Fifteen tents are scattered among the kopjes of the Wogakuria area in the far north of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Each turns west, so the day ends on the deck as the sun drops over the plains. Between July and October the migration usually reaches the north, and the drives set out in open Land Cruisers, a ranger at the wheel and a Kuria spotter scanning the ridgelines.
A lion stretched on an outcrop can be watched as long as she stays.
Outside those months, elephants, buffalo, giraffe and eland stay among the rocky hills while the hippos keep to the river. The big cats use the kopjes as lookouts, and because every booking of two or more travels in its own vehicle, nobody needs to hurry. A lion stretched on an outcrop can be watched as long as she stays. The kopjes give her the view, the vehicle gives you the time.
Each tent is raised on a wooden deck and opens on two sides toward the plains, spaced along the hillside so that none is overlooked. The deck holds a sunken lounge and a dining table, with a hot tub and an outdoor shower beside them. A butler looks after each tent, sending canapés to the hot tub or laying dinner on the deck. Even a massage can be booked out there.
Sundowners are poured on Simba’s Rock, a lookout the lions share.
The open-sided restaurant faces west and keeps no set meal times, with a wine wall beside its central bar, but the evening can begin well beyond it. Sundowners are poured on Simba’s Rock, a lookout the lions share. Dinner can then move to the Klipspringer rock amphitheatre beside camp, served by firelight among boulders where the small rock-hopping antelope that gave it its name live.
About a third of the team at Serengeti Bushtops are Kuria, recruited from the communities just beyond the park’s northern boundary. Most ride as spotters on every game drive, watching the kopjes and ridgelines while the ranger drives and explains what has been found. Others keep security around camp by day and night. A regular wage from the camp gives these young men a living that does not depend on poaching. Three have since risen to become rangers, and now drive the vehicles they once spotted from.
Families take two full-size tents joined by a wooden bridge, each with its own deck and bathroom, so children have a room of their own one bridge away from their parents. The Bushcraft Challenge began with them in mind, as a children’s programme, and is now open to every age. Guests learn to make fire, then to read tracks and cast them in plaster. Later come identifying bones and archery, followed by beadwork and baking Swahili treats. A certificate waits at the end, for the grown-ups as much as the children.
A regular wage from the camp gives these young men a living that does not depend on poaching.
Full-day drives carry a picnic, so a vehicle can stay at the Mara River crossing points without a midday return to camp. The herds are usually at the river between July and October, though no two years keep quite the same timetable. Bush breakfasts can be set up on the way out, and balloon flights lift off at dawn with an outside operator, coming down to a champagne breakfast. Walking safaris along the Mara River go out with an armed park ranger, and The Beest, a six-wheeled safari vehicle, can be reserved.
Guests fly into Kogatende airstrip, about 17 km north of camp, and finish by road through the park, so the transfer doubles as the first drive. The tent waiting at the end of it is canvas over a timber platform, floored and finished in wood. Inside, a writing desk holds guidebooks. A safe and a large wooden wardrobe cover the rest, along with a hairdryer. Wi-Fi is included.
accommodation
Fifteen west-facing tents are raised on wooden decks along the hillside, each open on two sides. The deck holds a sunken lounge, a dining table, a private hot tub and an outdoor shower. Inside, double or twin beds lie under nets, with a ceramic basin and a separate flush toilet. Family suites join two tents by a wooden bridge.
activities
Morning, afternoon and full-day game drives run in open Land Cruisers with a ranger and a Kuria spotter, in a private vehicle for parties of two or more. Walking safaris along the Mara River go out with an armed park ranger. Balloon flights, bush breakfasts, The Beest, the Bushcraft Challenge and sundowners at Simba's Rock fill out the days.
conservation
Kuria from nearby villages make up about a third of the team, most of them spotters, and three have become rangers, earning wages in place of poaching. The camp helps Bisarara School outside the park with classrooms, piped water and lights, and guests can visit and bring supplies through Pack for a Purpose. Solar panels supply most of the power.
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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By light aircraft to Kogatende airstrip in the far north of the Serengeti, then by road to the camp, which lies about seventeen kilometres to the south, with the transfer run as a game drive. Coastal Aviation and Auric Air fly to Kogatende every day from Arusha and Kilimanjaro, and there are daily links from Nairobi, Zanzibar, Seronera and Ndutu as well.
We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, straight into Kogatende at an hour that suits you. Scheduled flights allow fifteen kilograms a person in soft bags, hand luggage included. To pair the camp with its sister camp in Kenya's Masai Mara, a short flight to Tarime and a road transfer through the Isebania border reach Migori airstrip on the Kenyan side.
Short guided walks leave from camp, about two hours on foot looking at tracks, birds and plants, and they are booked as an extra. You never walk alone: a guide leads every walk, and they stay near camp, because longer walking safaris and night drives are not permitted in the national park.
The evenings bring the rest. A private sundowner at Simba's Rock, a lookout the lions favour, and a candlelit dinner by a bonfire in the Klipspringer rock amphitheatre beside camp can both be arranged. A dawn balloon flight with a champagne breakfast, a massage on the tent's own deck, and a visit to the primary school at Bisarara village, about forty-five minutes away outside the park, are all extras.
Yes, from the age of seven. Each tent sleeps two and takes an extra bed for a third person, and for larger families two tents are joined by a short bridge into a private family suite for up to six. We would book a private vehicle for a family, so the drives run at the children's pace and come back to camp when they have had enough.
One age rule is worth knowing: the private sundowner at Simba's Rock is not open to children under fourteen. Tell us the children's ages at enquiry and we will match the tents and the days to them.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates every part of Tanzania below 1,800 metres as high risk for malaria, and the CDC sets its line at the same height. Serengeti Bushtops stands at about 1,700 metres, just under that line, so both services include antimalarial tablets among their recommendations for the northern Serengeti, alongside avoiding bites.
We are travel planners, not medical professionals, so we do not make recommendations about tablets: that choice belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic. Every tent has mosquito nets, and long sleeves and repellent from late afternoon help in any month.
The camp is open from June to early April and closes for the long rains in April and May. July to October is the strongest stretch: the dry season, short grass, game drawn to water, and usually the migration herds in the north, though no month can promise a river crossing on a given day.
June, November and December, and January to March are quieter and greener, with fewer vehicles at each sighting, soft light for photographs, and the resident elephant, buffalo, giraffe and big cats of the kopjes still around. Showers come between November and January, rarely long enough to stop a drive, and the days run between about twenty and thirty degrees, with cool early mornings.
At Serengeti Bushtops the rate covers full board with drinks: all meals, soft drinks, beers, house wines and selected spirits, served at no set times in the restaurant, by the pool or in your tent. Two game drives a day, or a full day out with a picnic, run in open Land Cruisers with a ranger guide and a Kuria spotter, and the airstrip transfers and wifi are included too.
Charged on top are the national park and concession fees, which run per person per night, along with the walks, the balloon flight, massages, and the private sundowner and dinner. We include medical evacuation cover as standard. The camp asks for a minimum stay of two nights.
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