Sayari Camp
Luxury tented camp · Mara River, northern Serengeti · Asilia Africa
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.
Pros and cons
Pros
- 20 minutes from Kogatende and close to crossing points
- Short walks included for half the year
- Family tents and a honeymoon tent
- Secret Season at less than half the peak rate
Cons
- $2,250 per person from July to October 2026
- Park, concession and conservation charges extra
- Closed April and May
- Children only from five
What's here
- Family rooms
- En-suite bathrooms
- Laundry
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
- Guided walks
Read from Sayari Camp's own website in July 2026. Anything not listed we could not confirm, which is not the same as it being absent.
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. Serengeti National Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entry$70 plus 18% VAT, so $82.60, per 24 hours from 16 May to 14 March; $70.80 from 15 March to 15 May.
- $83per person, per day
- Vehicle$40 plus VAT, so $47.20, for a foreign-registered vehicle up to 2,000 kg; a Tanzanian-registered safari vehicle pays TSh 20,000, about $8 at TANAPA's TSh 2,555 to the dollar.
- $47per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $639 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
A lodge or camp inside the park adds TANAPA's concession fee on top: $70.80 per adult per night from July to September and $59 from October to June, VAT included. Arriving by road from Arusha adds the Ngorongoro permit of $70.80 per adult each way.
The full fee schedule for Serengeti National ParkRates at Sayari Camp
From $1,030 pppn. Secret Season: June 2026, 1 November to 19 December 2026 and 6 January to 31 March 2027; $2,250 High Season (1 July to 31 October 2026, 20 December 2026 to 5 January 2027), per person sharing. Retreats $3,580 to $9,000 per Retreat per night. Includes full board, house drinks, limited laundry, scheduled open-vehicle game drives, a short walk (1 June to 15 January), Kogatende airstrip transfers and the Tourism Development Levy. Excludes park fees, concession fees and the Asilia conservation charge: add $82.60 plus $70.80 (July to September) or $59.00 per adult per night with VAT.
All inclusive. The rate covers meals, drinks, activities and the transfers named below. Park fees are charged separately.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Rates checked on 6 October 2026 against each operator's own website or rate sheet, in US dollars per person per night sharing unless the entry says otherwise. Two figures are per room, not per person: Serengeti Serena's $728 and Serengeti Explorer's $750 (a January 2025 opening offer). One figure is a reseller's, not the owner's: Africa Safari Serengeti Ikoma's $154 a night on Priceline (6 Oct 2026, basis not stated). Ndutu Safari Lodge's figures come from a rate sheet that ran to 15 December 2025, the newest on its site. Unless the entry says otherwise, TANAPA fees come on top of every rate inside the park: the conservation fee of $70 plus 18% VAT ($82.60) per adult per 24 hours from 16 May to 14 March, $70.80 from 15 March to 15 May, and the hotel concession fee of $70.80 per adult per night from July to September or $59.00 from October to June, VAT included. Camps at Ndutu and Lake Masek pay the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority instead: $70.80 entry per 24 hours and $59.00 concession per adult per night. Wilderness Usawa is the one rate we found that includes park fees.
Questions about Sayari Camp
How close is Sayari Camp to the Mara River crossings?
Asilia says thousands of wildebeest cross the Mara River "just minutes from camp". Crossings depend on the herds; Asilia's own pages put them mostly between July and October.
Are walks included at Sayari Camp?
Yes: a short walking safari of 1 h 30 min to 2 hours is included from 1 June to 15 January.
When is Sayari closed?
In April and May. It is open from June to March.