Rhino Lodge was formerly the home of Ngorongoro’s first conservator, Henry Fosbrooke, Assistant District Officer of the Loliondo district of the Maasai homeland. It is now an affordable accommodation for visitors to the Ngorongoro Crater on safari in Tanzania. It was Henry who first attracted popular attention to the area with his book “The Eighth Wonder” and began the movement that eventually led to the status of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rhino Lodge is a delightfully simple, budget-priced residential accommodation for a safari holiday in Africa It hides on the outer rim of the Ngorongoro caldera, the world’s largest collapsed volcano, which is home to over 30,000 wild animals. Half of these are great herds of bearded wildebeest and zebra, most of which remain year-round within the crater and do not join the Great Serengeti-Masai Mara Migration.
Unpretentiously rustic, the lodge does not overlook the crater itself but enjoys glorious vistas of misty montane forest and distant Mount Oldeani. The well-kept grounds are regularly visited by local wildlife. Solitary elephants and Marabou Storks wander across the lawns by day. At night, lion roar and hyena giggles echo nearby. It is a convenient base for a tour in Tanzania with AfricanMecca. You can visit nearby Maasai villages or go for animal watching Ngorongoro Crater trips, where a unique biosphere supports a diverse population of herbivores and predators, including species such as the black rhino which are rarely seen elsewhere, as well as an eclectic treasury of hundreds of fascinating species of birds.
Unpretentiously rustic, the lodge does not overlook the crater itself but enjoys glorious vistas of misty montane forest and distant Mount Oldeani. The well-kept grounds are regularly visited by local wildlife. Solitary elephants and Marabou Storks wander across the lawns by day. At night, lion roar and hyena giggles echo nearby. It is a convenient base for a tour in Tanzania with AfricanMecca. You can visit nearby Maasai villages or go for animal watching Ngorongoro Crater trips, where a unique biosphere supports a diverse population of herbivores and predators, including species such as the black rhino which are rarely seen elsewhere, as well as an eclectic treasury of hundreds of fascinating species of birds.
There are 24 simple plain single, double, and triple rooms with double or bunk beds, each with en-suite toilet, shower and hand basin, and a private verandah. All rooms are clean, cozy, colorful, and uncluttered, with wood-burning stoves.
Power and hot water are limited because Rhino Lodge operates a careful policy of sustainability to protect the fragile ecology of the conservation area, whilst offering comfortable lodgings for AfricanMecca guests who prefer cherished contact with staff and other guests on their travel in Africa, rather than isolation and pampering in more luxurious surroundings. From Rhino Lodge, you can arrange forest walks and trips to local villages, assured that when you return in the evening, your room will be warm with a welcoming glow from the stove, ready lit by friendly staff to ward off the chill. Hot-water bottles are also available if required, since, at an altitude of over 7,000 feet, the crater rim is often cloud-covered, particularly during the long rainy season. Rhino Lodge supports the Ngorongoro Pastoral Council by employing staff from both the Maasai and Iraqw tribes. Maasai ladies visit daily to exhibit and sell their beautiful jewelry and to demonstrate how skillfully it is made. This in turn creates sustainability for Maasai women led support initiatives allowing for relative independence and flexibility in their daily lives.
