Lodges & camps in Serengeti National Park

Ndutu Safari Lodge

Mid-range · Outside the gate · Owner-run

Ndutu Safari Lodge is a family-run lodge of 34 stone cottages on Lake Ndutu, "located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area on the edge of the Southern Serengeti plains". It is outside Serengeti National Park, so you pay NCAA fees here, not TANAPA's, though the calving herds from December to March ignore the boundary. It has been a photographers' base for decades, and it hires vehicles with driver-guides, which makes it one of the few places here that works for travellers without an operator. Its child rates are published. Its newest rate sheet ran to December 2025, so confirm 2026 prices. Choose it for the calving season at mid-range cost; skip it if you need to be inside the national park.

Lemala Kuria Hills Lodge

Top-end · Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Lemala Kuria Hills is a 15-suite lodge "remotely located in the Wogakuria Hills of the Northern Serengeti", inside the park: its rates exclude park entry and concession fees, which only properties inside pay. Do not confuse it with &Beyond's Klein's Camp, which is also sold as Kuria Hills but stands on a concession outside the park. Suites are glass-fronted tents set among boulders, and one has two bedrooms and a private plunge pool. Lemala lists game drives, balloon safaris and walking. The price swings hard with the herds: $520 a person in the quiet months, nearly three times that from July to September, when the Mara River crossings are 45 minutes away. Choose it for the north out of season; skip it in July if your budget is tight.

Dunia Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Dunia is Asilia's small permanent camp in the central Serengeti, eight tents including one family suite, open all year and 45 minutes from Seronera airstrip. Asilia sells it all-inclusive: meals, house drinks, laundry, scheduled game drives in open vehicles and airstrip transfers, with only park and concession fees and Asilia's conservation charge on top. Asilia places it on the herds' passage through the centre, south in November and December and north again from April to June. At $920 in October to December it costs far less than Asilia's northern and eastern camps in their peak. Children from five are welcome. Choose it if you fly in and want a small camp with drives included; skip it if you want walking.

Lemala Nanyukie

Top-end · Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Lemala Nanyukie is a permanent tented lodge in the eastern Serengeti, "a 60-minute drive east of the Seronera Airstrip", opened in October 2018; TANAPA's register lists it as a permanent tented camp in the east. The east is open grassland away from the main Seronera traffic. Lemala gives 15 suites, including one two-bedroom suite, though the numbers on its page do not add up. Like the rest of Lemala, it is full board with house drinks and expects you to arrive with an operator's guide and vehicle. Choose it for the eastern plains with your own guide; skip it if you want drives included.

Namiri Plains

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Namiri Plains is Asilia's camp on the Ngare Nanyuki River in the eastern Serengeti, which Asilia calls "one of Africa's best locations for observing big cats"; TANAPA's register lists it as a permanent tented lodge in the east. It is two hours by road from Seronera airstrip. There are 11 tents, one a family suite, plus two Retreats, two-bedroom units with their own chef, guide and vehicle. A pool, library and massage are on site, Asilia lists walking, and drives and transfers are in the rate. At $2,250 a person from June to September it is one of the two dearest camps in the park, so April, May and the Secret Season make more sense. Choose it for cats on open grass; skip it if two hours on a road after a flight puts you off.

Ubuntu Migration Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Ubuntu is Asilia's classic mobile camp, ten tents including a four-sleeper family tent, which moves twice a year. From June to mid-November it stands in the Lamai Wedge in the far north, "with few neighbouring camps and vehicles"; from mid-December to mid-March it moves to Kusini in the south of the park for the calving season. Both sites are inside the national park, so you pay TANAPA fees all year, not the Ngorongoro fees of the Ndutu camps. At $1,080 in high season it is Asilia's cheapest Serengeti camp at that time of year, with drives and transfers included. Children from five. Choose it to follow the herds in a classic camp; skip it if you mind a long drive from the airstrip.

Wilderness Usawa Serengeti

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Usawa is Wilderness's fully mobile camp, six en-suite tents for twelve guests, which moves "at short notice between a number of key locations across the Serengeti" and runs on solar power. It opened in July 2023 and added a family unit that December, according to the travel trade press. Its rate is the only one we found in the Serengeti that includes park fees, so the $1,540 high-season figure compares with about $1,390 at a camp that adds TANAPA's $153.40 per night. The whole camp can be booked for sole use. Choose it if you want an all-in price and a small camp that follows the game; skip it if you need to know your exact site in advance.

