Family adventure to Tanzania

Overview

Each of the six garden cottages has their own private veranda and is beautifully decorated with a nod to a bygone era with the choice of antique furniture. They have large and extremely comfortable beds and a lounge area with a fireplace to take the chill off the cooler African nights.

The family cottage has two bedrooms and a private garden which is a superb way to spend some time relaxing in absolute luxury during your stopover before or after your safari. Two cosy en-suite rooms in the Old Farmhouse provide a comfortable retreat from which you can explore the grounds of this genuine coffee farm.

After roughly an hour’s drive through Arusha, you will arrive at the farm and have the chance to either relax and spend time in the well kept grounds, or venture into the city to see some of the museums and markets on offer. The service at Legendary Lodge is excellent, without doubt one of the premier hotels in the area.

Overview

Ideally situated on the outskirts of Arusha, this lodge is a brilliant spot to stay either before, or after your safari in Tanzania. Hidden on the grounds of one of Tanzania’s largest coffee farms, with wonderful views of the Tanzanian countryside and away from the hustle and bustle of the city of Arusha. The cottages offer you a homely space to either relax after a long international flight, or to flick through your photos before you head home again. In the main lodge you can enjoy the warmth of open log fires while sipping a well-earned gin and tonic or spend time in the gardens breathing in the smells of the coffee bushes around you.

The farm itself can be explored on a two hour guided walk which gives a superb insight into the methods of coffee farming and ends with an excellent brew of the local beans. You have the chance to venture into Arusha if the need takes you, but otherwise you can just make the most of the large grounds. If the midday heat gets a bit much, they also have a refreshing outdoor pool with shaded sun loungers among the manicured gardens and patios.

Overview

Chem Chem Lodge is located in its own 4,000-acre conservation-focused concession between Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks.

Eight luxury tented suites are widely spaced to ensure absolute privacy, sat on the edge of a palm island overlooking Lake Manyara waters. One is a family suite with two bedrooms.

In centre is the main lodge, shaped to reflects the form of a flamingo with its wings spread, which includes a dining room, lounge, library, viewing tower, swimming pool, spa, sundeck and its own spectacular view over Lake Manyara.

Expect a very personalised service, and a focus on ‘slow safari’ where you enjoy the wildlife, culture, landscapes of the reserve and national parks at a relaxed and unhurried pace, to really savour and make the most of it.

Overview

An off-shoot of Chem Chem Lodge, Little Chem Chem is an intimate camp on the eastern side of the private reserve that embraces the elegance and simplicity of a more traditional safari.

Six tents are far from basic, with en-suite shower rooms housing hot-water bucket showers and flushing toilets, a study desk, rocking chair and a dressing room. Outside, find a private fire pit whose crackles twinned with the sound of the African wilderness at night evoke a prehistoric notion of place.

Meals are served in the mess tent, although private dining is available too, where guests can dine by their campfire. For lunch, you can disappear for a private picnic lunch in the African bush.

Of course, game drives and walking safaris are the order of the day here at Little Chem Chem, and there’s also the option to embark on a sunrise drive or night safari – a perk of staying on a private reserve. Around the camp, you’ll find elephants, lions and cheetahs, with wildebeest and zebra calving during the wet season (December to March). For adventurous guests, there are hot air balloon rides available, too.

Overview

Entamanu invites you to experience the wonder and magnitude of the Ngorongoro Crater in comfort and surrounded by Tanzanian style and hospitality. You set the pace during your stay here. The central loungere is a cosy refuge where you can while away the hours sharing stories with your fellow adventurers, beside the crackling fire. The decor, furniture and artworks in the rooms and public areas are all locally-sourced and have been inspired by Tanzanian artists and artisans.

The sustainably-built camp boasts private verandas with astounding crater views, as well as two-bedroom cottages that are the perfect escape for families and small groups of friends.

There are plenty of opportunities to head out and explore the crater and surrounds. Walk from camp to the crater, spend time with the Maasai who live nearby learning about their culture or go for nature walks with them, and take game drives in the crater itself.

Overview

Echoing the style of an elegant farm home, The Manor is Ngorongoro Crater’s answer to luxury country living. Designed with Cape Dutch architecture, this is a sumptuous and indeed homely property found in a 1500-acre Arabica coffee estate, right next to the renowned Ngorongoro conservation area.

Accommodation comes in the form of charming, private manor cottages and one larger stable cottage. All enjoy bundles of comfort, lavish amenities and lush hill views, though the two-storey stable cottage features an impressive three bedrooms, dining and lounging areas and an upstairs playroom for little ones.

Besides witnessing the awesome game of the crater, your time here can be spent feasting on delicious cuisine, relaxing with a massage or dip in the pool and horse riding and cycling around the surrounding area.

Overview

This is a wonderfully comfortable and charming lodge, set in a working farm within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. A short drive from the famous Ngorongoro Crater surrounded by forest and gardens Gibb’s Farm gives you some peace and quiet away from the bustling traffic that congregates around the busy crater rim. This interesting working farm is a great place to get out of the safari vehicle and walk the 95 acres of farm and forest that make up Gibb’s. The farmhouse itself is surrounding by rather charming English gardens and where you can simply relax and enjoy the organic coffee that is processed and roasted just outside the door of the lodge.

