Hatari Lodge occupies the old Momella farm, with Mount Meru rising behind it. Giraffes wander the open meadow below the terrace. At dawn and dusk Kilimanjaro shows on the far horizon, a second mountain to set against the first. The days belong to Arusha National Park, explored on foot and by water, and Kilimanjaro International Airport is about an hour away.
Giraffes wander the open meadow below the terrace.
Margarete Trappe once farmed Momella. Hardy Krüger arrived to make Hatari!, released in 1962, and bought the farm once filming ended. He and his partner Jim Mallory each built a family house here, and those two homes are now the lodge. For more than twenty years Jörg and Marlies Gabriel, with their son Donyo, have kept that history close, right down to the old Hatari! film poster.
Walks go out with an armed ranger. One traces the wooded rim of Ngurdoto Crater, another crosses forest and meadow to the Tululusia waterfall, and a third climbs Meru’s lower slopes under giant trees. When the water allows, walking gives way to paddling. Canoes slip past hippos and flamingos on the Momella Lakes. Game drives run in classic Mercedes G-Wagons, and there is seldom a line of vehicles.
Canoes slip past hippos and flamingos on the Momella Lakes.
Back at the lodge, Marlies Gabriel’s interiors play up the 1960s in strong colour, with textiles stitched by local women. On cool evenings fires crackle in the hearths. At sundowner a boardwalk leads from the veranda to a fire on a viewing platform, and buffalo, waterbuck and zebra are out on the clearing below.
Jörg Gabriel came to Tanzania as a guide in the 1990s. He went on to write German-language guidebooks to the country. These days he trains the lodge’s guides himself, and keeps the old Mercedes fleet running in the family’s own garage on the farm. On foot, his team give the forest as much attention as the animals, stopping for birds and butterflies. Black-and-white colobus move through the canopy overhead as the walk goes on below. In the open glades on the way to the Tululusia waterfall, buffalo and giraffes turn up as well.
The kitchen cooks to Slow Food principles and draws on Wondergarden, a heritage-food project in which Maasai and smallholder farmers grow indigenous crops without chemicals or monocrops. The Gabriels neither own nor lease that land. Each dish can be traced to a named garden and grower, and guests can visit the plots. Breakfast is taken on the lawn or indoors, and in the afternoon high tea brings homemade cakes. Dinner runs to four courses and changes daily, served by the fire in the dining room or out on the terrace.
Black-and-white colobus move through the canopy overhead as the walk goes on below.
Donyo Gabriel grew up on the farm before studying biodiversity and ecology, and the family still lives on it: Hardy Krüger’s former home is where the Gabriels live and work. Jim Mallory’s house is now the main building, and the oldest farmhouse holds the lounge and dining room. Children of all ages are welcome, as Donyo once was, though parents keep them close, because buffalo and other game move through the grounds. Families can take one of the three villas, each with its own lounge and dining area, a fireplace, and terraces that face both mountains.
Arusha National Park holds fewer large mammals than Tanzania’s other northern parks, so Hatari Lodge suits the start or end of a safari. What the park offers instead is quieter: elephants among the forest trees, and buffalo and bushbuck down in Ngurdoto Crater. Above all, there is the freedom to walk. A first night gives time to recover from a long-haul flight beside the fire. A last one allows a final walk and an early breakfast before the drive to Kilimanjaro International Airport. Kilimanjaro is often clearest then.
accommodation
Nine deluxe rooms are each decorated differently, with a king bed in fine cotton. Every one has a private terrace facing Meru or Kilimanjaro. Six suites pair into three family villas, and each villa has its own lounge, dining area and fireplace, with bathtubs in the bathrooms.
activities
In the national park, walks go out with an armed ranger to the Ngurdoto Crater rim and the Tululusia waterfall, or up Mount Meru's lower slopes. Canoes take to the Momella Lakes when the water allows, and game drives run in G-Wagons. Back at the lodge there is breakfast on the lawn and sundowners by the meadow fire, as well as visits to the Wondergarden growers.
conservation
Wondergarden revives heritage crops with Maasai and smallholder farmers, using no chemicals and no monocrops, and supplies the kitchen. Watoto Momella is a community preschool. The women of Mama Momella stitch the cushions and textiles used in the rooms.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
By road from Kilimanjaro International Airport, about an hour's drive, and we arrange the transfer so a driver is waiting when you land. The lodge lies at Momella on the northern side of Arusha National Park, so there is no need to go through Arusha town on the way, and an evening arrival still means waking up under Mount Meru the next morning.
Coming in from the parks, the scheduled light aircraft land at Arusha's small airfield, an hour or a little more from the lodge by road. If you would rather set your own timings, we can arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, into Arusha or Kilimanjaro International, with the road transfer timed to meet it.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates all of Tanzania below 1,800 metres as high risk for malaria and recommends antimalarial tablets there, and the American CDC draws its line at the same height. Momella and the lodge sit at around 1,540 metres, below that line, so the cool evenings change nothing in the official advice.
We are travel planners, not medical professionals, so we do not make medical recommendations. Which tablets suit you, and what is right for a child, is a conversation for your own doctor or a travel clinic, ideally with your dates in front of them. The practical part is simple: long sleeves and trousers once the sun drops, and repellent on the terrace at sundowner time.
Walk, mostly. Arusha National Park allows guided walks, and they always go out with an armed park ranger, so you never walk alone. The lodge's favourites are the Tululusia waterfall walk through forest and open glades, the forested rim of Ngurdoto Crater looking down into the caldera, where buffalo graze the floor, and a hike with a picnic on the lower slopes of Mount Meru.
On the Momella Lakes, canoes go out among the flamingos and hippos when the water is high enough. Nearer home, the lodge takes guests to the gardens and smallholdings that grow its food, to meet the farmers, and the game drives themselves go out in classic Mercedes G-Wagons restored in the lodge's own workshop.
Yes, and it is laid out with families in mind. Of the fifteen rooms, six are suites, and a junior suite and a suite join through a connecting door to make a family villa, three in all, each with a lounge and dining area, bathrooms with baths and its own outdoor space looking towards Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro.
Giraffe drifting across the meadow at breakfast tend to win children over before the first drive, and much of the park is seen on gentle walks rather than long days in a vehicle. Tell us the children's ages when we plan and we will choose the walks, drives and room arrangement to suit them.
Distinctive, and grown close by. The kitchen cooks from native and heritage foods grown without chemicals with Maasai communities and smallholder farmers, many of them ingredients that had fallen out of everyday use, and it follows the Slow Food principles of good, clean and fair food. Lunch and dinner are four courses that change daily, served by the fire or on the veranda over the meadow.
Breakfast can be packed as an early picnic for a morning out, there is high tea in the afternoon, and sundowners are taken by the fire on the meadow. Because the kitchen cooks from scratch every day, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and allergy-aware meals are made properly rather than substituted; tell us at booking and we will pass it on.
Mild by day and cool at night, because the lodge stands at around 1,540 metres at the foot of Mount Meru, which is why the deluxe rooms have fireplaces. The long rains fall around March to May and the short rains around November and December. June to October is cool, clear and bright, the likeliest time to see Kilimanjaro sharp on the horizon.
January to March has its own case: warm, green and quiet, with young animals about and the park quiet. Pack in layers: a warm fleece and a windproof for early starts in an open vehicle, closed shoes with grip for the walks, a hat and sun cream for the middle of the day, and a light waterproof in the rains.
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
