Marera Valley Lodge

On the edge of Rhotia village, about four kilometres east of Karatu town in the northern Tanzanian highlands. The Lodoare gate into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is roughly half an hour west by road.

About thirty minutes to the gate and roughly an hour and ten minutes down to the crater floor, depending on the descent road and how busy the gate is. Most guests leave very early to be on the floor at first light.

By road it is around three and a half hours from Kilimanjaro International Airport and about three hours from Arusha, on tarmac the whole way through Makuyuni and Mto wa Mbu. Flying in, the nearest airstrip is Lake Manyara, roughly twenty five minutes away by road.

All year. The Karatu highlands sit high enough that evenings are cool in every month, which is why each room has a fireplace.

June to October is the dry season and the most reliable window for the Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire. December to March brings the calving herds onto the Ndutu plains within reach. April and May are the long rains, green and quiet, and the lowest season here.

Yes. The cottage rooms can be set as triples with notice, and two of the cottages connect so a family can take both. Children between six and twelve sharing with adults are charged at a set child rate rather than a share of the adult price.

The published rate is full board, so breakfast, lunch and dinner are covered, and it includes the Tourism Development Levy and VAT. Park and conservation area entry fees, drinks, laundry, activities and anything else taken at the property are settled separately.

Each sits in a semi detached cottage with its own timber railed deck onto the garden. Inside there is a fireplace, a bed under mosquito netting, a sitting corner with a writing desk, an ensuite bathroom with a shower, and a coffee and tea station.

Wifi reaches the common areas and is best used there rather than in the rooms. The lodge runs on solar alongside mains power, and the hot water is solar heated, so an early shower after a cold night can take a little patience.

There is a pool, a walking track that loops the organic vegetable garden, the Rosemary Spa for treatments, a gift shop, and a fire pit lit in the evening. Most guests use the lodge as a base and spend the day out in the parks.

Largely from the lodge garden and farms around Karatu. Dinner is cooked to order in an open kitchen and served in the dining room, and the kitchen handles dietary requirements with notice.

No. This is cultivated highland farmland and the lodge is a touring base, not a game property. The wildlife is in Ngorongoro, Manyara, Tarangire and the Serengeti, all reachable from here.