Tanzania: Ngorongoro Crater – Lemala Ngorongoro Tented Camp

The Lemala Ngorongoro Tented Camp is located right on the crater rim in a spectacular old-growth acacia forest, just a short 10-15 minute drive down to the crater floor. This is a true tented camp with a touch of luxury – the tents are simple on the outside, but with all the amenities inside. It’s quite cold here at 8,000 feet so sitting around the fire with a gin & tonic comes in handy, as do the hot water bottle in bed. The shower technology is awesome in its simplicity – you tell the guy with a hot water bucket that you are ready and he pours the water outside and you pull a string inside. The main dining tent has old-school mahogany wood furniture, old maps and paintings, and a full bar. Everything is solar and environmentally friendly. There’s also great sunset watching and plenty of birds, and we even saw the world’s largest ants at night – sausage ants – measuring 4-6.5 cm (1.5 – 2.4 inches) in length.