Sayari Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Sayari is Asilia's permanent camp in the Mara River area of the northern Serengeti, 20 minutes from Kogatende airstrip, with "migration magic just minutes from camp" in Asilia's words. There are 15 tents, including two family tents and a honeymoon tent, and two private Retreats. The rate includes drives, a short walk of up to two hours from June to mid-January and airstrip transfers. From July to October it costs $2,250 a person, which with TANAPA fees makes well over $2,400 a night. From November to March the herds are far south and the price halves; you get the river and the resident game with few vehicles. Choose it in July to October for the crossings, or in the Secret Season for quiet; it is closed in April and May.

Olakira Migration Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Olakira is Asilia's mobile camp with mesh-walled "stargazing" tents. From June to October it stands in the Bologonja area of the northern Serengeti, inside the park. From December to March it moves to Ndutu for the calving season, and there it is in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, outside the national park, so your fees go to the NCAA instead of TANAPA. Drives, drinks and transfers are in the rate, and Asilia offers a private photographic vehicle. It closes in April, May and November while it moves. Children from five. Choose it for calving at Ndutu or the river in the north; skip it if you need it to be in the park itself in February.

Lemala Ewanjan Tented Camp

Mid-range · Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Lemala Ewanjan is a 14-tent camp "set in a secluded part of the game-rich Seronera Valley in Central Serengeti", run by the Arusha-based Lemala collection, whose site does not say who owns the company. Twelve tents have two double beds and two have two bedrooms, which makes it one of the easier camps for families. The rate is full board with house drinks, but game drives are not included: Lemala builds its camps for guests who arrive with an operator's driver-guide and vehicle, which is how most people do the Serengeti. From $305 a person it is the cheapest full-board camp we found inside the park. Choose it for Seronera's year-round game at a mid-range price; skip it if you want the camp to run your drives.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Serengeti Migration Camp is Elewana's 20-tent camp beside the Grumeti River in the north-central Serengeti, among the Ndasiata hills, with transfers from Lobo airstrip. Tents stand on raised decks, there is a swimming pool, and the river in front holds hippos. It is one of the few camps that sells walking inside the park: a two-hour walk comes with the Game Package and a four-hour walk costs $115. You choose between full board, where your operator's guide drives you, and the Game Package, where Elewana does. Choose it if you want walking and a pool in the north-central park; skip it if you want a camp under 20 tents.

Elewana Serengeti Pioneer Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Serengeti Pioneer Camp is Elewana's 1930s-style tented camp in the south-central Serengeti, "within the Moru Kopjes area". The Moru Kopjes are granite outcrops rising from the plains, and the camp looks over them. The southern location puts it nearer the herds from December to March than the Seronera camps. Elewana sells full board or a Game Package with drives, a sunrise breakfast on the rocks and a bush sundowner, and there is a family suite for two adults and two children. Elewana does not publish a tent count. Choose it for the Moru landscape and a family suite; skip it if you need a published child age policy.

&Beyond Klein's Camp

Top-end · Outside the gate · Safari company

Klein's Camp is &Beyond's ten-cottage lodge on the Kuka Hills, on "a 10,000 hectare (24,700 acre) wildlife concession leased from Maasai landlords" that "borders the Serengeti". &Beyond's own page also calls it "deep in a remote corner of the game-rich Serengeti National Park"; it is not. Land leased from Maasai owners cannot be inside the park, and the camp's walks and night drives are only possible because it is outside. That is its strength: walking, night drives and only &Beyond vehicles, with the park next door. All ages are welcome. Guests fly to Lobo and drive 1.5 to 2 hours. Choose it for walking and night drives; skip it if you want to be inside the park.

Serengeti Safari Camp (Nomad)

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Serengeti Safari Camp is Nomad Tanzania's original mobile camp, which moves "from one sweet Serengeti site to another" with the herds. It has only six tents, one of them a family tent with two en-suite rooms and a shared living area. Nomad does not publish its seasonal sites; if the December to March site is at Ndutu, it would then be in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, so ask. No rate is published. Choose it for a very small camp that follows the migration; skip it if you need the exact site fixed.

Asanja Nyasirori

Top-end · Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Asanja Nyasirori is a small luxury camp whose suites are shaped after the Maasai enkaji house, run by the Tanzanian-based Asanja Africa, whose site does not say who owns it. Asanja places it "in the western corridor of Serengeti National Park"; TANAPA's register calls it a permanent tented camp in the northern Serengeti. Either way it is inside the park, but ask your operator which area, since it changes your drive times. The same page gives both six and seven suites, plus a two-bedroom family suite. No rate is published. Choose it for a distinctive small camp; skip it if you need the details pinned down.

Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Serengeti Serena is a 66-room stone-and-thatch lodge run by Serena Hotels on a ridge of the Kyabatero Hills, north-west of the Seronera area; TANAPA's register confirms it is inside the park. Rooms sit in two-storey rondavels, and there is a pool and the Maisha Spa. Serena lists game drives, balloon safaris, bush meals, sundowners in the Mbingwe Valley and guided nature walks and bird watching. The room rate of $728 for two works out at about $364 a head, but Serena does not say what it covers, so ask before you compare it with full-board camps. Choose it if you want a large, full-service lodge near Seronera; skip it if you want a small camp.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Kubu Kubu is a 25-tent lodge with a swimming pool, run by the Arusha company Tanganyika Wilderness Camps, which describes it as "in the heart of serengeti national park". Family tents have two interconnecting rooms and the company says children are welcome. Its own page gives Seronera airstrip as 80 km away, which is a long way for a central lodge; check the drive time before you book a flight. The old domain kubukubu.com is parked, so use the TWC page. No rates or email are published. Choose it for a family road safari with a pool; skip it if you plan to fly in to Seronera.

Lahia Tented Lodge

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Lahia is a 25-tent lodge on a hilltop in the central Serengeti, run by Tanganyika Wilderness Camps; TANAPA's register describes it as "set atop a hill in the central Serengeti, offering sweeping views over the endless plains and Lake Magadi". TWC says it looks from the centre towards the Western Corridor, is open all year and welcomes children. It has a swimming pool. No rates or contact email are published on the TWC pages, so book through an operator. Choose it for the view and a pool in the central park; skip it if you want published prices.

Mara Mara Tented Lodge

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Mara Mara is a permanent tented lodge run by Tanganyika Wilderness Camps, "located in North Serengeti close to the river Mara in the Kogatende Area"; TANAPA's register lists it as a camp in the northern Serengeti. It has 20 tents and 4 bungalows and is open all year, which many northern camps are not. That makes it a mid-range base for the river crossings from July to October, the period most northern camps price at their peak. TWC publishes no rates, so ask an operator. Choose it for the crossings without top-end prices; skip it if you want a small, quiet camp.

Serengeti Kati Kati Tented Camp

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Serengeti Kati Kati is "a mobile camp located in central Serengeti" run by Tanganyika Wilderness Camps, with ten tents and one family tent, open all year except April. It is the central member of TWC's three Kati Kati camps; the others are at the Mara River in the north and at Ndutu, which is in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. A small camp in the central park suits a classic road safari with your operator. TWC publishes no rates or email. Choose it for a simple tented camp in the middle of the park; skip it in April, when it is shut.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Mbuzi Mawe is Serena's 16-tent camp "enclosed by ancient granite outcrops" in the north-central Serengeti, on the road towards Lobo. Serena says it lies "on one of the main annual migration corridors". Each tent has two queen beds and free Wi-Fi. Do not confuse it with TANAPA's Mbuzi Mawe special campsite, a different facility nearby. Serena showed no rate on its page, so ask. Choose it for a mid-sized camp in kopje country between Seronera and Lobo; skip it if you want walking, which Serena does not list here.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Kirawira Serena Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Kirawira Serena is a 25-tent camp in Edwardian style "set against the majesty of Serengeti National Park's Western Corridor", with views over the Kirawira Plains. Serena calls it "the most exclusive of the Serena safari properties": tents come with valet service and there are Maisha Spa treatment rooms. The Western Corridor is quieter than Seronera for most of the year and on the herds' route in the middle of it. Serena showed no rate on its page. Choose it for colonial-style service in the west; skip it if you want walking, which Serena does not list.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Nimali Serengeti

Top-end · Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Nimali Serengeti is a 12-suite tented camp in the central Serengeti, 40 minutes by road from Seronera airstrip, run by the small Tanzanian-based Nimali Africa collection, whose site does not say who owns it. Two suites share a walkway, which makes a family unit. Nimali publishes one of the clearest child policies in the park: under 6 free, 6 to 12 at half the adult rate, 13 to 17 at 75%; no children under 6 on open-vehicle drives and none under 12 on walks. Nimali says the herds move through "from April to June and October to December". Choose it for a family stay with known rules; skip it if your children are under 6 and you want them on drives.

