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tanzania & kenya: craters, plains and rhino

Private Safari
From $27,180 pp
2 guests
16 nights

trip highlights

  • An early descent onto the Ngorongoro Crater floor, among the first vehicles down, where black rhino feed in the open.
  • A high ridge in the western Serengeti corridor, with a waterhole below the veranda and forty-six contemporary African artworks running through a twelve-suite lodge.
  • Off-road tracking and night drives in the private Olare Motorogi Conservancy, which holds one of the highest concentrations of big cats for its size.
  • Tracking black and white rhino on foot with the rangers who monitor them daily across the Borana Conservancy.
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Male lion walking across arid savanna landscape, Sanctuary Crater Camp, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

From the Ngorongoro Crater to Borana

Sixteen nights run from northern Tanzania into Kenya’s highlands. A first night below Mount Meru at Arusha leads to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, then a ridge in the western Serengeti corridor. Crossing into Kenya, the trip takes in the Maasai Mara’s Olare Motorogi Conservancy, the Laikipia escarpment above the Ewaso Ng’iro, and finally the Borana Conservancy under Mount Kenya.

The days move from forest walks and crater descents to off-road tracking, night drives, horseback and camels, ground the national parks do not allow. Each stay is a small, design-led camp or family ranch, from ten and twelve tented suites to eight cottages of stone and cedar, chosen for its position rather than its size.

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Daily Itinerary Breakdown

Arriving Below Mount Meru

You land at Kilimanjaro International, an hour's drive away, and spend the first night in montane forest on Mount Meru's lower slopes, inside Arusha National Park. Here the days are walked rather than driven, with an armed ranger and colobus monkeys calling from the fig and cedar crowns at first light. Opened in July 2025, Koroi has nine rooms, eight tented chalets on raised timber platforms and a single treehouse suite, all facing a seasonally flooded glade where giraffes move through the trees below.

First Down Onto the Crater Floor

From the forest below Meru you continue to the wooded rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. A stay is built around one early descent onto the floor, among the first vehicles down, with a picnic breakfast and lunch carried for the day; the crater is one of the more reliable places in Tanzania to see black rhino, and the Big Five can turn up in a single morning. Ten tented suites stand in acacia forest close to the descent road, at roughly 2,300 metres, where evenings turn cold and a hot-water bottle answers the altitude.

The Western Corridor and Its Art

Next comes a high, isolated ridge in the western corridor of the Serengeti, where the Great Migration passes through and the Grumeti country holds resident lions, leopards and hyenas. Below the ridge a waterhole draws elephants, buffalo and antelope into view, and custom Land Rovers switch between fuel and electric power so a morning drive can approach a herd in near silence. Twelve tented suites double as a gallery, with forty-six museum-grade works woven through the lodge, which opened in July 2025.

Big Cats in Olare Motorogi

Crossing into Kenya, you reach the private Olare Motorogi Conservancy on the northern edge of the Maasai Mara, where guests track off-road, drive after dark and walk the plains on foot. Traversing rights reach into Mara North and the reserve itself, where the migration's river crossings run roughly July to October; leopards and lions work the riverine forest close to camp. Seven octagonal tents sit on decks of recycled railway sleepers, reached across a rope suspension bridge, each carrying a Canon camera set and Swarovski binoculars.

Horseback and Camels on the Escarpment

From the Mara you move to a family ranch on a Laikipia escarpment above the Ewaso Ng'iro, where days run on horseback, on camels and on foot with Samburu guides. A waterhole and salt lick sit beneath the cliff, drawing elephant, reticulated giraffe, eland and buffalo, while leopards visit after dark and guests can sleep in the stone hide beside it. Because Ol Malo is private land, night drives and off-road tracking are permitted, and the cottages here were hand-built by the Francombe family, now run by a second generation.

Rhino and Riding at Borana

The final four nights are spent on the Borana Conservancy, a private rhino sanctuary in the Laikipia Highlands where rangers monitor the animals daily and guests can join them on foot. Since the boundary with Lewa came down, the two form a single landscape of more than 92,000 acres, home to over 200 black and white rhino. Days also fill with horse riding among zebra and giraffe, night drives, biking and helicopter excursions to the Ngare Ndare Forest. Eight cottages of local stone and cedar terrace into a hillside above the Samangua Valley, with Mount Kenya rising to the south.

Ed Charles photographing wildlife

Ed Charles, BBC Producer

Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.

Ed Charles

Bafta & Emmy award winning film producer of BBC’s Planet Earth 2 and A Perfect Planet

looking for inspiration?

