Our park permits were scanned out by the ranger on duty, who said nothing about a fee or any sort of permit to proceed into the Loliondo area. It is odd that the details of an attraction that they want people to visit are so difficult to confirm.Īfter a short and pleasant game drive from our Lobo campsite, we arrived at Klein’s Gate. This uncertainty added to the adventure a bit, but was also a little frustrating. In Africa there always seems to be a way forward. We defaulted to hoping for the best at the gate. I tried in vain to obtain permits in Arusha, but I couldn’t figure out how or where to do so. One source said that permits must be obtained ahead of time, others that you could pay at the gate.

I sort of hoped for the more authentic rough road, but we’d just have to go see for ourselves.Īnother mystery was the permits to enter the Lake Natron area. Another source said part of this notoriously bad stretch had recently been paved. On one hand, the road might be slow going and impassable if wet. My research on this route produced a lot of conflicting information. Eventually we would arrive at the shores of Lake Natron, a huge soda lake with lots of flamingos and rugged scenery. This would bring us to the Lake Natron area, aka Loliondo Game Controlled Area (GCA).įrom what we’d read, this would be a rough dirt track, slow going through real Maasai land. The plan was to leave the Serengeti from the less used Klein’s Gate in the northeast.

Lake natron map