Sanctuary Swala Camp

Swala’s 12 tented en suite pavilions are dotted under the shade of acacia trees overlooking the nearby watering hole. These open-plan rooms have been tastefully decorated in light, neutral tones to seamlessly blend into the surroundings, and furnished with matching safari-chic fixtures. Each king-size double bed is elegantly swathed with mosquito netting to ensure a peaceful night’s sleep. The en suite bathrooms come with 2 showers, one inside and one outside, 2 basins, a flush toilet and complimentary toiletries. All tents also open up to private decks where you can sit and relax while watching the game pass by on the savannah.

All meals are prepared and served at the camp. Start off your morning bright and early with a steaming cup of tea or coffee then head to the dining area for a hearty breakfast before your morning game drive, whether it’s a selection from the continental spread or a cooked full English. Lunches can be served fresh in 3 courses at the camp or can be packed up as a picnic to take with you on your game drive and enjoyed out in the bush. Then enjoy some drinks around the fire as the evening sets in before a delicious 3 course dinner featuring the camp’s signature dessert dish, the ‘Chocolate Kilimanjaro’!

Journey to the heart of one of Africa’s most pristine and remote plains of wilderness for unmatched experiences in connecting with nature and witnessing the magnificent wildlife up close. Witness the wonders of the Tanzanian wilds from an open-sided, photography-optimised safari car. While staying at Swala, you’ll have excellent chances to see an array of animals. Their game drives make the most of the cool early mornings and evenings when the wilderness first stirs and is no longer slowed by the day’s heat.

Watch the herds of zebra, giraffes and antelope and the prides of lions, spot cheetahs and packs of wild dogs, and if you’re lucky catch some glimpses of elephants and shy elands. For a fully rounded safari experience, night-time drives are also available so you can see how the bush is still bustling with life even after the sun goes down.

Leave the cars behind and stretch your legs with one of the camp’s expert guides and naturalists. Walking the same ground as the animals of the Tarangire takes safari to a far more intimate level. There are some things that you simply can’t appreciate while on a game drive, so once you slow down your eyes will be opened to all these new things you hadn’t noticed before. Only by getting up close are you able to fully appreciate the role of every little piece of the ecosystem.

Start your day on a high as dawn breaks across the plains. Glide silently over the Tarangire and take in the beautiful scenery and undisturbed wildlife below. Guests often find themselves struck by the serene silence and stillness, the perfect setting to take in the wildlife from above without any interference.

With so many picturesque sites at your door how could you pass up the chance to enjoy a bush meal? Picnic breakfasts and lunches can easily be packed up for you to take on your game drives and it’s no trouble to arrange a dinner under the open sky, so you can enjoy some delicious food surrounded by the Tanzanian wilderness.

Since the opening of their first camp in 1999, Sanctuary Retreats have been committed to responsible tourism and conservation. They aim to create long-lasting relationships with local communities and select projects based on this potential. Working closely with communities to improve their well-being they identify “long-term, viable and self-sustaining projects that will have the support of our staff and visitors.”

Sanctuary Retreats is dedicated to making sure that revenue from tourism continuously contributes to the livelihoods and communities of those living on the edge of the wilderness. Education is a vital part of empowering these communities and their younger generations, so Sanctuary Retreats has worked to improve the educational environment for the children who go to the Gijedabung and Mwikantsi Primary Schools by providing new classrooms, accommodation for teachers, textbooks, stationary and installing solar power. Additionally, in 2016 Sanctuary Retreats launched a new literacy programme, utilising digital e-readers and providing children with dozens of books, both in their native language and English, to improve their reading skills.

They also funded the construction of Arusha’s first primary school for children with disabilities, such as hearing problems and learning difficulties. However, when these children finished primary school they would return to mainstream education, where teachers were unable to deal with their unique learning needs, and this led to many children dropping out of school. To tackle this problem, Sanctuary Retreats funded and established a secondary school so these children could continue their education in an environment that was tailored to their needs.

Following the success of LifeStraw® filters in other parts of the world, Sanctuary Retreats expanded its Safe Water for Schools initiative to Tanzania and delivered filters to schools in Arusha, Tarangire and Ngorongoro. The filters purify contaminated water by removing at least 99.9999% of bacteria, 99.999% of viruses and 99.99% of protozoan parasites, thus preventing waterborne illnesses that are still common in parts of Africa such as typhoid, cholera, worms and cryptosporidiosis. Thanks to LifeStraw® filters, over 10,000 students and teachers now have access to safe drinking water to date.

Established over 30 years ago by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), this project monitors ant changes in the birth and survival rates of cheetahs. With approximately 210 cheetahs in the ecosystem, the research done ‘provides invaluable insight into the challenges facing cheetah’ populations and makes huge contributions to planning out conservation strategies that will benefit them. Pictures of cheetahs taken by guests staying at one of Sanctuary’s camps can directly help the project because it helps them keep track of cheetahs in the area.

At Duuma Wajane Bike Shop, 4 local women have been extensively trained and employed as bike mechanics and together operate their own business enterprise. What’s important is that usually these roles would have been dominated by men and through supporting this new female-led model, Sanctuary Retreats is helping encourage local women to learn new skills, become financially independent and break restrictive constructs of gender.