Karatu Simba Lodge
About this property
Welcome to Karatu Simba Lodge where you’ll experience the peace and quiet of the Tanzanian countryside. Karatu Simba Lodge is located about a thirty-minute drive from the gate of Lake Manyara National Park, approximately four kilometres off the main road to the entry of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Situated deep in the farming area of the Karatu district and nestled rightalongside the Ngorongoro Forest—home to elephant, buffalo, hyena, and other wildlife—Karatu Simba Lodge offers fine hospitality for safari travellers.
On the way to Karatu Simba Lodge you may pass farmers herding cattle, sheep and goats or bullock carts hauling crops or water. Fields of barley, wheat, beans, legumes, corn and sunflowers create a mosaic of colour and texture ending at the deep green forest wall, which undulates in hills and valleys up to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, visible in the distance. On arrival you’ll receive a warm welcome from the lodge staff, a refreshing drink and a towel to rinse away the dust of your journey.
Karatu Simba Lodge offers a slice of life only to be found in rural Tanzania. Farmers of the local Iraqw tribe, who are natural stewards of the land, manage the few neighbouring farms surrounding the lodge. As the seasons gently shift from green to dry with the accompanying cycle of planting, growing and harvesting, the colour palate subtly changes. Before the planting season the fields are a rich robust brown, reflecting the fertility of the soil and the promise of crops to come. As the rains swell the seeds and they burst forth from the African earth, a cool green emerges, followed by deeper greens and blossoming heads of sunflowers in the long warm growing season. As the dry season comes to an end the fields are golden with heavy ripening stalks of barley and wheat. After the grain harvest the pigeon peas are still ripening in the field, and as their pods enlarge the elephants may venture from the forest under the cloak of the African night sky for a chance at these tasty treats; only to mostly likely be turned back by the vigilant farmers protecting their crops! The short rains arrive and the cycle begins again with ploughing and planting.
Enjoy the changing view with the seasons in a setting perfect for relaxing after long and dusty safari drives; the only sounds being the distant whistle of the herding boys, the occasional tractor and the chatter and twittering of birds. As the habitat transitions from forest to open grassland and cultivated area, a wonderful landscape for abundant and varied birdlife is created including forest dwellers, weavers, wagtails, sunbirds and others.
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