Explore Tanzania's Best Camps

Come with us as we test out some of Tanzania’s best safari camps.

Visiting Tanzania in late March / early April.

Tanzania is such a popular safari destination; it’s easy to get around with the iconic parks such as the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, all fairly close to each other. Plus the sheer volume of wildlife you see is phenomenal, especially when you encounter the Great Migration herds.

With these traits, it gets busy with other people. There are new lodges and safari camps popping up all over.

That said, there are windows in the year when you can avoid larger amounts of people and have some incredible safari experiences. Late March and early April is prime example. The migration herds are on the move and harder to predict where they will be, and you might get some rain. You do though see everything you imagined and more. We had cheetah sightings to ourselves, and an incredible half a morning in the Ngorongoro Crater all to ourselves – amazing.

The key though is stay in the right camps and lodges, and have top quality guides, to create the perfect Serengeti experience. We can advise on the prime locations, and arrange the right guides.

Night 1 – Stay in Arusha at the Villa Maua

Resting at the foot of Mount Meru, the sprawling city of Arusha is known as the safari capital of northern Tanzania. It serves as an excellent base to start or end your Tanzanian safari! Arusha’s Villa Maua (House of Flowers) has just nine, spacious and tastefully decorated garden rooms. A Cape Dutch inspired, boutique property, it provides a cosy warmth, a fully stocked licensed bar and restaurant with all rooms fully air-conditioned and equipped with Wi-Fi.

Night 2 – Kilimanjaro Golf and Wildlife Estate

Surrounded by the Maasai Steppe with incredible views from every angle, we tested out the newest and most striking addition to Africa’s great golfing estates.

Night 3 – Hamerkop House by Lemala

A beautiful and private house managed exclusively by Lemala Camps and Lodges. Located on a wildlife and golf estate, it is another great place to start or finish your safari.

Night 4 – Lemala Mpingo Ridge Lodge

Situated in Tarangire National Park, a place of granite ridges, river valleys, mixed landscapes and free-roaming wildlife. A magnet for thirsty wildlife during the dry season.

Lemala Mpingo Ridge sits on top of an escarpment with sweeping views across the perennial Tarangire River and valley below.

Nights 5 & 6 – Lemala Ndutu Mobile Tented Camp

Ndutu is situated in the northern part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area within the magnificent Serengeti. The surrounding landscapes are covered in sweeping grasslands which provide the perfect habitat for the migratory route for hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, antelope and zebra.

Lemala Ndutu & Lemala Mara are authentic mobile tented camps, each moving north and south with the seasons to ensure guests enjoy ringside seats to wildebeest migration.

Located on the edge of the southern plains of the Serengeti, and where the migration herds want to be between December and March. It’s the perfect place for game drives out on to the plains, to witness the herds and search for cheetah.

In the woodlands where the camp is located you see all the other animal species, such as lions, giraffe and elephants.
As with all the ‘mobile’ camps in the Serengeti, they are designed to move locations. This means, you are very much in a tented style camp. Nice tents, big tents with ensuite bathroom, lighting and comfy beds. Being mobile, does though mean that showers are on demand; called bucket showers.

The Ndutu camp is positioned in the south from November to late April. It’s then broken down, packed on a truck and then moved north and where the herds are moving to.

Other options in the Ndutu area and for the southern plains between November and early April, would be Nomads Serengeti Safari Camp, another mobile style camp and similar to the Lemala Ndutu camp. Or, Ndutu Safari Lodge which is a permanent lodge. It’s larger, and has 30+ rooms, not tents, and in-camp facilities are bit more sophisticated than the the tented camps – ie full hot showers and plumbing. There’s a gym and a yoga space.

By late April most of the tented camps have packed up in the south so the only real option is Ndutu Safari Lodge. April is a good time to be there, as few other people; the herds have moved on however predators are still about.

Serengeti mobile camps move 2 or 3 times per years, and with the seasons. They do not move whilst you are staying in them.

Night 7 – Lemala Ewanjan Tented Camp

Lemala Ewanjan is an authentic intimate tented camp set in a secluded part of the game-rich Seronera Valley in Central Serengeti. The Seronera region is an important wildlife transition zone between the southern grasslands and the northern woodlands and is renowned for its year-round game viewing.

Nights 8 & 9 – Lemala Nanyukie Lodge

Lemala Nanyukie is located just outside of the Seronera circuit, allowing for private game viewing of its world famous concentration of cats and resident wildlife, due to its abundance of water in the many rivers.

Nanyuki is a very comfortable lodge overlooking a seasonal river in the central Serengeti. This is the perfect safari property to end your safari; the huge rooms have everything you want, including plunge pools! You can relax and watch the wildlife wander by, as you cool off in your pool.There is also a spa and excellent meals are served in the dining area, or under the stars.

Game drives out on the plains are productive, especially in the dry season month, when the river attracts wildlife.

Nights 10 & 11 – Wilderness Usawa

Pack your walking shoes. All Wilderness Usawa Serengeti sites are positioned within designated walking zones, allowing walking safaris to begin right from camp.

Usawa is a top notch mobile tented camp. The design is an upgrade on the other mobile tented camps, this camp has style. Staff are very attentive and food is of a higher quality. Wilderness have consciously positioned the Usawa camps in areas with less other lodges and people, so you do get the Wilderness feel. Highly recommend these camps for a Serengeti circuit. As with other ‘mobile’ camps in the Serengeti, it moves locations to where the migration herds are anticipated.

Night 12 – Serengeti Safari Camp South

This is Nomad Tanzania’s pioneering mobile camp that moves seasonally to be in the best possible location to witness the great migration herds. The camp strikes a balance between comfort and mobility.

Night 13 – Entamanu Ngorongoro

The Ngorongoro Crater is best known for its natural beauty and abundance of diverse wildlife.

Perched high on the wild side of the rim, Nomad’s Entamanu Ngorongoro is a thoughtfully designed refuge in this elemental place.

Seven large en-suite cottage-style rooms, two of which are family units made cosy with heaters, warm textiles and sheepskin look across the iconic Crater view.

Positioned on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater and at 6500ft above sea level, staying here is a very different experience to plains of the Serengeti. The weather is cooler, and generally misty and cloudy. The lodge is warm and cosy, with log fires places, and a heaters in your rooms. It’s a beautiful lodge, and very comfortable.

The experience is primarily about being on safari in the crater itself, however it’s also a cultural. Masai villages are nearby, and hikes through the forest and to the plains where the village are can be a highlight.

Location is key, as from Entamanu you have early easy access to the floor of the crater. Being one of the first vehicles on the crater floor early in the morning can be magical. No one else and this incredible ecosystem to your self.