Ikoma Tented Camp

Mid-range · Outside the gate · Owner-run

Ikoma Tented Camp is run by Moivaro, a Tanzanian group founded in 1999 and still led by its founder. It stands "just outside the national park boundary" at Ikoma on the north-western side, which is why it can offer what the park does not: night game drives and nature walks. There are 35 Meru tents under thatch and a campsite with a kitchen, toilets and hot showers, a cheaper choice for self-drivers than the TANAPA sites and without the concession fee. Moivaro also points to an airstrip nearby and runs full-day drives into the park. No rates are published. Choose it for night drives and a western base; skip it if you want to sleep inside the park.

Mapito Safari Camp, Autograph Collection

Top-end · Outside the gate · Safari company

Mapito is Marriott's first Autograph Collection safari camp, opened for stays from 15 September 2025 on "a 25-acre stretch just outside the Serengeti National Park" near Fort Ikoma Gate. Some resellers list it as in the park; the camp itself says outside. That position is the point: Mapito runs night safaris, sunrise walks and lantern-lit lion tracking, none of which the park allows, plus cultural visits with the Ikoma, and drives into the central and western park. Tents have retractable roofs and telescopes for stargazing, and there is a two-bedroom villa. No rate is published. Choose it for design and night activities on the edge; skip it if you want to sleep inside the boundary.

Lake Masek Tented Lodge

Mid-range · Outside the gate · Safari company

Lake Masek Tented Lodge stands "on the banks of lake Masek in Ndutu", in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area between the Serengeti plains and the NCA, run by Tanganyika Wilderness Camps. It is outside the national park, so NCAA fees apply, but it is 4 km from Ndutu airstrip and 6 km from Kusini, among the calving herds from December to March. It is open all year, has a lake-view main area and a pool, and welcomes children. TWC's page gives 30 tents, older listings 20. No rates are published. Choose it for the calving season with a pool; skip it if you want to be inside the park.

Africa Safari Serengeti Ikoma

Budget · Outside the gate · Ownership unconfirmed

Africa Safari Serengeti Ikoma is a budget tented camp "4 Kms from Fort Ikoma entrance gate to the Serengeti NP", outside the park on the north-western side, between the Seronera road and the Grumeti and Ikorongo reserves. Resellers sometimes list it as in the park; it is not. Tents come with shared toilets and showers or, in the Comfort tents, their own bathroom, and there is a pool, restaurant and bar. The only price we found is a reseller's $154 a night. Staying outside spares you the concession fee, though you still pay conservation fees each day you enter. Choose it for a cheap western base; skip it if you want to wake up inside the park.

Ndutu Kati Kati Tented Camp

Mid-range · Outside the gate · Safari company

Ndutu Kati Kati is the southern member of Tanganyika Wilderness Camps' three Kati Kati mobile camps, filed by TWC under the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. That means it is outside the national park and you pay NCAA fees there. Its own page contradicts itself on dates, saying it is "strategically situated in south Serengeti from December to March" and also "Open from June to November"; the calving season points to the first, but confirm with TWC. It has eleven tents and a family tent. No rates are published. Choose it for a simple camp on the calving plains; ask TWC for dates first.

&Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Serengeti Under Canvas is &Beyond's mobile camp, run as "two intimate camps of just nine tents each" that relocate through the year to stay close to the herds. It is the classic style: canvas tents, bucket showers, twice-daily game drives. &Beyond does not publish its seasonal sites, and if any falls at Ndutu in the calving months that site would be in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, not the park; ask before you book. Choose it for an old-style mobile camp; skip it if you want to know exactly where you will sleep.

Taasa Lodge

Outside the gate · Ownership unconfirmed

Taasa Lodge is a 12-tent lodge "centrally located among three of the largest safari ecosystems, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park and Maasai Mara National Reserve". It offers off-road game drives in open 4x4s and night drives, neither allowed inside the park, so it stands outside it; secondary sources place it in Loliondo, on the park's eastern side, but the lodge does not say so. It also runs visits to a Maasai village. Its site does not name the operator or owner. Choose it for off-road and night drives east of the park; skip it if you need clear facts before you enquire.

