Africa, Eastern Africa | Tanzania United Republic Of | All Inclusive, Eco Friendly, Family, Group, Honeymoon, Safari, Tailor Made | Safari Tented | National Park | comfort
Built into the side of the Ngorongoro Crater rim, Entamanu Ngorongoro Camp is a thoughtfully designed refuge and the ideal base for exploring the world-famous caldera. The camp’s unique surroundings offer incredible panoramic views and countless beautiful photographic opportunities, with the soaring peaks of dormant volcanic hills and the ebb and flow of Maasai pastoralist life. Learn about the local ecosystem and its amazing biodiversity and embark on thrilling safaris into the crater itself. Entamanu Ngorongoro Camp consists of seven large en-suite tents (two of which are family units), offering an intimate holiday experience for guests searching for a personal safari retreat.
VGX8+HVG, Malanja Depression, Tanzania
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area which surrounds the caldera is home to an abundance of birdlife and wildlife, with a resident population of approximately 25,000 large mammals, including the Ngorongoro Lions who live within this natural enclosure. Guests visiting during January and February will also be able to witness the wildebeest calving season, where 8,000 new calves are introduced to the world each day.
Guests can reach Entamanu Ngorongoro Camp by self-driving, taking a 30–35 minute drive from the Seneto Descent road. Alternatively, guests can fly to Lake Manyara Airstrip, a 2 and a half-hour drive from the camp.
- Set on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater
- Breathtaking panoramic views
- Small and personal camp
- Game drives to the crater floor
- Abundant wildlife viewing opportunities
- Incredible bird viewing
- Maasai village visit
- Restaurant and bar
One of Africa’s 7 Wonders, the Ngorongoro Crater is the largest inactive, unbroken and unfilled volcanic caldera in the world. The Ngorongoro Crater is almost 3 million years old and was formed when an ancient volcano erupted and collapsed on itself. Before it collapsed, experts believe that the volcano would have been approximately the same size as the towering Mount Kilimanjaro. The walls of the crater act as a natural enclosure which today is a conservation area for many threatened animals including the Ngorongoro Lions and 26 Black Rhinos. There are approximately 25,000 large mammals that live in the conservation area from November to May, luring in one of the highest concentrations of predators in Africa.
The diverse ecosystems of the conservation area provide the ideal habitat for an abundance of wildlife and also birdlife, such as ostriches and white pelicans. During the dry season, travellers can witness thousands of pink flamingos fill Lake Magadi, a salt pan lake with naturally pink water. In the evenings, the flamingos will take to the skies, rising up as one and flying into a pink cloud of wings and feathers as the setting sun casts its glow on this incredible sight. The Conservation Area is also home to the Maasai people, who let their animals graze on the verdant land that has been fertilised by volcanic ash and heavy rainfall.
Tanzania has two wet seasons. The main rainy season lasts from March to May, when tropical showers often occur during the day. The rainfall is heaviest in April and transforms the landscape into a lush green oasis. The dry season (May to October) brings cooler temperatures and lures wildlife to waterholes and water sources where they can be spotted more easily before a second, shorter rainy season returns in November until mid-January.
The Canvas Suites at Entamanu Ngorongoro Camp are spacious with surrounding windows that offer stunning views of the crater and sweeping landscape. Relax on your plush king-size bed and take in your beautiful surroundings. The camp’s altitude is high, so heating is provided to ensure guests stay warm and cosy during the chilly mornings of the dry season. Additionally, each tented suite features a private en-suite bathroom with modern fittings and twin basins. A generous lounge space offers a haven for relaxing between exciting safari activities, and the suites are tastefully decorated with soft rugs and elegant furnishings. There are two interleading tents with additional bedrooms designed for families.
Guests at Entamanu Ngorongoro Camp can look forward to three delicious meals each day, with alternative options for children and guests with dietary requirements. Wake up to a mouthwatering breakfast buffet with a hearty selection of cold options including cereals, toast, yoghurt and fruit, and full English breakfasts cooked to order. Lunch will consist of a light meal, served with salad and rice and followed by a selection of fresh fruit.
In the evenings, delight in a tasty three-course meal, complete with a sweet dessert. Snacks and canapes are available throughout the day and guests can enjoy homemade bread.
