Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp
Africa, Eastern Africa | Tanzania | Adventure, All Inclusive, Eco Friendly, Escorted, Family, Group, Honeymoon, Safari, Solo, Tailor Made | Safari Tented | National Park, River | Luxury
The wonders of the Great Migration await your gaze at Serengeti Migration Camp. Witness this infamous wildlife spectacle in which millions of mammals migrate through the plains of the Serengeti, comprising wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle. Here, you can experience this great exodus from the comfort of a 4×4 safari vehicle or the vantage of a hot-air balloon basket high above the sky, offering spectacular views over the Serengeti National Park. Located beside the famous Grumeti River, with regular hippo sightings from the resident pods that line the way. This experience is synonymous with low-impact high-action game viewing against the backdrop of a pristine, untarnished natural landscape.
1.9271° S, 35.0198° E
The landscape, originally formed by volcanic activity, has been sculpted by the ever-changing climate and now varies from open grass plains in the south, savannah grasslands with scattered acacia trees in the centre, hilly wood grasslands in the north to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west.
Serengeti Migration Camp is located at the starting point of the Great Migration within the Serengeti National Park in Northwest Tanzania, hidden among rocky outcrops that seamlessly blend the camp into the surrounding environment. This diverse landscape is home to a plethora of wildlife, comprising predator and prey, including over 500 indigenous bird species. Lobo Airstrip is a 40-minute drive away from the lodge. Flight time is approximately 1hr 20 minutes from Arusha. Private charter flights are permitted to operate within Lobo Airstrip.
- Luxury 5-star safari camp located within the Serengeti National Park
- All-inclusive rates, including all locally sourced food and beverages
- Accommodation features 20 luxuriously furnished safari tents with en-suite facilities
- Guided 4×4 safari game drives through the Serengeti wilderness
- Opportunities to witness the Great Migration, Tanzania’s most iconic wildlife spectacle
- Activities are accompanied by experienced guides, familiar with the land and wildlife
- Children of all ages are welcome
Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp is the perfect option for travellers looking to experience the wonders of the Great Migration in a responsible and sustainable manner. A treasure-trove of staple safari activities await you, featuring classic 4×4 safari game drives across the 10,000-hectare Serengeti National Park where you are met with frequent sightings of lion, zebra, rhino, buffalo, hyena, cheetah and countless more exotic mammals.
Avid birders and wildlife enthusiasts alike flock to the Serengeti from all across the world to witness the more than 500 exotic avian species that call this land home. Bush walks are a quintessential part of the safari experience, allowing you to take in the sights, sounds and atmosphere of your surroundings at a more leisurely pace than is applicable with other modes of safari game viewing.
If it’s a truly unique experience you seek, you can take to the skies of the Serengeti in a hot-air balloon excursion that offers spectacular vistas over the vibrant African landscape. Dining is a lavish affair at Migration Camp, with three meals served each day, featuring a sumptuous three-course evening dinner prepared from fresh local ingredients, ranging from light and healthy to rich and indulgent, complimented by the choice of inside or al-fresco dining locations.
With all-inclusive rates, you’re free to enjoy a mouth-watering array of bottomless beverages at your own discretion. Children of all ages are welcome at Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp, though all children must be under the supervision of an adult at all times.
With a total of 20 luxuriously furnished safari tents, airy, spacious and in fitting with the surrounding environment, you can experience the best of the Serengeti in undisputed style, all while fostering responsibility through sustainability.
Each luxury safari tent is designed with comfort in mind. These spacious and airy units, elevated on raised platforms boast a lavish array of furnishings, including an en-suite bathroom, private deck, double bed, complimentary WIFI and a variety of added amenities meant to elevate the guest experience. The tents have a wooden floor, fixed bathroom walls, fixed wooden doors but all combine with the all-enveloping canvas. Hot running water is sustainably produced via solar generator and is available 24-hours per day.
Amenities Include:
- En-suite bathroom
- Double bed
- Balcony/deck
- Indoor shower
- Fan
- Furniture
- Bathrobes and slippers
- Electric safe
- WIFI
Migration Camp offers multiple dining options to suit the preferences of all guests. Three meals are served daily, featuring a continental breakfast, a hearty lunch (usually served between activities) and a lavish evening three-course meal. Cuisine ranges from light and healthy to lavish and indulgent. The camp features a separate dining deck overlooking the Ndasiata Hills and Grumeti River. Dine under canvas or al-fresco beneath the captivating skies of the Serengeti. Should you have any specific dietary requirements, be sure to inform your guide in advance so any appropriate accommodations can be made.