Each of the 18 cottages is very interestingly decorated with names and themes relating to different aspects of the farm and surrounding communities. Each cottage has its own unique story which certainly adds a certain charm to the place. The warm main dining area is perfect to relax with a good book, or you could simply enjoy a turn about the gardens. Activities around here are plentiful and either take in the surrounding farm and village or you could go further afield and explore the Conservation Area that the lodge sits adjacent to. Either way, Gibb’s Farm offers you the chance to relax within a beautiful area before you explore the Crater itself.

Overview

Located next to the quiet Lemala access route on the rim of the beautifully impressive Ngorongoro Crater rim, this camp is an intimate, seasonal property set in a delightful, ancient acacia forest.

With just eight luxury tents and one family tent, you are guaranteed a relatively private experience in a pristine forest environment. Each spacious tent is fitted with a gas heater, large single or king-size beds with warm duvets, wooden flooring with rugs, 24-hour solar lighting, en-suite bathrooms with a dressing area, flush toilet and a large safari shower.

The mess tent is beautifully furnished with grand sofas, lamps, book shelves and corner cabinets in old wood, chests and rugs. In the evening, you all gather around the campfire for sundowners before dining under chandeliers,

Walks from the camp into the forest and along the crater rim together with an armed ranger and the Masai gives you spectacular panoramas of the crater and an insight into the forest dwelling animals.

Overview

Deep in the Serengeti National Park is where you’ll find Wilderness Usawa Camp, a mobile camp that follows the wildebeest migration. The location of the camp shifts as the migration progresses, with a preference for sites that offer easy access to key highlights, like river crossings, but that are also set apart from the more crowded spaces offering you a sense of privacy. Attention is also paid to the game-viewing experience in general when selecting camp locations from month to month.

Wilderness Usawa Camp accommodates 12 guests in six spacious en-suite tents. These are solar-powered and completely mobile so no fixtures are left behind, meaning only a light footprint is left on the Earth. During your stay you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a locally sourced and grown gourmet menu, which supports the surrounding communities, small businesses, farms and suppliers in Tanzania due to how the camp reduces food waste through its creative preparation methods.

As the seasonal migration moves throughout the year across the expanse of the park, the camps will be in rotation around the key locations closest to the herds. Though reasonably predictable, herd movements are dictated by rain and tend to migrate from the south in a north-westerly direction before making their way up north around September. From there, the journey begins back to the south. Locations include Kusini, Moru West Area, Ngarenanyuki/Gol Kopje area, Kilimafetha area, Grumeti, Bologonja and Lamai. The wildlife you’ll be able to spot include Thomson’s gazeles, Wildebeests and lions.

Activities to take part in during your adventure with Wilderness Usawa Camp consist of early morning game drives, during which you can watch as the sun’s rays seep across the Serengeti’s savannah,  along with guided walks across the plains. You can also settle back against a blanket under the night sky and watch as the stars shimmer above this African haven.

Overview

Lamai Serengeti Lodge has a pride of place up on a kopje overlooking the vast open Serengeti plains towards the Maasai Mara in Kenya. With just 12 delightfully stylish rooms all perched in, around and on top of the rock, you will be extremely well catered for and feel heartened by this little bit of paradise.

Ideally placed to catch sightings of the migration as it attempts to cross the Mara River (July to October), this lodge offers you an experience that is highly sought after in relation to the epic journey of these fantastic beasts. The northern Serengeti, which is where Lamai is perfectly located, is a rather different world to the southern part of the park.

With a continuous supply of lush foliage to munch on, the plains game in this area rarely needs to move on in search for greener pastures. This in turn means that the predators don’t have to leave the sanctuary of their territories to hunt and they remain rather smug in the areas around the lodge.

Although leopards have a larger territorial space to traverse, they don’t need to exhaust themselves and can sometimes be seen elusively stalking among the kopjes that are so typical of this part of the Serengeti.

Not far from the main lodge is a smaller, more private and exclusive lodge which has four rooms and neither lodge has any idea they exist. Each camp has its own pool, dining and lounge areas. Both are classically designed and made to completely fit in with their surroundings. Making use of the rocks they are built on, the rooms are a mix of canvas and more sturdy materials and have spectacular views from on high. Each has its own private viewing deck and veranda for those spectacular sundowners.

Overview

Built around the rocks of the Kogakuria Kopje, the private Mkombe’s House is the perfect safari retreat for families, especially those with young children.

With two airy open front rooms for adults and two secure children’s bedrooms, the house can sleep up four adults and six children. All the rooms have en suite bathrooms.

The contemporary House is entirely self-contained and has its own dining room and lounge, plunge pool and larger swimming pool and outside chill-out areas with fabulous views across the plains of the Serengeti. Looked after by dedicated waiting and house-keeping staff, guests can plan a varied daily menu with the in-house chef.

Days are completely flexible with no schedules or other guests to worry about. Head out on privately guided game drives, guided walks (for over those over 12), bush picnics and sun downers. Youngsters can also explore the kopje in search of lizards, hyrax and other harmless creatures.