Mbuzi Mawe and Mbalageti Special Campsites
Special campsite · Mbuzi Mawe (north-central) and Mbalageti (Western Corridor) · TANAPA (Tanzania National Parks)
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Budget
Inside the park
Park-run (TANAPA)
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.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A site for your party alone
- Cheaper than any lodge: $59 a head with VAT from October to June
- Two different regions of the park to choose from
- No concession fee
Cons
- No facilities: bring tents, water and everything else
- Pre-booking with TANAPA is required
- Unfenced and remote; not for first-time campers
- $11.80 dearer a head from July to September
What's here
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
We could not reach a website for Mbuzi Mawe and Mbalageti Special Campsites, so this list is incomplete by definition. Ask them directly.
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 Mbuzi Mawe and Mbalageti Special Campsites
From $50 pppn. Special campsites are $60 per non-resident adult per night from July to September and $50 from October to June under TANAPA's 2023/24 tariff; 18% VAT is extra, so $70.80 or $59.00. The tariff prints the child rate as $5 in peak and $10 in low season. The conservation fee of $82.60 per adult per 24 hours (16 May to 14 March) is on top, plus $47.20 a day for a foreign-registered vehicle. Pre-booking with TANAPA is required.
Self-catering. You cook. Nothing else is included unless the entry says so.
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 Mbuzi Mawe and Mbalageti Special Campsites
What is a special campsite in the Serengeti?
A TANAPA campsite booked for one party, with no shared ablutions. TANAPA names two in the Serengeti, Mbuzi Mawe and Mbalageti, and says visitors bring their own tent and gear and must book ahead.
How much does a Serengeti special campsite cost?
$60 per non-resident adult per night from July to September and $50 from October to June, plus 18% VAT, under the 2023/24 tariff. The conservation fee of $82.60 per adult per 24 hours is extra.
Can children stay at a special campsite?
Yes; the tariff prints a child rate ($5 in peak and $10 in low season for ages 5 to 15). We found no other published child policy, and the sites are unfenced.