The Sunset Deck, aptly named for the spectacular views offered as the evening draws near. Here, you can enjoy a spectacular range of mouth-watering cocktails in the company of friends, family and guide, presenting the perfect arena with which to reminisce on an exciting day’s adventure while soaking in the pristine atmosphere of the Serengeti night.
Migration Camp features an authentic African bush style bar, constructed from locally sourced materials such as teak, thatch and stone. All-inclusive rates mean that you free to indulge in a sumptuous selection of locally sourced alcoholic and none-alcoholic beverages at your own discretion. Premium and imported beverages are charged at additional fees.
Set forth for the vibrant and fertile plains of the Serengeti in open 4×4 safari vehicles for a taste of the quintessential game viewing experience. Seasoned guides, familiar with the land and wildlife will lead you through the expansive landscape in search of exotic wildlife, with regular sightings of lion, rhino, buffalo, cheetah, and leopard, among other staple safari favourites throughout the expansive 10,000-hectare wildlife concession. Please note, night drives are not permitted.
The infamous Great Migration is a year-round cycle in which 1.5 million wildebeest, 400,000 zebra, 300,000 Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelle, and 12,000 eland participate. These animals move from the dryer southern part of the ecosystem – the short-grass plains of the south-eastern Serengeti, and head to the moister northern region, the northern Serengeti woodlands and the Maasai Mara plains, and back again.
Migration Camp is situated near the beginning of this stunning natural phenomenon, thus featuring the beginning of this great exodus, offering a spectacle that’s not to be missed.
The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of Africa’s Endemic Bird Areas, featuring over 500 exotic species waiting for you to discover. Bird watching in the Serengeti is a phenomenal year-round attraction, but at its absolute best during November through April. Not only is this when European and North African migratory birds are present, but it is also nesting time for resident species. Keep your eyes peeled for the likes of the black-headed gonolek, Fischer’s lovebird and Verreaux’s eagle, and be sure to bring your binoculars.
For all those seeking an authentic, grass-roots great plains safari excursion, a guided bush walk – accompanied by your own experienced guide – will allow you to soak up the intricacies of nature while traversing the land at a more intimate and leisurely pace than is applicable with other modes of safari game viewing. Watch birds, explore a dry riverbed, walk in the footsteps of zebra or giraffe, sit in stillness of the shade of an ancient tree, unravel the stories behind animal tracks or simply stretch your legs.
Take to the skies over the great Serengeti plains for a game viewing experience that breaks convention. From the vantage of your basket high above the ground, you can spot vast mammal herds pass right beneath your feet, experiencing the wonders of the Great Migration with an untarnished birds-eye view. Hot-air balloon excursions are charged at additional fees.
Take in the atmosphere of the pristine Serengeti night sky while gathered around a cosy campfire in the company of friends and family. Untarnished by light pollution, the remote areas of the Serengeti bush provide the perfect arena for a picturesque star-gazing experience. Marvel at the infinite sky, which features the Big Dipper in the northern hemisphere and the Southern Cross and Pointers in the south.
Elewana is a steadfast partner and supporter of the Land and Life Foundation, a charity committed to supporting local people and preserving wildlife and their habitats. Because Elewana covers 100% of their operational costs, all donations can go straight towards their amazing projects. The Foundation focuses on 4 types of Programmes to achieve its goals: the Wildlife Warrior Programme, nature conservation, medical support, and education support.
The Wildlife Warriors Programme was designed for the purposes of sharing conservational knowledge between generations, encouraging innovative thinking and proactivity in wildlife conservation. It’s the ultimate aim to take the most talented children through to tertiary levels of education so they can become the top conservationists of the next generation.
Across Tanzania and Kenya there are already over 2000 children as part of this Programme, and around 40 have been awarded scholarships that will take them all the way through their primary and secondary education.
The Land and Life Foundation works to ensure local communities in Laikipia and the Maasai Mara have access to quality healthcare. They have been supporting the Aitong Health Centre in the Maasai Mara for 8 years through providing medical supplies and hold free clinics, and in 2018 they partnered with Ewaso Dispensary in Laikipia.