Mbalageti Serengeti

Mid-range · Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Mbalageti Serengeti is a hillside lodge with rooms, tented chalets and suites "located in the western corridor of the Serengeti National Park", looking over the Mbalageti River and the Dutwa plains. Its site does not say who owns it. It lists walking, camp fires and a swimming pool; walks inside the park need a TANAPA ranger, so ask how the lodge arranges them. The Western Corridor sees the herds pass in the middle of the year and is quieter than Seronera otherwise. One warning: the old domain mbalageti.com now carries an unrelated spam site, so book only through mbalageti.co.tz. Choose it for a mid-range base in the west; skip it if you need published rates before you enquire.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

&Beyond Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

&Beyond Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge stands "in a wilder, quieter part of the Serengeti National Park", in its far western reaches, on a tributary of the Grumeti River where hippos live in front of the lodge. All ten river-facing suites, one of them for families, have private plunge pools. &Beyond lists "game drives without crowds", quiet walks, community visits and yoga at dawn. Do not confuse it with the Singita Grumeti lodges, which stand in a private reserve outside the park. Choose it for a small lodge in the western park; skip it if you need a published rate.

Kusini (Nomad)

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Kusini is Nomad Tanzania's new base camp in the southern Serengeti, set up among the kopjes of the Kusini area inside the park; Nomad wrote in March 2026 that it was "very excited to be setting up camp here". The south is calving country from December to March, and Kusini lies inside the national park, so you pay TANAPA fees rather than the NCAA fees charged at Ndutu. Nomad mentions walks among the kopjes and "sundowners on the rocks". It publishes no rate, capacity or season. Choose it for a new camp in the southern park; skip it if you want a camp with a track record.

Mara Kati Kati Tented Camp

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Mara Kati Kati is Tanganyika Wilderness Camps' mobile camp near the Mara River in the northern Serengeti, with eleven tents and a family tent, 20 minutes from Kogatende airstrip. TWC says it is "the closest camp to the Mara river" and places it "in the Mara Triangle area". That is loose wording: the Mara Triangle is the Kenyan side of the river, and the camp is in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. TWC publishes no rates or open months. Choose it for a mid-range night by the river crossings; skip it if you need published prices.

Lamai Serengeti

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Lamai Serengeti is Nomad Tanzania's lodge built into the Kogakuria Kopje in the Lamai Wedge, the far north of the park beyond the Mara River. From the rocks you see "for miles and miles", and Nomad says the herds cross these plains to the river "just down the track". Rooms are open-fronted with locally sourced interiors; there is a two-bedroom family unit and a separate four-room Lamai Private. Nomad offers walking safaris. It publishes no rate or room count on the pages we could read. Choose it for the remote north with a kopje view; skip it if you need a price before you call.

Speke Bay Lodge

Mid-range · Outside the gate · Safari company

Speke Bay Lodge is on the south-eastern shore of Lake Victoria, "15 km from the Ndabaka entrance to Serengeti National Park and 125 km north of Mwanza", run by East Africa Camps, which also runs Pumzika inside the park. It stands on 200 acres that have turned back into savanna, and it offers traditional boat rides on the lake and birding. It is the natural first or last night if you enter the Western Corridor from Mwanza by Ndabaka Gate. The old domain spekebay.com redirects to the current site. No rate or room count is published. Choose it for a lake night at the western gate; skip it if you want game from your room.

Pumzika Luxury Safari Camp

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Pumzika is a six-tent camp "at the premium area of Turner, inside Serengeti National Park", in the Seronera area, run by East Africa Camps, which also runs Speke Bay Lodge on Lake Victoria. Tents are large and furnished in a 1920s-explorer style with carpets woven by Mbulu women, and two can become family tents. Six tents in the Seronera Valley is unusually small for the busiest part of the park. East Africa Camps publishes no rate or open months on the page. Choose it for a small camp near Seronera; skip it if you need a pool.

One Nature Nyaruswiga

Top-end · Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

One Nature Nyaruswiga is a luxury tented camp in the central Serengeti, 25 minutes by road from Seronera airstrip; TANAPA's register lists it as a permanent tented camp in the centre. Its draw is photography: game drives run in open vehicles built for photographers, and you can hire cameras and lenses. Two-bedroom units sleep up to six, and a "Children at One Nature" programme offers activities for children, without published ages. The site does not say who owns the brand or how many units there are. Choose it if you travel with a camera and a family; skip it if you need a rate first.

Serian's Serengeti Lamai

Top-end · Inside the park · Owner-run

Serian's Serengeti Lamai is a small seasonal camp on "the open plains of the Lamai Wedge" in the far north, eight tents and two suites; TANAPA's register lists it as a northern tented camp. Serian is a guide-founded company that carries its founder's name, and its model is private guiding: each group has its own vehicle, guide and spotter. Walking is part of the programme. Serian publishes no rate or season dates. Choose it if you want private guiding near the Mara River; skip it if you are watching the budget.

