Gibb's Farm is a delightful luxury hotel in Katara, an hour from the Ngorongoro crater. It is an old colonial farmhouse that has been converted to an organic farm. The chef is pretty darn good and they had a variety of wines to choose from, South African and pleasant. The coffee hills stretch below the farmhouse and there are a variety of places to sit and enjoy the view and the breezes. One of the nicest views was from our own deck. We were given a cottage with a large bedroom area including fireplace, a sitting area and a bath area that had two showers, one indoor and one out. It was a bit nippy for the outdoor shower but we enjoyed showers next to the fireplace which went from the bedroom to the bathroom. If we had been another day I would have taken a bath in the luxuriously large bathtub.
Dinners were served at the main house an appetizer, soup, entree and dessert. All with ingredients from their garden and the meat from their animals. The Osso bucco the first night was delicious. Poached chicken in a lovely light herbed sauce the second night. Breakfast buffets were accompanied by whatever eggs of your choice (the fresh poached eggs were spot on). And various cereals, home baked breads and homemade jams, jellies and local honey. They sourced their own coffee and roasted it so it was smooth and delicious. THe bartender was the only staff member that needed additional training but the rest of the staff was super friendly, polite and helpful. You wanted for nothing. Excellent service.
In the evening a fire would be laid in the room which is a wonderful way to go to sleep. There was a little basket of wood so that was fun to mess with. Morning wake up calls were at the room accompanied by hot coffee. Could have sat there for a week! Some people use this as a base of operations to go to the crater. The drive is a bit far overall. I would not recommend it unless you stayed at the farm for a day between crater visits.
While at GIbb's Farm we went to the Lake Manyara Park. another different ecosystem. It is a park known for it's lion in trees but regrettably we saw none. We did see the blue monkeys they are also known for but it was a relatively quiet day in the park. There was a plethora of water birds, some elephants, black backed jackals, and the usual suspects (gazelles,ostrich, wildebeests [brown], zebra, baboons...) .THe lake was high from previous rains so the flamingos did not have their usual feeding area. Every day we see new critters, new birds, new sights. It is a luxurious thing to do to drive around all day looking for animals. ;-)
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