Tanzania's Northern Circuit

The main house which includes restaurant and lounge offers spectacular views, endless vistas of rolling golden grassland and palm lined desert between Tarangire and Manyara Lake.

Located on an elegant elevated wood platform with thatched roofing, encircled by majestic palms trees.

The Main Restaurant at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge is beautifully designed in the traditional style and décor of Tanzania to create an enchanting dining experience. Savour a delightful range of local and international cuisines crafted from the finest and freshest meats, produce and ingredients.

Featuring charming stone-built architecture, a glowing fireplace and walls adorned with prehistoric cave paintings and flickering torchlight, the elegant yet relaxed dining space is ideal for any taste and occasion. Floor-to-ceiling windows and double doors leading out on to an expansive terrace complement each meal with panoramic views of the Ngorongoro Crater.

Breakfast and lunch are served buffet-style and feature a wide range of international choices. In typical safari style, we offer a full English breakfast as well as European options while our lunch menus include meat, poultry, fish and vegetarian options. Our table d’hôte dinner menus feature a salad buffet, soup, entrée, pudding, cheese and biscuits and tea or coffee. Vegetarian options are always available. The majority of our meat and dairy products, as well as our fruits and vegetables, are sourced from local communities.

Kindly note that our restaurant caters to any special dietary requirements our guests may have.

One of the highlights of the Crater visit, the bush breakfast is an experience not to be missed. Typically, guests are awakened by a very early morning cup of tea; they then set off down the steeply winding road that leads to the Crater floor.

After a game drive through primeval forests and acacia groves, the guests arrive by the selected spot where a spectacular cooked breakfast is served. After breakfast, the game drive continues around the 120 km of roads that circle the lakes, forests and plains of this unique conservation area.

Because entrance to the Crater is strictly limited – and also because there is so much to see – many guests prefer to take lunch on the Crater floor. This can be provided as a picnic, which can be enjoyed in one of the forest clearings, or as a full cooked lunch, which is typically cooked and served in the acacia groves.

Before and after lunch, the guests are then free to enjoy extensive game drives around the Crater floor.

Typically, the Ngorongoro Bush Dinner takes place at a scenic location on the rim of the Crater, with stunning views over the plains below. Timed to coincide with the setting of the sun, which on the Equator is around 6 pm, the bush dinner will commence with a short drive to a panoramic spot on the Crater rim. Here, tables, chairs and lanterns will already have been set up, and a campfire will have been lit.

Beginning with sundowners around the campfire, we are proud to entertain our guests with Maasai dance and song while their 5-course dinner is prepared on the blazing charcoal BBQ. The choice of meat, fish and poultry will be supplemented by vegetarian choices, salads, fruit and desserts from the main lodge, and a full safari bar will be provided.

Meals are served in a cozy mess tent.