For more than twenty years the eastern Serengeti’s open, short-grass country was closed to tourism entirely, set aside for cheetah research and left largely undisturbed. This is Soit Le Motonyi, roughly two hours by road or game drive from Seronera airstrip, the nearest way in. Namiri Plains opened here in 2014, and takes its name from the Swahili for big cat.
set aside for cheetah research and left largely undisturbed
The density of predators that built up during those closed decades is still the reason people come. A hard layer of calcrete beneath the topsoil stops larger trees taking hold, which is why the plains stay open, broken only by acacia and the occasional rocky kopje. Lion prides hold territory here, and leopards move along the seasonal Ngare Nanyuki River. Cheetahs hunt across sightlines that run for kilometres with almost nothing to interrupt them, and serval and caracal turn up for guests who know where to look.
Few camps operate in this part of the Serengeti, and the nearest neighbour is over an hour’s drive away. Game drives here often pass without another vehicle in sight, and that changes the pace of a sighting. There is time to wait, to watch a hunt develop rather than catch its end, to let the light shift. The open ground favours photographers too, with clean backgrounds and long, uninterrupted views in most directions.
Game drives here often pass without another vehicle in sight.
The Ngare Nanyuki keeps plains game, and the predators that follow them, in the area year-round. Between roughly November and May the migration herds move across these plains, and wildebeest and zebra can cover the grass in vast numbers on a longer game drive. Elephants and giraffes come to the waterhole in front of camp, often the first animals arriving guests notice.
Days are built around morning and afternoon game drives, with full-day options and packed meals for anyone who wants to stay out from first light. Breakfast is set up on Soit Le Motonyi Rock, the plains opening out below, and sundowners are taken on a kopje as the light drops. Walking safaris run from June to mid-February and must be booked ahead. They offer a slower reading of the grassland, its tracks and its smaller residents that a vehicle usually passes by.
The camp keeps close links to the Serengeti Cheetah Project, and guests can meet a resident researcher to learn how the local cheetah population is studied and tracked. For those who want to see the country whole, a hot-air balloon lifts over the plains for an aerial view of the herds before landing to a champagne breakfast. The guides are used to working with photographers, positioning the vehicle for light and angle rather than simply for the sighting itself.
At night the lion roars carry across the plains, close enough to place
The design draws on the geology beneath it. Walls are built from calcrete, the same ash-formed rock that keeps the plains open, chosen for its insulating properties as much as its texture, with canvas, natural wood and stone carrying the rest of the camp. Sliding glass doors run the length of each suite, opening onto a private deck with a standalone resin bathtub facing the grassland. Indoors, the main areas hold a library, a bar and a pool deck, and meals move between the dining tent, the open air and a guest’s own veranda depending on the evening.
At night the lion roars carry across the plains, close enough to place. The atmosphere is unhurried, and the welcome is warm without formality. The camp runs on solar power, with a generator held in reserve, and recycles rainwater and waste as part of a broader effort toward carbon neutrality. For families or small groups, two private-use Retreats come with their own chef, host, guide and vehicle, and share a pool set apart from the main camp.
accommodation
Namiri Plains has 11 tented suites, including a dedicated family suite. Each has calcrete walls, canvas and natural wood, room-length sliding doors onto a private viewing deck, an en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers, and a standalone resin bathtub facing the plains. Two private-use Retreats sit apart from the main camp, sharing their own pool.
activities
Morning, afternoon and full-day game drives with packed meals, led by guides focused on predator behaviour across the open plains. Seasonal walking safaris (pre-booked, June to mid-February), talks with a resident cheetah researcher, bush breakfasts and sundowners on the kopjes, and optional hot-air ballooning. Vehicles are set up for photographic work. All activities are conducted within Serengeti National Park.
conservation
Namiri Plains sits on ground closed to tourism for over twenty years to protect the Serengeti's cheetahs, and the camp maintains ties to the Serengeti Cheetah Project, with guests able to meet its researchers. The camp runs on solar power with a backup generator and recycles rainwater and waste as part of its approach to carbon neutrality.
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.
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Fly from Arusha to Seronera, a flight of about an hour and a quarter on the scheduled light aircraft, and then let the included transfer do something unusual: the two-hour drive east runs through country that empties of vehicles within minutes, and it is guided as a game drive, so cheetah before check-in is a genuine possibility.
If you would rather compress the day, we can charter privately into Seronera, usually a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12. Luggage on the scheduled services is soft bags, fifteen kilograms per person including hand baggage, and the camp's laundry makes that easy to live with.
Yes, plan for it. Although the dry air and cold nights out east keep mosquito numbers noticeably down, the plains stand under 1,800 metres, and both the UK's official travel health service and the CDC set mainland Tanzania's malaria line at that altitude and rate everywhere below it high risk, so antimalarials remain the standard advice.
Check the current position with a travel clinic or your doctor before you travel. In camp, the nets and an evening layer of repellent complete the job.
Yes, from age five, and the dedicated family suite keeps everyone within one set of canvas walls. Walking safaris are for twelve and over, so a family with younger children builds its days around the drives, the waterhole in front of camp, and breakfasts out on the rock.
The open horizons here do something useful for children: the animals are visible a long way out, so the anticipation is half the game. Give us the ages when we plan and we will set drive lengths to match.
Yes, the camp runs wifi, and it copes with the realistic list: messages, email, backing up photographs. It is satellite internet on one of the emptiest plains in the Serengeti, so coverage is strongest around the main areas, heavier use depends on the day, and mobile signal is not something to count on out here.
If reliable connectivity is a working requirement rather than a comfort, say so and we will verify the current bandwidth with the camp before you commit.
Full board, house drinks with premium wines and champagne the exceptions, a laundry service, the daily game drives, and the transfers to and from the Seronera airstrip, which arrive as game drives in their own right. In its walking season the guided walks are included too, booked ahead through us.
Balloon flights and the photographic vehicle are priced separately, and Serengeti park fees, currently a little over 80 US dollars per adult per 24 hours in the main season, sit alongside the rate. All of it goes into one complete quote before you decide.
Pack for big temperature swings. Dawn on these open plains is properly cold, especially June to August when single digits are common before the sun climbs, and by late morning it is shirtsleeve weather, so layers beat any single warm coat. Add a dust-proof bag or wrap for cameras, because the east is dry and the light is the reason photographers come.
Neutral colours, a wide-brimmed hat, high-factor sunscreen and your own binoculars finish the list, all inside a soft duffel for the flight.
rated five stars by our clients
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.
