Laba Laba Ngorongoro Crater

In the Forest Below the Southern Rim

Laba Laba Ngorongoro Crater sits at 7,200 feet in the highland forest on the southern slope of the crater, a few steps below the rim between the Lodoare park gate and the main crater viewpoint. It is not on the rim itself, so there is no crater view from the rooms, but it is the closest lodge to the park entrance and about 25 minutes from the Seneto descent road.

• An Early Start: The Seneto descent opens at 6:00 am. A 5:30 departure from the lodge with a packed breakfast puts you at the gate as it opens and on the crater floor in the first wave, with the Lerai Forest and Lake Magadi immediately below.
• The Forest Reserve: The lodge backs onto the montane forest of the southern rim, where guided walks go out among the giant trees, and buffalo, bushbuck, and elephant pass through the grounds.
• First In From Karatu: For guests arriving from Lake Manyara or Tarangire, the lodge is the first stop inside the park gate, which shortens the arrival day and makes the next morning’s descent easy.
• On to the Serengeti: From the lodge the road west over the rim to the Serengeti passes the crater viewpoints, Olduvai Gorge, and the Shifting Sands.
• Getting There: Most of our guests arrive by road from the southern Serengeti via Naabi Hill and Olduvai, or from Tarangire and Lake Manyara via Karatu. Arusha is about three and a half hours.

The lodge is unfenced and in the forest. Buffalo graze the grounds at night, elephant come through the trees, and askaris escort guests to their rooms after dark.

Africa’s Garden of Eden, From the Southern Rim

The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest intact volcanic caldera on earth, roughly ten miles across with walls 2,000 feet high, a natural amphitheater holding some 25,000 large animals year-round at the highest predator density in Africa: around 60 lions in several prides and spotted hyena clans that, unusually, do most of the killing here with the lions scavenging from them. From Laba Laba the Seneto descent drops you into the Lerai Forest and the western floor first.

• Lerai Forest: The yellow-barked fever tree forest at the foot of the western descent is where the crater’s enormous old bull elephants, some of the biggest tuskers left in Africa, spend their days among the acacias, and where leopard rest in the boughs. Emerge onto the open floor from here with your eyes open for black rhino.
• Lake Magadi: The soda lake at the center of the floor draws thousands of flamingos to the shallows, with golden jackals and hyenas patrolling the salt pans around it and the lions of the Magadi side ambushing along the shore.
• Central Plains: The heart of the crater floor, open grassland where the lion prides, hyena clans, and the crater’s few cheetah hunt in full view, and where the black-maned lions of Ngorongoro, anything but tame but long used to vehicles, can often be found seeking shade in the shadow of your Land Cruiser. Wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, and eland graze here in numbers that never leave.
• Gorigor Swamp: A permanent wetland in the southern crater, directly below the lodge, where the old bull elephants graze in the reeds, hippo surface in the pools, and lions lie up in the papyrus; one of the most reliable places on the floor for big game in the dry season.
• Munge Stream and Mandusi Swamp: The stream that drains the northern wall feeds the Mandusi Swamp, a water source for birds, hippo, and the black rhino that come to drink here. The crater holds one of the last viable black rhino populations in Tanzania, and the northern swamps and the open ground near them are where most sightings happen.
• Rumbe Hills: The long-grass hills below the eastern wall, where the crater’s big buffalo herds graze with the resident lions and hyenas rarely far behind, and the best place in the crater for serval in the early and late hours.
• Ngoitokitok Springs: The classic crater picnic site, a spring-fed pool on the eastern side where hippo grunt a few yards from the picnic tables, black kites dive for sandwiches, and the view takes in the whole floor.

Nineteen Heated Rooms in the Forest

Laba Laba Ngorongoro Crater has 18 deluxe rooms and one two-bedroom family suite, all newly built in 2026 and designed for the cold of the highlands.

• Deluxe Rooms (18): 50 square meters with a king bed (two or three single beds can be added for families), an intimate sitting area, a dressing room, a bathroom with a bathtub and a separate shower, and a terrace opening onto the forest. Sleeps up to five.
• Family Suite (1): 100 square meters with an entrance hall leading to two king bedrooms, each with its own bathtub-and-shower bathroom, a large dressing room, and a terrace. Sleeps three to five.
• In Every Room: Underfloor heating, an ambient electric stove, and air conditioning; stocked minibar, Nespresso machine, and kettle; electronic safe, hairdryer, walkie-talkie to reach the lodge staff, international and USB sockets, Healing Earth organic toiletries, and organic cotton satin linen. WiFi throughout.
• Children: Welcome from age three.

• Full Board with Premium Drinks: All meals and all drinks including premium-brand spirits and wines, with only champagne extra. Laundry included.
• Rotisserie and Pastry Kitchen: Generous buffets built around a rotisserie, with a dessert and pastry display from French pastry chefs, and vegetarian options throughout.
• The Warden’s House: The original Rhino Lodge house preserved as reception, bar, and lounge, with a crackling fireplace and a barman behind the counter.
• Boutique and TV Room: A small shop in the old house and a TV room for cold evenings.
• Crater Days: Packed breakfasts for the dawn descent, picnic lunches on the crater floor, and bush breakfasts and sundowner cocktails arranged through your guide.
• Forest Walks: Guided walks in the montane forest reserve above the lodge, with birding on the rim.
• Cultural Visits: Maasai villages on the highlands nearby.
• Practical Comforts: WiFi, 24-hour power, credit cards accepted, a drivers’ quarters for our guides, and askari escorts after dark.
• Sustainability: CarbonScored certification.