Seronera and Lobo Public Campsites

Budget · Inside the park · Park-run

TANAPA's public campsites are the only walk-in camping in the Serengeti. TANAPA says the park offers public campsites where "visitors bring their own tent and camping gears"; operator and self-drive sources place a cluster of small sites around Seronera and one at Lobo in the north. Expect a tap, toilets, cold showers and a roofed cooking shelter, and no fence: lion and hyena walk through at night. A non-resident adult pays $35.40 with VAT plus the $82.60 conservation fee. Most visitors who camp here come with an operator who brings the tents and the cook; if you drive yourself, these are the sites you will use. Choose them for the price and the Seronera game; skip them if you want a bed and a meal cooked for you.

Seronera Rest House (Taji)

Budget · Inside the park · Park-run

TANAPA describes Taji, its Seronera rest house, as "a budget-friendly accommodation located just behind the Seronera Visitor Centre in Central Serengeti" with "simple rooms with mosquito nets, self-bathroom with basic amenities, hot showers, and free WiFi". At $35.40 a head with VAT it is the only bed with a roof inside the park at campsite money. You must book ahead through TANAPA, and you sort out your own food. It suits a self-driver or a budget operator trip that wants a door and a hot shower in the middle of the Seronera Valley; skip it if you want a restaurant, a pool or a guide who comes with the room.

Mbuzi Mawe and Mbalageti Special Campsites

Budget · Inside the park · Park-run

TANAPA runs two special campsites in the Serengeti, Mbuzi Mawe and Mbalageti, and says "visitors bring their own tent and camping gears" and "pre booking is needed". A special site is booked by one party, so you get a quiet bush camp instead of the shared Seronera sites, at $59.00 a head with VAT from October to June and $70.80 in July to September, plus the conservation fee. Mbuzi Mawe lies among granite outcrops in the north-central park; Mbalageti in the west, on the river of the same name. Expect no facilities you do not bring yourself. This is how many operator-run private camping trips work; it suits a self-driver who has camped wild before.

Lemala Mara Tented Camp

Mid-range · Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Lemala's Mara camp is a 12-tent mobile camp in the northern Serengeti from June to October, when the herds reach the Mara River. Lemala says "the exact location varies from year to year", so ask where it stands for your dates. It is the northern half of Lemala's Mara and Ndutu camp; from December to March the same company runs its Ndutu camp in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, listed separately here because it pays different fees. The rate is full board, and like every Lemala camp it expects you to bring an operator's vehicle and guide. At $330 in June and $825 in peak crossing months, it is one of the cheaper ways to sleep near the river. Choose it for the crossings on a mid-range budget; skip it if you want the camp to drive you.

Lemala Ndutu Tented Camp

Mid-range · Outside the gate · Ownership unconfirmed

Lemala's Ndutu camp is the December to March half of its Mara and Ndutu mobile camp, ten tents "in the Ndutu region of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area near the border of the Southern Serengeti". It is outside the national park, so you pay NCAA fees, not TANAPA's, but it sits among the calving herds. Ndutu airstrip is 20 minutes away. As with every Lemala camp, the rate is full board and you bring an operator's vehicle and guide. From 20 December it costs $825 a person. Choose it for calving season with your own guide; skip it if you want to be inside the park.

Serengeti Explorer by Elewana

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Serengeti Explorer is the former Serengeti Sopa Lodge, refurbished and reopened by the Elewana Collection in 2025 on the site of "one of the oldest safari lodges in the Serengeti", in the Nyaruboro Hills of the south-western park. TANAPA's 2025 register still lists it under the old name. It is the most family-minded lodge in the Serengeti on paper: children under 12 sharing with an adult stay free, 12 to 17 pay half, babysitting starts at two years and there is a Kids' Bushcraft Centre for ages 4 to 12. It also has four interconnecting rooms and two wheelchair-accessible rooms. Guided bush walks are for 16 and over. Choose it for a family safari; skip it if you want a quiet small camp.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Seronera Cottages

Budget · Inside the park · Park-run

TANAPA's register lists Seronera Cottages with the same wording as its rest house: "managed by TANAPA" and "just behind the Seronera Visitor Centre" in the central Serengeti. That is nearly all the authority publishes. There is no cottage line in the 2023/24 tariff, no room count and no photo, so you need to ask TANAPA what a night costs and what the cottages hold before you plan around them. If the price matches the rest house, they would be the second budget bed with a roof inside the park. Choose them if TANAPA confirms a booking; otherwise plan on the rest house or a public campsite next door.