Giraffe walking past poolside lounge area with safari landscape, Chem Chem Lodge, Lake Manyara, Tanzania Lodge exterior with lavender garden and mature trees, Legendary Lodge, Arusha, Tanzania Safari lodge buildings with thatched roofs nestled among trees, Mwiba Lodge, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Infinity pool overlooking savanna landscape with trees, Singita Faru Faru Lodge, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Turquoise pool with lounge chairs and tropical palms, Legendary Lodge, Arusha, Tanzania Guest walking toward illuminated safari lodge at dusk with dining setup, Chem Chem Lodge, Lake Manyara, Tanzania Candlelit outdoor dining deck overlooking savanna at dusk, Mwiba Lodge, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Modern lodge building with pool surrounded by savanna vegetation, Singita Faru Faru Lodge, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Spacious bedroom with four-poster canopy bed and wooden beams, Legendary Lodge, Arusha, Tanzania Safari lodge tent with canvas roof among palm trees, Chem Chem Lodge, Lake Manyara, Tanzania Outdoor bedroom setup under acacia tree at dusk, Mwiba Lodge, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Luxury bedroom with white canopy bed and stone fireplace, Singita Faru Faru Lodge, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

tanzania

luxury serengeti

Ten nights across northern Tanzania's private reserves, from a coffee estate below Meru to the western Serengeti.

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  • From $18,625 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 10 nights
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Cheetah with open mouth showing teeth in savanna grass Three lionesses walking through golden savanna grass Guests on wooden safari lodge deck with shade sails and acacia trees, Leopard Hill, Maasai Mara, Kenya Infinity pool overlooking ocean at sunset with palm trees, Zawadi Hotel, Zanzibar & Pemba, Tanzania Luxury safari tent bedroom with views of woodland landscape, Leopard Hill, Maasai Mara, Kenya Oceanfront pool deck with loungers and thatched umbrellas, Zawadi Hotel, Zanzibar & Pemba, Tanzania Elephant feeding on tree branches near safari vehicle with guests, Leopard Hill, Maasai Mara, Kenya Oceanfront pool with rolled towels and turquoise water view, Zawadi Hotel, Zanzibar & Pemba, Tanzania Leopards resting on branch during safari game drive Mother cheetah with three cubs on termite mound African wild dog alert in grassy savanna habitat

kenya & tanzania

big cats at naboisho, then zanzibar

Twelve nights linking game drives in Kenya's Mara Naboisho Conservancy with a swimmable lagoon on Zanzibar's coast.

  • Private Safari
  • From $11,125 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 12 nights
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Guests dining on deck overlooking elephants in savanna, Little Chem Chem, Lake Manyara, Tanzania Safari vehicle with guests observing rhinoceroses in grassland Lodge exterior with lavender garden and mature trees, Legendary Lodge, Arusha, Tanzania Thatched safari lodge deck overlooking vast savanna landscape, Lamai Serengeti, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Canvas safari tent illuminated at dusk under acacia trees, Little Chem Chem, Lake Manyara, Tanzania Hot air balloon floating over winding river and forest canopy, Ngare Serian, Maasai Mara, Kenya Infinity pool overlooking savanna landscape at dusk, Ol Malo Lodge, Laikipia Highlands, Kenya Thatched-roof lodge building surrounded by tall acacia trees, Sirikoi, Laikipia Highlands, Kenya Turquoise pool with lounge chairs and tropical palms, Legendary Lodge, Arusha, Tanzania Illuminated dining area beneath large weeping tree at dusk, Little Chem Chem, Lake Manyara, Tanzania Wooden deck overlooking vast savanna landscape at sunset, Lamai Serengeti, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Luxury tent bedroom with river view and outdoor seating area, Ngare Serian, Maasai Mara, Kenya Illuminated tree structure with signpost at dusk overlooking landscape, Ol Malo Lodge, Laikipia Highlands, Kenya Guest relaxing on deck overlooking grazing cattle herd, Sirikoi, Laikipia Highlands, Kenya

tanzania & kenya

the serengeti herds and lewa’s rhino

A 21-night route from a Serengeti kopje to a Mara riverbank and the private conservancies of Laikipia and Lewa.

  • Private Safari
  • From $42,760 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 21 nights
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Planning a journey together

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& personal

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.

Every journey starts with a conversation. We favour a direct, personal approach: understanding your vision before anything else.

Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.

Get in touch to start planning yours.

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