari.

Overall a nice place for a stop on safari. The selling point is the cute environment and wonderful view, as well as its proximity to Ngorongoro Crater.

Only downsides: 1. It can be dark in the tent at night. 2. Wifi not available in our individual tents, only in common areas. 3. Located far from the main road and quite difficult to find.



Nice stop on safari

We were nervous about the location, but it isn’t so bad. You are just outside the park entrance, and then 30-40 minutes along a tough road (when dry).  The drive itself is interesting via well-cultivated corn and bananas and then a coffee plantation.

Location is the major disadvantage.  You add maybe 2 hours compared with any “best case” lodges
 located in the park and closer to the descent road. 

Once there it was fine. The accomodation is high quality tents with their own shower / toilet, just like the camps we saw in Serengeti, including a lovely view onto the crater walls.  Really nice. 

The tents are on wooden platforms with a tin roof so well-protected, a hybrid of a safari tent and a cabin.  Lovely to sit on the veradah in the afternoon..

There is hot water (!?) after a few minutes via some complex plumbing and a wood fired boiler. This is good. Better than relying on someone to cart a bucket of limited hot water on request (as was our Serengeti experience).

You need an escort to/from tents in the dark, just as you do in (e.g.) Serengeti and the wildlife is no less dangerous so I don’t see that as a negative, since by the time you are back in your room there’s little need to go wandering in the dark. 

The reason my review is moderate is the location penalty (which should be weighed up $ vs time) plus the food being just OK, and the public areas being a little bit dark / aging.

However the staff were professional and friendly so I would have no problem recommending this as long as the $ vs. time trade off makes sense for visitors to Ngorongoro. 

If we had been closer we would have missed the leopard skulking along the crater rim road!



Perfectly ok if you don’t mind the drive

I  wanted to like this place.  The staff was friendly.  The view incredible.  The food delicious.  After 8 days of safari, the road to this place was brutal.  What should have been 15 minutes was interminable.  As one of the comic highlights of our entire Africa trip, my friend  could not operate the hot water properly.  The offered solution was to bring her a bucket of water.  She was not amused.  I could not stop laughing.  

We came in late and left early.  We were not there to enjoy the scenery, only for the bed.  If  I could go in once and just relax, I may have enjoyed it more. However, going down that road for a place to sleep is not on my "do again" list.

a comedy of errors

The cottage of this camp was pretty nice with a beautiful view of a beautiful setting. The austere restaurant has a reasonable kitchen. The service is friendly, against the amical. The big problem is the almost 10 kilometer long access road to the park. That road is so terribly bad that you are completely beaten up, even when the driver is super careful in the deep dips. Actually a road unworthy.

Crater Forest Tented Camp

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