Ten canvas tents stand in the Kogatende country of the far northern Serengeti, in Tanzania, a short drive from the Mara River and the banks where the herds come down to cross. The camp opens for the dry months, when the migration is pushing north, and comes down again with the rains. The crossings tend to peak around August and September, though the timing shifts from year to year.
Granite kopjes break the skyline above the winding streams.
Away from the crossing points, the northern plains hold their own. Lion, leopard and cheetah work the rolling grassland, elephant and buffalo the mixed woodland, and hippo and crocodile the river itself, its banks thick with riverine forest. Granite kopjes break the skyline above the winding streams. Vehicle numbers are lower here than in the central Serengeti, and sightings are rarely crowded.
Guests fly in to Kogatende and finish the journey by vehicle, 25 to 30 minutes of grassland in which the game viewing has already begun. The camp waits along a tree line, its tents spaced far enough apart that each keeps its own stretch of plain in view. The site was chosen for quiet rather than convenience, and it shows in the hours after the vehicles come in.
After dark the sound of lions carries in from the plains.
Meals come out of the kitchen tent to be eaten in the mess or, weather allowing, outside under the stars, and the bread is baked fresh each morning. Lunch is a slow affair in the shade while the day heats up and the plains empty out. Evenings settle around the fire. After dark the sound of lions carries in from the plains. Coffee arrives at the tent veranda before the light does, and the routine begins again.
When the southern plains dry out, the herds push north into country that holds feed later into the year, and the Mara River lies across their route through the top of Serengeti National Park. Crossings are not scheduled. Animals gather on a bank, hesitate, sometimes for hours, and then one commits and the rest follow into water that holds crocodiles. A morning can pass with nothing at all, and the afternoon deliver everything. The camp sits close enough to the crossing points to reach them without losing half the day to the drive.
Not every day is spent at the river. The northern grassland holds resident herds through the dry season, giraffe browsing the acacia lines and topi and eland out on the open ground, while the kopjes give the predators somewhere to sit above it all. Along the riverine forest the birding is dense enough to fill the slow middle of the day, and migrant species arrive as the season goes on. Drives go out morning and late afternoon, and stay out long when something is building at the water.
A morning can pass with nothing at all, and the afternoon deliver everything
Nothing on the site is built to stay. The camp goes up for the season and comes down at the end of it, canvas tents along the tree line with a mess and a lounge under cover. Inside, the tents are floored and furnished with proper beds and writing desks rather than camp furniture, and the canvas walls roll up to open the sleeping space onto the grassland. The lounge keeps a small reference library, useful in the middle of the day when the heat closes in, the plains go quiet and there is little to do but read and wait for the light to soften.
One of the ten tents sleeps four, which makes the camp workable for families travelling together rather than split across separate rooms. The camp operates through the dry months and closes when the rains return, and the exact dates move from year to year, so plans are best built around flexibility rather than a fixed week. Three or four nights gives the river time to do something. The guides here work the same stretch of ground through the season, which counts for more than any map when the herds are moving.
accommodation
Ten en-suite canvas tents stand along the tree line, spaced for privacy, one of them a four-bed family tent. Each has a dressing area, a hot bush shower, a flushing toilet and solar-powered lighting, and a private veranda that looks out over the northern Serengeti grassland. Doubles, twins and triples are available.
activities
Game drives run morning and afternoon in open 4x4s, working the plains and the river crossing points as sightings develop. Because the camp sits inside Serengeti National Park, drives stay on daylight hours and designated routes, with no night drives or off-road driving. Guides track the herds' movement daily through the season, adjusting routes as crossings build.
conservation
A portion of every night at Serengeti North Wilderness Camp funds the Serengeti De-snaring Programme, which removes wire snares from the surrounding park before they can kill or maim wildlife. The camp also supports the Misigiyo School and the Give a Net programme, which distributes malaria-preventative mosquito nets to mothers and young children in nearby communities.
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 the Kogatende airstrip, about two and a half hours with stops on the scheduled services, and the camp is then a 25 to 30 minute game drive, which in this part of the Serengeti tends to deliver sightings before you have unpacked. A private charter on a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12 can fly direct and cut the journey considerably, which we often build in for this camp. Driving up from Arusha is a very long day and we rarely recommend it. Soft bags of 15kg per person for the flights.
The camp operates only for the dry season months, roughly July to October, when the migration is in the far north. The famous Mara River crossings peak around August and September, and staying this close to the river is the whole point: your guide can read the herds in the morning and be at a likely crossing point before the crowds arrive from further afield. No crossing is ever guaranteed, and we say so plainly, but this is as good a base as the Serengeti offers for the attempt.
Yes is what the official sources say, though the decision is not ours to make. Both TravelHealthPro and the CDC class the Serengeti as a malaria risk area and recommend antimalarial tablets alongside bite avoidance. We are travel planners, not medical professionals, so take it to a travel clinic or your doctor four to six weeks before you fly and decide with them. In camp, cover up at dusk and use repellent.
One of the ten tents is a four-bed family tent, and the lounge keeps games and maps that tend to absorb children between drives. The honest caveat is the journey: the flight north is longer than to the central Serengeti, and crossing days involve patience. For families with younger children we often suggest the central camp instead, so tell us the ages and we will give you a straight recommendation.
Dry season in the far north means warm days around the mid twenties and genuinely cold starts, so a fleece, a windproof jacket, a beanie for the first hour of the morning drive and sun protection for the rest of it. Dust builds as the season runs on, so bring a proper bag for cameras and a buff for the open vehicle. Soft bags only, 15kg per person, for the flight in.
More than the location suggests, without pretending to be a lodge. Tents are en suite with flushing toilets and hot bush showers, the water heated and hoisted on request, and solar power runs lighting and USB charging with a recharging station for camera batteries in the lounge tent. There is wifi in camp, though signal on drives is patchy. What you give up in plumbed fittings you get back in position: the camp stands where the migration is, not an hour from it.
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our approach
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