Gibbs Farm

incredible authenticity and quality

Gibbs Farm is located in the Ngorongoro Karatu area of northern Tanzania.

This property is the original farm-stay in the Karatu area, a wonderful historic coffee estate in a very beautiful rural setting.

The Gibb family farm first opened their doors to safari visitors back in the 1950’s, when the road up to the Serengeti was a simple dirt track and the journey from Arusha would take days.

In 2009 the lodge was purchased by Rick and Judi Thomson, an American couple with a long connection with safari in Tanzania. Although they have greatly developed the place in the intervening years, it has always been in keeping with the place’s origins and traditions. Today the place continues to ooze the same warmth, authenticity and charm that have always been its trademarks.

Lodge

Set in an outstanding position against the foot of the Ngorongoro Forest, gorgeous tropical gardens look out over coffee plantations and shamba farms.

The lodge is centred on the original farmstead. Although the old tin-roofed bungalow has been much extended, it does retain a good deal of its original character.

Gibbs Farm remains very much a working farm, with extensive coffee plantations, kitchen gardens and a proper farmyard with pigs, sheep and other animals.

The place has a special reputation for wonderful home-cooked food, with much of the produce coming from the farm itself.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Gibbs Farm was originally in a handful of very simple tin-roofed sheds in the gardens, but these have been upgraded over the years and are now very elegant suites. Further accommodation is in various farmstead buildings further around the hillside …

• Cottage : x10
• Bustani House : x1 : with two bedrooms
• Library House : x1 : with two bedrooms

Activities

Gibbs Farm provides the following guided activities, not all of which are usually included in the room rate …

• Forest walks
• Village walks
• Mountain-biking
• Cultural interaction with local Iraqw people
• School visits
• Community support projects
• Farm tours
• Spa treatments
• Day trips to Ngorongoro Crater
• Day trips to Lake Eyasi

The Ngorongoro Karatu area tends to feature in most first time trips to the Serengeti region, either before (northbound) or after (southbound) the Ngorongoro Crater. The area provides a wonderful opportunity to take a break from safari and experience the delights of rural Africa.

The usual stay duration is 1-3 nights.

Seasonality

The only factor which affects seasonality in the Ngorongoro Karatu area is the weather, since wildlife movements are not relevant and visitor traffic is less of an issue.

The best months to visit from a weather perspective are generally considered to be May-Oct, although the early part of that season can be very cold at night.

Getting there

The vast majority of visitors to Ngorongoro Karatu arrive by guided overland safari, so they travel to their lodge and around the area in their private vehicle.

Around 5% of visitors to Ngorongoro Karatu arrive by light aircraft, almost always arriving into Manyara Airstrip, from where it is around an hour by road. In this case they travel around the area with a vehicle and guide from their lodge.

When staying in this area it is sometimes possible for us to put your vehicle and driver on standby, which means that you do not have to pay so much to have them sitting there doing nothing whilst you get on with other activities. However this is clearly not possible if you want to do trips further afield, notably down to Lake Eyasi and Lake Manyara or up to the Ngorongoro Crater.

a great change of gear in a safari