Ngorongoro Serena :: Holiday Destinations

ABOUT NGORONGORO SERENA SAFARI LODGE :

As if in a land before time, Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge is built into the rim of a dormant and collapsed volcano (known as a caldera), the plant and ivy-covered native stone blending masterfully with its surroundings. Close by lies the Olduvai Gorge, the "birthplace of man".

Today the volcano and surrounding landscape are part of a vast conservation area inhabited by the Masai tribe, as well as an extraordinary variety of big game and birdlife. Most guest rooms have private terraces with views of the crater floor where countless animals make their home. At Ngorongoro Serena Lodge visitors co-exist in perfect harmony with the natural environment and the wildlife that inhabits it.

GUEST ROOM INFORMATION

Total Guest Rooms: 75

Rooms with two twin beds: (all rooms en suite with shower ) 66

Triple Rooms: (all rooms en suite with shower ) 8

Suites: (en suite with bath and shower ) 1

Check in time: 14:00

Check out time: 11:00

GUEST SERVICES AND AMENITIES

Communication available via telephone, fax and radio
Currency exchange open 24 hours
American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Barclays credit cards accepted by cashier
Nurse on call 24 hours. Flying Doctors Service is also available which includes emergency Medivac to hospital from nearby airstrip
Daily laundry/pressing service
Driver/maid accommodations
Babysitting can usually be arranged with sufficient notice
Early supper for children upon request
Boutique with curios, clothing, jewellery, batiks, books, maps, lotions, films, stamps etc.
Shoe shining
Lunch boxes, fruit, flowers and celebration cakes may be ordered
Binoculars and hairdryers available at reception desk
Central safety deposit service available, free-of-charge at the reception desk
Voltage is 240V in rooms; shaver outlets have both 110V and 240V. Adaptors available at the reception desk
All rooms are centrally heated (altitude of the Lodge is 6,000 feet) by an eco-friendly heat exchange system linked to the lodge's generators

MAP :

GUEST ROOMS :

Guest rooms are spacious with central heating, prehistoric cave paintings and balconies overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater. The furniture is created from rich hardwood timber.

GUEST ROOM INFORMATION

DINING ROOM & BAR :

Due to the prevailing cool climate in the region, the lounge and dining room are set indoors overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater through large picture glass panels. All areas are complimented by log fires (the lodge is at 6,000 feet) which greatly enhance the atmosphere especially in the evenings. The unique design of the Lodge continues in the restaurant and bar with magnificent examples of prehistoric cave paintings found in the nearby Olduvai Gorge.

The full-service lounge has an outdoor balcony and a fixed telescope for guests' use. Fresh fruit juices, soft drinks, tea and coffee, cocktails, wines, spirits and liqueurs are available to guests throughout the day. It is a cozy place enhanced with comfortable easy chairs to relax in after a long safari or before and after meals.

Dining Room

Seating capacity 160.

Breakfast: 6:30 am to 9:00 am

Lunch: 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Dinner: 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm

Lounge/Bar

Seating capacity 80.

Open daily from 8:00 am to 11:00 pm

GAME VIEWING :

Ngorongoro Crater, 12 miles (19 kilometers) wide, is the world's largest intact caldera. At 5,600 feet (1,700 meters) elevation, the crater floor is primarily grassland, with patches of spring-fed marshes, freshwater ponds, a salt lake, and small forests.

Harboring 20,000 large animals, it is a virtual Noah's Ark (without giraffes). Buffaloes, wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, and harebeests graze the grassland, while elephants roam the wooded areas, and hippos gather in marshes and ponds. Lions, spotted hyenas, and golden and black-backed jackals are easy to find, and servals and cheetahs are sighted rarely. Resident ostriches, crowned cranes, and kori bustards are joined seasonally by migrant flocks of white and Abdim's storks.

The lodge has four landcruisers which can seat 6 persons each. Game drives across the Ngoronogoro Crater and down to the crater floor are scheduled daily.

Game Drive Schedules:

Early morning from 6:30 am to 8:30 am
Morning from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Afternoon from 4:00 pm to 8:30 pm

UNIQUE ACTIVITIES :

Indeed, there is a blaze of euphoria that seems to accompany game-viewing trips into the bush. But these safaris are only the beginning of the special offerings that guests are invited to experience at Ngorongoro Serena.

Full day trips into the caldera (collapsed volcano) can be arranged, usually with just a day's advance notice. In the morning, you and your guide will leave the Lodge in one of the landcruisers and return by 4 PM in the afternoon. Your specially prepared picnic lunch, enjoyed somewhere in the Ngorongoro Crater, will surely be like no other you have experienced.

Today the Ngorongoro Crater and surrounding landscape are part of a vast conservation area inhabited by the Maasai tribe. Guests of the Lodge have the unique opportunity of be able to visit a local Maasai village. This is a half-day trip accompanied by an English-speaking Maasai guide.

A unique feature of Ngorongoro is the full-day walking safari. Guests will be driven to a nearby caldera where they will be met by their Maasai guide. This is a gentle stroll across the plains (with an armed ranger in attendance - just in case). The Lodge chef will have prepared a special picnic lunch for you to enjoy out in the bush.

Close to the Lodge is the famous Olduvai Gorge, the "birthplace of man". With a day's advance notice, guests can visit the famous Leakey family excavation site and have the full day to relax and explore. A sumptuous picnic lunch is provided.

ABOUT NGORONGORO CRATER :

Ngorongoro Conservation Area/World Heritage Site (2,045,200 acres/828,000 hectacres) protects wildlife habitat as well as the rights of local Maasai who graze their livestock on about 75 percent of the area. Ngorongoro Crater, 12 miles (19 kilometers) wide, is the world's largest intact caldera. Before the cataclysmic collapse of its cone 2 million years ago, this volcanic mountain may have been taller than Kilimanjaro. Its rim, which averages 7,600 feet (2,316 meters) elevation, is cloaked in moist montane forest and grassland, hosting elephants, golden-winged and eastern double-collared sunbirds, stonechats and Jackson's widowbirds. From lodges and campsites on the rim, visitors are driven down to the crater floor for a day-long survey. At 5,600 feet (1,700 meters) elevation, the crater floor is primarily grassland, with patches of spring-fed marshes, freshwater ponds, a salt lake, and small forests. Harboring 20,000 large animals, it is a virtual Noah's Ark (without giraffes). Great effort has gone into saving the black rhino here, and several dozen are resident. Buffaloes, wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, and harebeests graze the grassland, while elephants roam the wooded areas, and hippos gather in marshes and ponds. Lions, spotted hyenas, and golden and black-backed jackals are easy to find, and servals and cheetahs are sighted rarely. Resident ostriches, crowned cranes, and kori bustards are joined seasonally by migrant flocks of white and Abdim's storks. The conservation area also includes two other voluminous craters, six peaks that top 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) and the southeastern corner of the vast Serengeti Plains.

Olduvai Gorge, just north of the road to the Serengeti, has yielded hominid fossils key to the study of human evolution. Here sit a museum and shaded picnic sites. Red-and-yellow barbets join less colorful birds here for crumbs, while cheetahs sometimes roam nearby.