Laba Migration Camp

It depends on the season, because the camp stands in three different places across the year. From mid December to the end of March you fly from Arusha to the Ndutu airstrip in the far south. From the middle of May to the end of June the camp works the western side of the park, reached through the Kirawira or Grumeti strips. And from mid July to late November it is Kogatende in the far north for the river crossings, the longest flight at up to two hours. We match the flight to wherever the camp is pitched, with a game drive from the strip to finish.

A private charter is easily built in, typically a Cessna Caravan or the faster Pilatus PC-12, and worth considering for the northern site especially. Scheduled flights take fifteen kilograms per person in soft bags, hand luggage included.

Yes, in every one of the camp's seasonal positions. All three sit well below 1,800 metres, the altitude beneath which the UK's official travel health advice and the CDC in the United States treat the whole of mainland Tanzania as high risk, so tablets are normally recommended whichever months you choose.

The camp's tents are properly netted, but prevention rests on the tablets and on covering up in the evenings. Check the current guidance with a travel clinic or your doctor shortly before travelling.

Decide what you want to see. The southern months of January to March are the calving, thousands of wildebeest born onto the short grass with the predators working around them, and from the Ndutu site you can also reach Olduvai Gorge for a day. The western window in May and June catches the herds funnelling toward the Grumeti with far fewer visitors around, and July to October in the north is the Mara River, the crossings, and the biggest crowds of the year at the famous bends.

Between those windows the camp is being driven across the park and rebuilt, so there are short gaps, early December, April into mid May and early July, when it takes no guests at all. We will be straight about which weeks genuinely fit your dates.

Children aged five and up are welcome, and the camp is better set up for them than most mobile camps, with two family tents whose bedrooms connect under one enclosed roofline so nobody crosses open ground at night.

Tell us the ages when we plan. The long light-aircraft legs and full days in the vehicle suit school-age children well; for younger ones we will say honestly whether the season you want is the right one.

Yes, and unusually for a camp that gets dismantled three times a year, it reaches the tents as well as the mess. It is satellite-fed bush internet, fine for messages, email and photographs, less so for video calls, and it can dip with weather.

For most guests that balance is right: connected enough to reassure home, not enough to bring the office along.

Nearly everything that makes up the day: all meals, drinks from the open bar with champagne the main exception, two guided outings a day, laundry, and the road transfers between camp and the seasonal airstrip. Balloon flights over the herds are the one big optional extra, booked ahead and priced separately.

Park fees sit on top and shift with the calendar, because the southern site falls inside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which charges its own daily fee, while the western and northern sites are inside Serengeti National Park, where adults currently pay a little over 80 US dollars for each 24 hours in the main season. We fold the right fees into your quote so nothing appears later.