Accommodation: (a). Gibb’s Farm -Near Ngorongoro Crater. Situated at the entrance to the highlands of northern Tanzania, midway between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater five kilometers from the village of Karatu, Gibb’s Farm, which is an oasis of green, calm and beauty in a landscape that can often be parched, dry and dusty, has got 20 twin rooms with en-suite bathrooms set among the gardens. Among the facilities are; the sitting room, reading room, dining room (that serves fresh, home-cooked meals), bar and gift shop are located in the farmhouse. On the Gibb’s Farm, coffee is grown, processed and roasted, yet also a large ten-acre fruit and organic vegetable garden offers nearly all the fruit and vegetable to the guests, who wake up to fresh coffee, a multitude of flowers and breath taking views.
Though still with a character of a well-looked after-private house with roaring fires and friendly service, the old-colonial Farmhouse was built by German settlers in the early 20th Century.
It was in 1948, that James Gibb, a British war veteran bought the Farm, which had been neglected through the war years, and he turned it into production. Gibb then married Margaret in 1959, who was born in Tanzania to British parents and she later began a small vegetable and flower garden.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area was established adjacent to the north of Gibb’s Farm in 1960 and yet in 1972, Gibb’s Farm became an accommodation for travellers - in other words, guests could very well stay and sleep here. The Coffee estate except for a small section for use in the lodge was sold in 1978, to the Tanzanian Coffee Board, following the death of James Gibb in 1977. It is important to note that Margaret Gibb together with her husband Per Kullander own Gibb’s Farm until now.
The lodge, which provides 20 twin rooms with en-suite bathrooms set among the gardens, also offers a number of facilities that include; a reading room, sitting room, dining room, bar and gift shop, which are located in the old Farm house.
Two of the rooms are ideal for families due to the fact that they are linked, however, it is important to know and note that all Gibb’s Farm rooms retain the charm of their unique garden setting.