The Camp

Location: Karatu, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Number of Rooms: 17

Important Note: This property is Premier in character, but closer to Distinctive in price.

Gibb’s Farm is ideally located between the wildlife magnets of Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. Set among formal English gardens in the town of Karatu, the farmhouse and 17 en suite cottages are the heart of a working farm. The farmhouse has changed little since it was built in 1929 and retains the charm of a well-cared-for private home. Cozy living rooms and reading corners are steps away from the dining room, bar and gift shop. Outside, a sprawling veranda and floral garden overlook broad views of the valley below. Organic coffee is grown, processed and roasted on the farm, and the 10-acre organic fruit and vegetable garden provides the ingredients for three healthy, home-cooked meals each day. Guest cottages feature gleaming wood floors and classic interiors with wraparound windows. En-suite bathrooms offer twin basins, luxurious bathtubs and indoor and outdoor showers. A wraparound fireplace warms the bathroom and living area in each cottage.

Back to top

Facilities & Amenities

• En suite bathroom with tub and indoor/outdoor showers
• Shampoo and soap
• Hair dryer
• Fireplace
• 220v charging outlets in room
• In-room safe
• Massage treatments (extra cost)
• Restaurant and bar
• Wi-Fi in room and main area
• Laundry service (extra cost)
• Credit cards accepted (Visa and American Express)
• No air conditioning (not needed)

Back to top

Wildlife Viewing & Activities

Activities at Gibb’s Farm include nature drives into Lake Manyara National Park. An afternoon drive into the park culminates with a refreshing sundowner overlooking crowded hippo pools, while night drives reveal a host of fascinating nocturnal wildlife. A variety of guided walks are also offered along meandering forest trails to waterfalls, coffee fields and nearby villages, as well a ‘medicine walk’ guided by a Masai healer. The farm offers excellent birding, with more than 220 different species recorded here. A two-hour walk around the neighboring village of Tloma offers an intimate look into Tanzanian village life. A tour of the town of Karatu reveals the sights and sounds of 21st-century small-town Africa, including visits to local businesses. A visit to a local grade school supported by the farm can also be arranged. Garden tours, coffee-roasting demonstrations, spa treatments and a visit to the farm’s artist-in-residence program round out the diverse activities on offer here.

The below chart helps to illustrate major wildlife sightings often experienced in the Ngorongoro Crater. Seasonally, flamingos may be seen on the lake, and there is always a high concentration of antelopes and predators. Other typical sightings may include gazelles, warthog, ostrich and a number of other mammals, birds and reptiles. Exact sightings will depend on seasonality and wildlife movements.

Climate

Conservation

For decades Gibb’s Farm has played an integral role in the local community, actively promoting conservation in the area. It has provided education and job training to generations of local community members and today facilitates visits by students to nearby national parks and reserves in order to educate them about their natural environment and instill in them an appreciation for the importance of conserving it. The farm sponsors Mazingira Bora Karatu, an initiative that promotes environmental awareness, plants native trees and works to revitalize degraded ecosystems in the area. Through the program Gibb’s Farm is helping to restore an environmentally degraded area in a nearby town. When the project is complete it will be one of the few town parks in all of Tanzania. Gibb’s Farm has provided clean drinking water to people living nearby for years and recently dug a major well on the property that now supplies water to the rapidly growing town of Karatu.

Back to top