Gibb's Farm is an idyllic farmhouse with fresh, home-cooked meals, providing an unusual stop on any safari.

Situated on a coffee farm five km from the village of Karatu and midway between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater, Gibb's Farm is a homey and warm colonial homestead that was once the heart of the surrounding coffee plantations. While coffee is still grown, processed and roasted on the farm, a vast ten-acre fruit and organic vegetable garden now provides nearly all the fruit and vegetables to the guests, who wake up to fresh coffee, a multitude of flowers and breathtaking views.

The 19 twin rooms with ensuite bathrooms are set among the gardens while the main facilities consisting of a sitting room, dining room and gift shop are situated in the old farmhouse. Day visits can be arranged, including a gentle walk or tour of the plantation, followed by lunch.

Meals at Gibb's Farm

Start your day with a cup of freshly roasted Gibb's Farm coffee then proceed to the fresh fruit buffet where you will find a large assortment of tropical fruits and homemade granola. The waiters will then take your order for eggs, omelets, pancakes, bacon or sausage.

Lunch is buffet style that includes a wide selection of savoury pies, vegetable dishes, hot dishes, and salads, as well as a few traditional African dishes, followed by a desert buffet that includes items such as chocolate mousse and Regie's famous rice pudding.

Dinner begins at 7:30 every night with a four -course meal served to your table. Always included is homemade bread and rolls, an interesting starter such as banana rice, followed by a main course of meat, three different farm fresh vegetables and a green salad. Don't forget to save room for desert with tea and Gibb's Farm coffee!

Activities at Gibb's Farm

• Waterfall Walk - The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority kindly permits the lodge guests to walk to the top of a nearby waterfall and caves made by elephants. This walk takes about 2-2.5 hours and winds its way in and out of the forest highlands with breathtaking vistas; you will often see wildlife and always a multitude of birds.
  
  
• Garden Tours - Don't miss a tour of the flower garden or 10 acre vegetable garden. This leisurely interpretative tour takes about 40 minutes.
  
  
• Birding - There are over 170 different species of birds at Gibb's Farm. If you are an avid birder we will schedule a personal bird walk with one of the naturalists or you can simply spend the day on your own checking off your life list.
  
  
• Coffee Roasting - Growing and processing coffee is only part of the process. Check out the daily roasting operation taking place.
  
  
• Coffee Fields - Feel free to take a stroll on your own through the coffee below the farm at any time; it is perfectly safe, and a very relaxing way to spend an hour or more.
  
  
• Jogging - For the fitness fanatics that feel they have to get in a jog to shake out the safari legs! During the cool of the evening the manager will gladly guide you on one of his favorite routes through the village. This is quite strenuous if you are not use to running at 5,700 ft elevation.
  
  
• Iraqw Cultural Visit - The Iraqw is the local tribe that has inhabited the immediate Ngorongoro highlands near Gibb's Farm for over 200 years. Walk or drive the 4 km to a traditional Iraqw home; the home is built entirely using traditional materials and methods of construction, just as it would have been 200 years ago. You will see many of the traditional tools and weapons used by the Iraqw. Try your hand at grinding maize using grinding stones and listen to a presentation and demonstration of traditional Iraqw skirt making. While here you will also have the opportunity to visit a present day Tanzanian farm and observe a biogas plant used for producing cooking and lighting gas.
  
  
• Tloma Primary School - A visit to the local primary school is easily arranged in advance, to give visitors a glimpse of our rural school system.

Gibb's Farm is Eco-Friendly

Ninety five percent of all of the vegetables and many of fruits served at Gibb's Farm are grown in the organic vegetable garden. Their farmyard produces all of the pork and milk served at Gibb's and supplies them with all the organic compost they need.

Wine bottles are broken and used in building foundations; plastic bottles are decomposed by the sun prior to disposal. All of the guest rooms are built using local materials and labor, thus supporting the local economy.

Gibb's Farm is very active in supporting the local schools, managing donations from guests and contributing to the management and planning of school improvement projects, such as the new Tloma Primary classroom currently under construction.