Seronera Wildlife Lodge

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Seronera Wildlife Lodge is a 75-room lodge built into a granite kopje in the heart of the Seronera Valley, run by the Arusha company Hotels & Lodges (T) Ltd, which also runs Lobo Wildlife Lodge; its site does not say who owns it. TANAPA's register confirms it is inside the park. Its main strength is position: Seronera airstrip and the balloon launch are each about five minutes away, and the valley has game all year. The lodge lists game drives, balloon flights, picnics, Maasai village visits and evening talks. It publishes no rates, so ask your operator or the lodge. Choose it as a central base with an operator; skip it if you want a small camp.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Lobo Wildlife Lodge

Mid-range · Inside the park · Safari company

Lobo Wildlife Lodge is a 75-room lodge "built around the distinctive Lobo Kopje, a rocky outcrop rising above the plains", as TANAPA's register puts it, in the northern Serengeti. Hotels & Lodges (T) Ltd of Arusha runs it alongside Seronera Wildlife Lodge, and its site does not say who owns it. It is the only large lodge in the Lobo area, far from the Seronera traffic, and the north-east lies on the herds' route in the season. The lodge lists game drives; it publishes no rates and does not name an airstrip. Choose it as a road-safari base in the north; skip it if you want luxury or a fly-in camp.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Four Seasons Safari Lodge is a 77-room luxury lodge "set within Serengeti National Park" in the central Serengeti, and TANAPA's register confirms it. It is a hotel more than a camp: an infinity pool overlooks a waterhole used by elephants, there is a spa, a Discovery Centre and five free-standing two-bedroom villas with pool decks and a 24-hour attendant. Four Seasons lists game drives, walking safaris, balloon flights with a champagne breakfast and private photo safaris. Rates appear only in its booking engine. Choose it if you want hotel service and a pool on the plains; skip it if you came for a small tented camp.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗

Meliá Serengeti Lodge

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Meliá Serengeti Lodge is a design hotel that "blends into the exceptional surroundings of the Serengeti National Park", in Meliá's words; listing sites place it in the Nyamuma Hills north of Seronera. TANAPA's 2025 register does not list it, so its inside status rests on the hotel's own wording. It has an infinity pool and a spa, and its Safari Experience package includes Seronera airstrip transfers and a half-day safari in a shared jeep, which helps if you fly in without an operator. Choose it for a hotel stay with a pool and a simple safari add-on; skip it if you want a camp feel.

Mkombe's House Lamai

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Mkombe's House is Nomad Tanzania's exclusive-use house on the Kogakuria Kopje in the Lamai Wedge, next to Lamai Serengeti. It has two open-fronted bedrooms and two enclosed ones, which Nomad designed "for families with smaller children", a private pool and a star bed. Children over 12 can join longer walks. It is one of several private-use options in the park, alongside Lamai Private on the same kopje and Asilia's Retreats. No rate is published. Choose it for a family or group who want the north to themselves; skip it if there are only two of you.

Singita Mara River Tented Camp

Top-end · Inside the park · Safari company

Singita Mara River Tented Camp has six suites "on a dramatic riverbend in the remote Lamai triangle", close to the wildebeest crossings. The Lamai Triangle is the part of the national park north of the Mara River, so this is the one Singita camp inside the park; its four Grumeti lodges are in a private reserve outside. The camp runs fully on solar power, and Singita offers wellness and yoga as well as drives. Singita publishes no rate. Choose it for a six-suite camp at the river; skip it if you need a price on the page.

Warangi Ridge Lodge

Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Warangi Ridge Lodge appears on TANAPA's 2025 register of lodges inside Serengeti National Park as a "luxurious tented lodge, located in the central Serengeti". That is all we could establish: we found no website, operator, rate or photo, and TANAPA's register does not say whether it is open or still being built. TANAPA also lists a Warangi seasonal campsite. Ask a Tanzanian operator whether it takes guests before you plan around it.

Pristine Lodge

Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Pristine Lodge is on TANAPA's 2025 register of hotels and lodges inside Serengeti National Park, "located in Togoro in the northern part of Serengeti National Park, between the Seronera (Central Serengeti) area and Lobo Hills". We found no website, operator, rate or photo, and the register does not say whether the lodge is open or still planned. Ask a Tanzanian operator before you count on it.

