Forest Chem Chem hides beneath fever trees and mature baobabs in the Burunge Wildlife Management Area, the community-run corridor that links Tarangire and Lake Manyara in northern Tanzania. One group takes the whole camp at a time, on a private concession where walking and night drives are permitted with a flexibility the two neighbouring national parks cannot offer.
Bull elephants wander through camp to feed on the acacia canopy.
The camp occupies a wildlife highway, the route elephants and lions use between Tarangire’s baobab country and the shore of Lake Manyara. Bull elephants wander through camp to feed on the acacia canopy. Giraffes, zebra and antelope pass within sight of the tents through the day, while lion and leopard are tracked across the concession, close enough to feel present but always on their own terms.
The concession is community land, not a national park, and the rules loosen accordingly. After dark the spotlights come out, picking up the smaller carnivores and other nocturnal life the parks reveal less readily. Genets and owls move only once the sun has gone. By day guests walk with Maasai guides who read the tracks, point out medicinal plants and explain the corridor from the inside.
Genets and owls move only once the sun has gone.
The parks are a private drive away. Tarangire delivers its elephant herds and its baobabs, while Lake Manyara adds tree-climbing lions and flamingos massed on the soda lake. With the camp yours alone there is no fixed schedule and no shared timetable, and each day is built around whoever is in it. A balloon safari over Tarangire, or a helicopter flight, can be arranged with notice.
Chem Chem Safaris was founded by Fabia Bausch and Nicolas Negre. She is a Swiss former investment banker. He is a French former professional hunter. Together they leased land from local communities to build a slower kind of safari, one that put guests on foot and paced the days around watching rather than ticking off sightings. Forest Chem Chem grew up within that same concession, the family camp of the collection and the most intimate of its properties, with just four tents beneath the trees.
Under the canopy the camp is barely visible. The tents are canvas raised on solid platforms, with wood decking and earthy, natural tones that carry the wider Chem Chem style, understated and light on the ground. Each one is placed deep in the vegetation and looks out into forest, not open plain, so privacy comes as much from the landscape as from the distance between them. Life gathers in a central dining and leisure tent, with a small spa, a boutique, and a pool tucked into the shade of the trees.
Guests lie under canvas listening to elephant rumbles and the sounds of the bush.
Between drives, the shaded pool offers a quiet hour or two, and after dark a crackling campfire is the focal point of the night. The bush is never silent. By evening the birdsong gives way to a chorus of insects and the occasional lion roar carrying across the concession, and at dawn the birds of forest and savanna start up together. Guests lie under canvas listening to elephant rumbles and the sounds of the bush. Those birds deserve more than an ear: the Lake Manyara basin holds strong birdlife, flamingos on the lake among it, and December to February is reckoned an especially good stretch for watching it.
Taking the place entirely for one group lets the activities and the mealtimes flex around children’s stamina and their interests. Maasai guides run bush-skills sessions for younger guests, tracking and bow-and-arrow among them, and cultural visits to a Maasai village and school widen the experience beyond the wildlife. The dining follows the same easy rhythm, with bush breakfasts and picnics out on the drives, dinners under the stars in the concession, and sundowners along the Lake Manyara shore.
accommodation
Four tented rooms are hidden in the forest, three standard tents and one family suite, each a canvas structure raised on solid flooring and set deep in the vegetation for privacy. Life gathers at the central dining and leisure tent, with a small spa, a boutique, and a pool held in the shade of the trees close at hand.
activities
Walking safaris and night drives run in the private Burunge concession with Maasai guides, with more flexibility than inside Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks. Day game drives reach both parks by private vehicle and guide. Bush breakfasts, sundowners on Lake Manyara, spa treatments, and pre-booked hot air balloon and helicopter flights over Tarangire round out the activities.
conservation
Forest Chem Chem is part of the Burunge Wildlife Management Area, a community-managed conservation area where concession fees support local revenue and conservation. Cultural visits to a Maasai village and school form part of the camp's community engagement, alongside optional "safari for a cause" experiences arranged on request.
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.
Fly Arusha to Lake Manyara airstrip on the scheduled service, about twenty-five minutes in the air, and the road transfer to camp takes roughly an hour and a half.
Arriving through Tarangire is the better story: a twenty-minute flight to Kuro airstrip inside the park, then a long game-drive transfer out through the baobab country, so the safari starts before you reach your tent. The concession also has its own airstrip, and we can arrange a private charter onto it, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12.
Driving from Arusha takes around two hours, and about three and a half from Kilimanjaro International. Pack soft bags of roughly fifteen kilograms each if you are flying; the light aircraft take no hard cases.
Yes, plan on them. The corridor between Tarangire and Lake Manyara lies far below the 1,800-metre altitude at which the CDC and the UK's official travel health advice both say Tanzanian malaria risk disappears, so tablets are usually recommended for a stay here.
We do not make medical recommendations. That is a conversation between you and your own doctor or a travel clinic, who know your history and can weigh it properly. We are travel planners, not medical professionals, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise.
The camp holds four tents in all: three doubles and a two-bedroom family suite whose rooms connect through a shared lounge, which is how it comes to sleep eight adults comfortably with children alongside. There is no mixing with other guests because there are no other guests; the camp is only ever sold as a whole, to one family or group at a time.
That makes it a natural fit for three generations travelling together, or two families sharing, with the staff, guide and vehicle all working for your party alone.
Yes. Because the camp is booked exclusively, no minimum age applies, and the days genuinely bend to the children rather than the other way around: mealtimes move, drives shorten, and afternoons can simply be the pool in the forest shade.
The camp is unfenced, with elephants among the regular visitors, so children stay under adult eyes at all times, and the wilder big-game walking is held back for the older ones. Tell us the ages when we plan and we will be straight about what fits now and what belongs to a return trip.
Three sits best. That gives a full day in Tarangire for the elephants, a day on the private concession for the walking and the night drive, and slack for a Lake Manyara outing or a lazy morning that answers to nobody's timetable. Two nights work if the itinerary is tight, but they spend most of their value on the two park days.
Longer family stays can fold in a balloon flight over Tarangire, arranged with notice, or a couple of nights at one of the concession's sister camps for a change of outlook.
Rift-floor warmth softened by the forest canopy. June to October is dry, dusty and prime for game, with cool early mornings on the drives; the short rains arrive around November and the long rains run from March to May, when much of the corridor goes quiet. The hottest afternoons come between October and February, which is when the shaded pool earns its place.
Pack neutral colours, a fleece for dawn starts, sun protection, and closed shoes for the walking. For children, bring what they ruin happily: this is a camp for dust and sticks, not for smart clothes.
rated five stars by our clients
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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.
