Gibb's Farm

Around twenty Cottages plus two per unit family Houses (Deutsche House and Bustani House). Maximum capacity sits in the 50 guest range depending on configuration.

Year round. Karatu evenings are cool throughout the year given the 1,500m altitude.

Either a 4 hour drive from Kilimanjaro International via Arusha and Karatu, or a 45 minute flight from Arusha Airport to Lake Manyara airstrip followed by a 1hr drive.

Yes. Deutsche House and Bustani House are built specifically for families, sleeping four under one roof. The farm grounds give children room to explore.

Full board (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner), water, soft drinks and juices, daily laundry, the private farm tour, local cultural activities, cultural evening entertainment, and 18% VAT plus 5% service charge. Excluded: park fees, concession fees, the game drive vehicle, soft drinks, flights, gratuities.

Year round. June to October offers the driest weather; March to May brings the long rains. The farm itself is most lush during and just after the rains.

There is WiFi in the main house and the public areas, steady enough for messages and email rather than video calls. Mobile signal reaches most of the property because Karatu town is close. Plenty of guests treat the cottages as the place to put the phone down for a few days.

Mains power runs the property with a generator behind it, so lights, charging and hot water are available around the clock. Sockets are the British style three pin type, so bring an adapter if your plugs are two pin. Each cottage has a fireplace that the staff light in the evening, because the farm sits at about 1,500 metres and the nights turn genuinely cold.

Staff are trained in first aid and the farm keeps a kit on site. Karatu town is roughly twenty five minutes away and has a hospital and pharmacies used to treating travellers. Anything serious is flown out from Lake Manyara airstrip, which is why we ask every guest to travel with medical evacuation cover.

March to May brings the long rains and the farm is at its greenest, with the coffee in flower and the vegetable gardens producing heavily. Showers usually arrive in the afternoon rather than lasting all day, and the roads up to the Crater stay open. Those weeks are the quietest of the year here and the farm walks, the spa and the cultural visits all run as normal.

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.