Togoro Plains Camp

Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Togoro Plains Camp is listed by TANAPA as a permanent tented camp inside Serengeti National Park, in the Togoro area, which TANAPA places between Seronera and the Lobo Hills. We found no website, operator, rate or photo for it, and TANAPA does not say whether it is open. Ask a Tanzanian operator whether it takes guests.

Nimali Africa Kogatende

Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

TANAPA's register lists "Nimali Africa Kogatende" as "an exclusive permanent tented camp located in the northern Serengeti". Nimali Africa, which runs Nimali Serengeti in the centre of the park, showed no Kogatende camp on its own site on 6 October 2026, so it may be planned or simply unlisted. Ask Nimali at enquiries@nimaliafrica.com before you plan around it.

Secret Valley

Inside the park · Ownership unconfirmed

Secret Valley is listed on TANAPA's 2025 register of lodges inside Serengeti National Park as "a lodge located in Southern Serengeti region". We found no website, operator, rate or photo, and the register does not say whether it is open. If it is, it would be one of few fixed lodges inside the park in the south, where the herds calve from December to March. Ask a Tanzanian operator before you count on it.

Serian's Serengeti South and Serengeti Mobile Kusini

Top-end · Boundary unconfirmed · Owner-run

Serian runs two southern camps for the calving season. Serengeti South is set up "on the southernmost extreme of the Serengeti's short grass plains" from mid-December to May, with six tents; Serengeti Mobile Kusini has four tents and two suites and is "perfectly positioned to access the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, as well as the Serengeti National Park". Neither page says which side of the park boundary the camp itself stands on, which decides whether you pay TANAPA or NCAA fees. Walks run with Maasai and Hadzabe guides. Choose them for private guiding on the calving plains; ask Serian where the camp is before you book.

Singita Sasakwa Lodge

Top-end · Outside the gate · Safari company

Sasakwa is Singita's hilltop manor-house lodge, nine cottages and a villa, each with its own infinity pool, in the 350,000-acre Singita Grumeti Reserve. Singita writes that it is "in the Serengeti", meaning the ecosystem: the reserve lies outside the national park on its north-western side, and Singita has worked with the non-profit Grumeti Fund there since 2003. Activities include game drives, guided walks, balloon flights, community visits, a visit to an anti-poaching post, tennis and wellness. No rate is published. Choose it for the reserve's privacy and a private pool; skip it if you want to be inside the park.

Singita Faru Faru Lodge

Top-end · Outside the gate · Safari company

Faru Faru is Singita's contemporary lodge "set within Singita's 350,000-acre private reserve" alongside the Grumeti River, with a waterhole in front of the lodge. Like Sasakwa and Sabora, it stands in the Singita Grumeti Reserve, outside the national park on the north-western side, where Singita and the Grumeti Fund manage the land. Singita publishes no rate or room count for it. Choose it for a waterhole lodge in a private reserve; skip it if you want to be inside the park.

Singita Sabora Tented Camp

Top-end · Outside the gate · Safari company

Sabora is Singita's modern tented camp on open plains, "set in 350,000 acres of protected wilderness in Singita Grumeti". Each suite has a private meditation deck. The Grumeti reserve is outside the national park on its north-western side, and Singita's "Serengeti" means the ecosystem. Staying in the reserve spares you TANAPA's concession fee, though each day you drive into the park costs the conservation fee. Singita publishes no rate or tent count. Choose it for a tented camp on the plains of a private reserve; skip it if you want to be inside the park.

Singita Explore

Top-end · Outside the gate · Safari company

Singita Explore is a private-use camp in mobile style in the Singita Grumeti Reserve, which Singita describes as "a 350,000-acre expanse of wilderness stretching along the western corridor of the Serengeti". The reserve is outside the national park. Singita publishes no fact sheet; a guest quote on its page mentions six tents. It is built for one group at a time. Choose it for a private camp for family or friends; skip it if there are only two of you.

Octagon Lodge

Outside the gate · Ownership unconfirmed

Octagon Lodge is "a small and private lodge located twenty minutes from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Gate in Karatu", the last town on the road from Arusha before the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which you cross to reach the Serengeti's Naabi Hill Gate. It has rooms, an annex and family cottages for two to four with a kitchenette and two bathrooms. Its rates page was down when we checked, so ask. A night in Karatu lets you start the NCA crossing early, which matters because the NCAA permit is valid for 24 hours from entry. Choose it as a road-safari stop before or after the Serengeti; it is not a park lodge.

Dates and availability on Booking.com ↗