Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge

Fly to Grumeti airstrip on one of the scheduled light aircraft, then it is about ten minutes by road to the lodge, and that transfer is included in the rate. Coastal Aviation flies from Arusha three times a day via Lake Manyara, with the early departure landing in about an hour and a half and the later ones taking two to three hours because they call at other strips on the way; from Kilimanjaro there are two flights a day of around two hours, and from Zanzibar a single morning departure that routes through Arusha and Manyara and lands early in the afternoon. Air Excel and Regional Air run scheduled services into Grumeti as well. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, direct from Arusha or Kilimanjaro, which takes the stops out of the journey and lets you leave at a time of your choosing.

The scheduled aircraft allow fifteen kilograms a person including hand luggage, and soft bags are strongly recommended because the holds are small; Coastal sells a larger seat class with a thirty kilogram allowance, and we book that in advance rather than hope for space on the day. One thing we check on every ticket: Grumeti is a different strip from Sasakwa, which serves the private reserve to the north that shares the Grumeti name, and a flight booked to the wrong one lands you on the wrong side of the park boundary.

Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, says there is a high risk of malaria in all areas of Tanzania below 1,800 metres, and the CDC draws its line at the same height; the Western Corridor lies well below it, sloping down towards Lake Victoria, so both class the lodge as a risk area and both list antimalarial tablets among their recommendations alongside bite avoidance. The river below the decks is exactly where mosquitoes gather once the sun goes, so long sleeves at the boma and repellent on any skin left showing matter whatever else you decide.

We are travel planners rather than medical people, so the decision about tablets belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, ideally four to six weeks before you fly, because the advice changes and the right choice depends on the person taking it.

Yes, and andBeyond's own age bands are worth knowing before you pick the dates. Under-sixes go out either on a private vehicle or on a children's drive run outside the standard drive times, which steers clear of lion, leopard and elephant sightings; six to eleven year olds join the ordinary drives at the discretion of the manager and guides; twelve to fifteen year olds drive with the guides as a matter of course; and walks beyond the lodge grounds start at sixteen. The family suite is two interleading suites for two adults and two children, with a third child on request, and one of the standard suites can take a third bed for a child of sixteen or under.

The lodge is not fenced, so children need an adult with them at all times, and there are no trained child minders, though certain staff can look after children for an extra charge if parents want an evening to themselves. Between drives the children's programme runs footprint tracking with a guide around the lodge, volleyball with the staff and a competition to spot the karamoja apalis, a scarce local bird. Tell us the ages when you enquire and we will book the private vehicle where it is needed and be straight about which activities each child can join.

Yes to wifi, which andBeyond lists in the suites as well as the main guest area, so you can send photographs from the deck rather than walking to the lounge. Mobile reception is another matter: the lodge describes it as intermittent, so do not count on a phone call from the suite, and calls made through the lodge are charged separately from the rate.

Lights and fans run through the night on an inverter, and each suite has sockets at 220 volts that take round-pin plugs of the European and South African kinds rather than the British square-pin, with adapters kept at the lodge if you forget one. Anyone with medical equipment that needs power around the clock should tell us, because the lodge can provide that with notice. If you need to be reachable at a fixed time, tell us before you travel and we will check the current setup with the lodge rather than rely on a brochure.

Warm days and cool starts, with the rain the thing to plan around. The long rains run from March to May and are the wettest months, raining most days though rarely all day; the short rains fall in November and December and are less predictable; and June to October is the dry season, when afternoons sit in the mid twenties and nights drop to around fourteen degrees, with a cold front now and then between June and September that makes the first hour of a game drive genuinely chilly. The Western Corridor lies lower than the central Serengeti, towards Lake Victoria, so the afternoons run warmer than on the high plains, and the crossing season in the Western Corridor falls as the long rains end, so a crossing morning can start damp and cold and finish hot.

Pack in layers: a fleece and a windproof jacket for dawn, light neutral clothing and a wide-brimmed hat for the middle of the day, high-factor sun cream, closed shoes with grip for the walks, swimwear, and a light waterproof in the rainy months. A pair of binoculars waits in every suite, so leave your own at home unless you are particular about them. Keep it all in soft bags at fifteen kilograms a person for the light aircraft, hand luggage included.

We would plan three nights as the minimum and four if you are coming for the river crossings, because a crossing cannot be booked for a particular morning and the herds can sit on the bank for days before they go. Evenings are the boma, the campfire and the stars rather than a night drive: the lodge is inside the national park, where the park authority does not allow driving between seven in the evening and six in the morning, unlike the private reserves beyond the park boundary. The lodge's own rate covers accommodation, three meals a day, soft drinks, house wines and local beers and spirits, laundry, the game drives, the guided walks, the community visit, a back-of-house tour of the solar and water plants, the children's programme, the binoculars in the suite and the transfers to and from the airstrip. We include medical evacuation cover as standard.

Charged on top are the national park fees and government charges, the balloon flight, in-suite treatments and private yoga, a private vehicle, champagne and the premium spirits, telephone calls, tips and anything from the safari shop. We build the park fees and the flights into the quote from the start, so there is no separate bill for them at the end, and we tell you which of the extras are worth booking before you go.