Embark on a thrilling game drive to the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater and descend past the verdant forests, filled with incredible birdlife, and down to the lush vegetation where herbivores graze on greenery that is fertilised by the ash once spewed by the volcano. Predators will also be lurking nearby, attracted by the 25,000 large mammals who inhabit this incredible landscape. Visit the greater and lesser flamingos that rest in the pink waters of Lake Magadi, or watch endangered black rhinos as they enjoy a peaceful existence in this protected area.
Take a stroll along the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and take in the beautiful sights of the acacia woodlands, forests and lush oasis that exists below. This experience can be particularly special for birdwatchers, as it is the only place in the area where Schalow’s wheatear and mountain white-eye can be spotted. You may also see golden-winged sunbirds, white-eyed slaty flycatchers and mountain buzzards. Walks at Entamanu need to be pre-booked and guests under the age of 12 are not able to participate in this activity.
Enjoy a traditional evening gathered around the boma in the next valley, where the camp’s Maasai neighbours live. Experience cattle markets and gain insights into the lives of the Maasai people, learning about warrior ceremonies and how they build their huts. Discover more about a completely different culture and see Tanzania’s wild landscape through their eyes.
Entamanu Ngorongoro Camp is a Nomad Tanzania camp. Nomad utilises planes, cars, camps and their teams in order to offer aid to the more remote and isolated regions of Tanzania and provide educational support. Nomad Tanzania also donates safari holidays to auctions in order to raise money for these projects.
Nomad’s educational support includes investing in nursery centres to provide children with an education as early as possible, and meal programmes to give them the nutrition they need to get them through the school day. Nomad also funds scholarships for gifted children and provides internships within their camps. This gives youth a chance to learn about the tourism industry and how they could forge a career here. Additionally, Nomad works with partners who support education programmes that centre around sustainability and conservation.
The Nomad Tanzania Trust also provides support to medical facilities so that they can reach remote people in need. Nomad has partnered with The Plaster House in Arusha, a facility that offers corrective, orthopaedic, plastic surgery, neurosurgery and post-op care to children with disfigurements. This means that children can get the care they need and prevents them from being hidden by their families. Nomad also provides medicines, vaccinations, and mosquito nets for village clinics so that they can support the local communities. Additionally, they run health education and awareness campaigns and projects so that communities can learn basic health protocols and protect themselves from common and preventable illnesses. This includes teaching the community about sanitation, safe water, and pregnancy and child care.
Many villages on the outskirts of National Parks are sustained on a shoestring of resources and are in serious need of support. Nomad Tanzania is a staunch advocate of these communities and seeks to offer help and support in whatever way possible, with a firm belief that they too should share in the spoils of tourism. As such, Nomad work to improve the basic healthcare and education opportunities for these communities, seeking to improve the situation faced by all individuals wherever possible.
Nomad Tanzania sources local ingredients and materials and employs local people to invest in the communities in which they operate. This supports the local economy and provides an income for the families that live alongside Nomad’s camps.
‘Biashara means ‘business’ in Swahili and how we conduct our business in Tanzania is a huge part of what makes Nomad the company it is today. From inception, our founders have always believed in investing in local communities and providing opportunities for both our staff and the wider community. From the way our camps are built and where we source and purchase our interiors, to our microfinance model that is unique within our industry, we wholeheartedly commit to making sure that the impact Nomad has on the lives of people is transformative.’
In the Beds for Meds initiative, Nomad staff actively search for spaces within camps, or an empty safari vehicle and guide, and use any opportunities to organise a medical outreach clinic for neighbouring communities. Working with health professionals from hospitals in Arusha and beyond, citizens of all ages from neighbouring villages are brought into the camp to receive medical treatments. This initiative helps to fill the gaps in health services in remote communities. Camp teams are requested to remain vigilant, and upon finding individuals in need of plastic surgery or other specialised cases, they are put on planes to get the treatment they need from programme partners in Arusha.
The Watato Go Wild programme seeks to welcome local Tanzanian school children into various Nomad camps to identify top-performing students and provide them with future career prospects by imparting first-hand skills and knowledge of the tourism industry. Collaborating with local schools, children can broaden their horizons by partaking in wildlife lessons and workshops, headed by experienced Nomad guides while embarking on safari game drives.