So far, 4,520 patients have been treated free of charge and donated vast sums of medical treatments and equipment including antibiotics, antihistamines and multivitamins, hormonal contraceptives and pregnancy tests, blood pressure machines and cuffs, syringes and needles, oxygen pumps, gauges and first-aid kits.
Land and Life Foundation supports a number of schools in key conservation areas across Tanzania and Kenya as they understand the need of ensuring that communities in these areas can actively benefit from tourism. Elsa’s Kopje Meru is nearby to Ura Gate Primary School, one of the schools supported by Elewana and the Foundation. Currently there are 385 children and 15 teachers. Fundraising has helped the school’s infrastructure to support this student population through developing 12 permanent classrooms, a dining hall and kitchen, a toilet block, a computer room and 3 houses for teachers.
Elewana is committed to its responsibility of nature conservation, with focus on protecting areas that fall outside of national parks and reserves. The Land and Life Foundation is working on a large-scale project to mitigate conflict between human and elephant populations – elephants will often leave protected reserves and raid the crops of nearby villages, which in turn causes retaliation from the farmers who are losing their livelihoods.
For this reason, there are Programmes designed to negate these hostilities by protecting farming lands and providing safe deterrents to ward away the elephants without harming them before they can damage crops.
Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers founded Zoo Check in 1984 to fight against the mistreatment of zoo animals and for their welfare after the premature death of an orphaned elephant Pole Pole. Zoo Check would later become the Born Free Foundation in 1998. The Foundation now encompasses numerous campaigns including Zoo Check, the Elefriends Campaign, Wolf Campaign, Dolphin Campaign, Primate Campaign, Big Cat Campaign, and the Bear Campaign. It’s their aim to change attitudes towards animal captivity and promote the welfare of animals across the globe.
Responsible Tourism Tanzania is a non-profit organisation that encourages and promotes a more sustainable tourism industry within Tanzania. RTTZ was established in 2011 as a trusteeship with a governance and membership base that includes the key stakeholders within the tourism industry, providing various services or functions to support the industry to manage their business in a sustainable manner.
This certification is highly prestigious and provides an acute assurance that Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp operates under strictly applied sustainable guidelines.
Elewana has banned plastic bottles at their camps and lodges throughout Tanzania, including Serengeti Migration Camp, opting instead to provide each new guest with a reusable aluminium bottle that can be filled up at the properties. ‘Historically, when reusable bottles were introduced to six of Elewana’s camps in Kenya, this was shown to prevent over 160,000 non-biodegradable plastic bottles a year from ending up in landfills.
At the beginning of 2019, Elewana was the first institution in East Africa to eliminate the use of plastic straws. They now offer biodegradable paper straws and encourage guests to go to ‘War with the straw’.’ Elewana’s camps and lodges also employ recycling systems to reduce waste. For instance, glass is sent to the Shanga workshop in Arusha, where disadvantaged Tanzanians are able to use the glass for creating artwork and jewellery.
Elewana Serenget Migration Camp utilises solar generated energy for use in multiple applications around the camp and throughout in-camp facilities. For instance, solar energy is used in the heating of water for showers and vanity basins throughout the day and night.
Likewise, solar powered lights that charge during the day are used to light the camp after dark, providing an alternative to running conventional diesel-powered generators throughout the night. The abundance of sun inherent to Tanzania makes sustainable initiatives such as solar power a viable solution for the energy requirements that come with running and maintaining an eco-lodge in such a rural, unurbanised environment.
Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp is primarily constructed from locally sourced and recycled materials. All none-tented fixtures around the camp are constructed from sustainable materials such as teak, thatch and stone.
The practice of sustainable architecture greatly benefits both the immediate and surrounding environment, as doing so negates the need to haul vast quantities of construction materials long distances through otherwise undisturbed habitats and ecosystems, carbon emissions are greatly reduced by the lack of transportation required to haul the construction materials, and recycling existing materials such as lumber saves a proportionate number of trees that would otherwise be cut down.
Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp welcomes families with children of all ages, offering the ultimate family safari experience for all visiting guests. However, due to the potentially hazardous and sometimes unpredictable nature of the environment, children must be supervised by an adult at all times.