Karatu
A farming town between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater, surrounded by coffee and wheat farms. Lodges here are a short drive from the crater gate.
- Best time
- All year.
- Time to allow
- One night
Karatu is the main town of Karatu District, in the highlands between Lake Manyara and the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. The paved road from Arusha to Ngorongoro runs through it, so safaris heading for Ngorongoro and the Serengeti pass this way.
It is a farming district, known in Tanzania as the onion capital, and it also grows coffee, wheat, barley and sunflower. The Iraqw are the largest community here, alongside the Datooga and the Hadza, and Lake Eyasi lies to the south-west of the district.