Kusini Serengeti

Fly to the Southern Serengeti airstrip, also called Kusini, and the camp is fifteen minutes' drive from it. Coastal Aviation's timetable, valid to the end of May 2027, serves it three times a day from Arusha with a stop at Lake Manyara: leaving at a quarter to eight and landing at ten to nine, at a quarter to eleven landing at a quarter to twelve, and at three landing at a quarter to six. The same network connects from Dar es Salaam via Zanzibar in the morning, and from Kogatende in the north at twenty-five past nine for a landing before eleven, so the camp joins a river-crossing stay without a return to Arusha.

We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, from Arusha or Kilimanjaro direct to the strip, which suits anyone arriving off an overnight flight who wants to be on the plains for lunch. The road is the alternative for the adventurous, three to four hours or more from the crater rim through Endulen and Ndutu on the camp's own figures, and it is a game drive rather than a transfer. Soft bags on the light aircraft, fifteen kilograms a person including hand luggage.

Yes, on both official readings. 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 none above, and the CDC draws its line at the same 1,800 metres, or 5,900 feet. The southern plains around Kusini and Ndutu sit at roughly 1,600 to 1,700 metres, under the line, so both sources treat the camp as a risk area and both list antimalarial tablets alongside bite avoidance among their recommendations for it; the camp's own fact sheet says malaria protection is advised.

We do not give medical advice. We are travel planners rather than doctors, so the choice of tablets, and whether they suit everyone in the party, belongs in a conversation between you and your own doctor or a travel clinic. What we can be useful on is the non-medical part: cover up once the light goes, and carry repellent.

From eight, which is the camp's own minimum, with guided walks from twelve. There is no family tent; instead an extra bed turns a tent into a triple, and the camp can run a couple of triples at a time, so a family of five fits in two tents and a family of six needs three. The camp is unfenced and askaris walk everyone to and from the tents after dark.

What the place offers suits children who like animals: the calving season from December to March puts newborn wildebeest and the predators that follow them within a short drive, the kopjes are climbable with a guide, and the day has a long siesta built into it. Tell us the ages and we will set the tents and the drives to them.

Warm days and cool nights the year round, with the character set by the rains. The camp's own figures run 16 to 28 degrees from January to March, when short showers green the plains for the calving; a wetter April and May with the coldest nights of the year, down to 8; 15 to 28 from June to September, the dry months with clear skies and firm tracks; and 20 to 32 from October to December as the short rains return and the herds with them. Rain on the southern plains comes mostly as afternoon storms rather than washed-out days.

Pack layers: a fleece and a windproof for dawn drives and the rock-top bar after dark, light neutral clothing and a brimmed hat for the middle of the day, strong sun cream, closed shoes with grip for the rock scrambles and walks, a light waterproof between November and May, a torch for the path to the tent, and binoculars. Laundry is included, so a soft bag of fifteen kilograms goes further than it sounds.

The rates are fully inclusive of meals and drinks, with laundry, morning and afternoon game drives with the camp's guides, guided walks with an armed scout and an armed ranger for guests of twelve and over, bush breakfasts, sundowners and stargazing from the rock. We include medical evacuation cover as standard. Drives run in open-sided vehicles with up to six guests and charging sockets on board; if a vehicle to yourselves matters, tell us at enquiry and we will confirm it with the camp.

Serengeti National Park charges its entry fee per person for every day you are inside, and a drive across to the Ndutu side adds the Ngorongoro Conservation Area's own fee, because Ndutu lies on that side of the boundary; we build both into your quote from the start, along with the flights, so nothing arrives as a surprise.

Open all year, which is the point of a permanent camp on a migration route. December to March is the headline, when the herds calve on the short grass between Ndutu, Kusini and Gol, peaking in February, and the predators work them; the camp's own phrase is front-row. April and May are the long rains and the quietest weeks, with resident game and the best birding; June to October is dry, clear and short of crowds, with the leopards on the kopjes and the resident lions the reason to come; and from November the short rains bring the herds back south.

If the calving is the aim, hold February and land at the southern strip rather than Seronera, because the camp is west of the plains and a Seronera arrival adds hours on the road. If you want the Serengeti without the traffic, the dry months here are as quiet as the park gets, and there is a mobile camp in the north for the river crossings then, so the two combine into one trip on one connecting flight.