Community training workshops are actively run in neighbouring communities, focussing on relevant eco-friendly activities that can help families become more self-reliant and secure by diversifying their income options. Employment opportunities in villages bordering National Parks can often be quite limited, causing many communities to live off the land with few other available prospects, despite the risks and challenges. These workshops seek to educate, encourage and equip communities to be able to engage in ventures more financially sustainable, while promoting ecologically friendly land practices.
Nomad utilises its presence in Tanzania’s wild areas, and partnerships with well-established conservation institutions in order to help organise and fund internship opportunities for determined, conservation-minded young Tanzanians. These opportunities provide keen young adults with conservation-focused field experience and the knowledge and understanding to be ambassadors for the environment back in their own communities.
The Frankfurt Zoological Society works to protect Serengeti’s wildlife, using patrol teams to remove snare traps one by one. For every night’s stay at one of Nomad’s camps, one dollar is donated to the de-snaring Serengeti Programme.
Numerous Mogumu Hope Centres are based in the villages that border the Serengeti National Park, offering refuge to young girls fleeing from female genital mutilation (FGM). Although FGM is illegal in Tanzania, it is sadly still practised in some rural villages. The centre works to ultimately reunite the girls with their parents on the agreement they will not be at risk of FGM or early child marriage, as well as raising community awareness, changing minds, and standing up for girls’ rights.
Nomad Tanzania works to protect the wildlife and environment from harm. Nomad tackles the threat posed by poachers and illegal bushmeat traders by supporting conservation organisations that monitor wildlife populations and protect these creatures from humans. Many communities face conflict with wildlife, especially when livestock are attacked, threatening the livelihood of local people. Nomad runs campaigns to persuade people to live harmoniously with wildlife and offers training for alternative sources of income to livestock agriculture, such as beekeeping and composting projects which both benefit the environment.
Nomad Tanzania runs a number of village clean-up projects in the villages that lie close to their camps and border the National Parks, gathering large groups of volunteers including football teams, schoolchildren and fishermen to help pick up rubbish and keep the villages clean. After this, rubbish is sorted and appropriately disposed of. Nomad also runs village film nights that display documentaries focusing on the challenge of waste disposal and the issues posed by waste plastic. These films educate the local communities and help to persuade people to keep the villages and surrounding areas clean and plastic-free. Nomad limits the amount of plastic used in their camps as much as possible to reduce the amount of waste plastic produced.
In the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maasai have lived alongside wildlife for decades, but as human populations increase, conflicts and pressure inevitably mount, sadly resulting in the decline of local lion populations. KopeLion is an initiative that seeks to alter this trend by employing former lion hunters and equipping them with the skills needed to actively protect the remaining lions and reduce conflicts with their local communities and villages.
Through the conservation and protection of grasslands, measures can be implemented to ensure healthy herds of wildlife, as well as communities of local Maasai and their livestock, are able to contribute indefinitely to the overall health of the Maasai Steppe ecosystem and Tarangire National Park. The degradation of this delicate ecosystem poses devastating implications for local communities, and as such, the only way to combat this threat is to implement regulatory grazing measures to ensure lands are not left barren.
The Selous Game Reserve has unfortunately been severely affected by ivory poaching in the last decade, and the elephant population has suffered tremendously. Nomad is a firm supporter of the Selous Elephant Research Programme run by the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI). Monitoring the population movements and more, the TAWIRI team aim to provide valuable data and knowledge to ensure their long-term survival.
Ruaha Carnivore Project, part of Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, works with local partners to come up with effective conservation strategies for carnivores within the wider Ruaha ecosystem.
By sharing technical expertise, building local capacity and empowering women and girls, the Tuungane project is providing local people with the practical tools and information they need to build healthy and prosperous families, secure fish stocks, and wildlife habitats, and adapt to climate change.
This education campaign aims to halt non-retaliatory killings of endangered lions in the Katavi ecosystem. Through fostering education in surrounding communities, they aim to protect the population for generations to come, thereby ensuring that endangered lion species populations can grow throughout subsequent generations.
Children aged 8 years and older are welcome at Entamanu Ngorongoro Camp. Children must be aged 12 and over in order to participate in guided nature walks.