Africa Safari Karatu

Seventy four rooms in the main building and rondavels: 46 Comfort Classic or Modern rooms and 28 Luxury rooms. Safari Tents with shared bathrooms are also available for budget travellers.

Year round. Karatu sits in the highlands and stays open through both the dry and green seasons. The rate sheet covers a single contract window from November 2025 to October 2028 with High and Low seasons.

Approximately 3.5 hours by road via Arusha, 200 km total. Most guests transfer by vehicle as part of their Northern Circuit itinerary. Lake Manyara Airstrip (22 km / 30 min) is the closest fly in option for guests connecting from other safari legs.

Yes. The Luxury Room sleeps up to 3 on the published rate sheet (King bed plus a queen sofa bed). Children 2 to 11.99 share with adults at a reduced rate; children under 2 are free. Two pool sections and panoramic restaurant work well for family arrivals.

Rates are on a Full Board basis: breakfast, lunch, and dinner served daily. WiFi in the restaurant and lounge, use of both swimming pools, air conditioning in Comfort and Luxury rooms, 24 hour security, and generator back up are all included. Tips, drinks beyond meal service, and the TDL and village fee of US$2.50 per person per night, paid directly to the lodge at check in, are excluded.

10 kilometres to the Ngorongoro Lodoare gate. The descent into the crater itself takes another 30 minutes from the gate. Most guests use the lodge as a base for a full day Crater game drive, leaving after early breakfast and returning before sunset.

Yes, and it is free rather than charged for. It reaches the restaurant and lounge rather than the rooms, and it runs by satellite, so treat it as enough for messages and photographs home rather than for working. If you need to send something, walk up to the main building.

The lodge keeps a generator as back up, so power holds through the evening, and there is 24 hour security on the grounds. Rooms have charging points for phones and cameras, and the Comfort and Luxury rooms are air conditioned.

Karatu sits high enough to stay green and cool when the plains below have dried out, so the low months here feel different from the low months on safari. March through May brings the long rains, the gardens come into their own and the property is quieter. The contract carries no closed months, so the lodge is open all year.

A restaurant and lounge with views across the Ngorongoro highlands towards Lake Eyasi, a sauna and a gym, and gardens to walk in. Rooms have private terraces or balconies and tea and coffee making, and a safari jeep with a pop up roof can be arranged on request.

Yes. From 1 October 2026 visitors entering mainland Tanzania must hold the government inbound travel insurance, 44 USD per adult and valid for up to 92 days, covering emergency medical care, evacuation, repatriation and lost luggage. Children aged 3 to 17 pay half and infants under 3 are free. It is bought online before you fly or on arrival, and residents of Tanzania and of East African and SADC countries are exempt. If you land in Zanzibar first, the Zanzibar policy covers you instead. It is paid by you directly and is not part of your trip price.