New 300-bed lodge in Ngorongoro Crater
 

Hello,

Read this sobering article in the Telegraph today...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ma...ixtrvhome.html

It's not clear who is building this lodge, though I wonder if it's the same people from the UAE who want to build a similar lodge in the Serengeti.

Cheers,
Julian

hi, i havent been to north tanz yet. but this would really bite! they started in the mara not long ago closing off areas for the land to recover. have no idea how much time they will keep those areas closed.
for those who have been to the crater-this is way too much isnt it? lets hope it gets dumped.
thx, d

Hope there all some people left with common sense to reject this project.


Greetings,

Johan

i agree, this is just stuffing up mother nature even more! I hope they don't continue with the prodject. I have traveld quite a bit to Africa in the past and smaller places cause much less damage. they uplift the people and the wildlife.

300 additional beds
assume only 2/3 occupancy = 200 more people

assume about 4 people per vehicle = 200/4 = 50 more vehicles

1/2 day visits only so 50/2 = 25 more vehicles in the crater at one time

current vehicles in crater at any one time during the busy season = 80*

The new lodge could increase the number of vehicles by 25 vehicles to 105 in the crater at any given time, an increase of over 30%.

That's an equation for an environmental disaster at worst and a crowded, disappointing safari experience at best.

* Tanzanian newspaper, The Citizen, Jan 18, 2006
http://www.safarilands.org/index.php..._its_own_fame/

Apparently, the plans are for this mega-hotel to be built between the Wildlife and Crater Lodge. Ugh.

The tour operators are not very pleased with this; and, yes, it's the same folks who have dibs on the proposed lodge in the Northern Serengeti.

Sounds like the newly raised entry fee won't matter if/when the hotel is built. Here's a clear case of having to limit the amount of visitors to the crater each day, rather than simply raising the entry fee. Did I miss something on that idea?
Sherry

An encouraging headline from allafrica.com

Tanzania: Govt Stops 120-Room Hotel Project in Serengeti

The link to the article--
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34789424

atravelyn, do you still have the link open/saved? The one in the message brought me back to this thread.

Good news on halting the project.