Search results for

Move over, canvas safari tent; Tanzania has a new lodging option, this one in the form of a space-alien-looking dome. Set back from the famous Ngorongoro Crater and its plethora of lodges, the Highlands domes’ wild, remote, forest-edge location is one of the key selling points. The accommodations were custom-built to make it easy to take in incredible views. Asilia, the safari outfitter that owns these dwellings, prides itself on the authenticity of the experience, so trips to visit local Maasai communities are low-key and varied, with a different village visited each day. At more than 7,500 feet above sea level, evenings are chilly, but each dome tent is fitted with a high-output woodstove to keep guests cozy all night long.

Olduvai Gorge sits in the Great Rift Valley between Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania. Named after the Maasai word for the sisal plant (oldupai) which is prolific in this area, it is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site owing to the fact that it contains, among a plethora other fossils, hominid remains from 2.5 million years ago. The visitor center and museum is founded upon the camp of Mary Leakey, who excavated the paleoanthropological artifacts during the 1970s, and it was here that she found fossilized human footprints left an incredible 3 million years ago, proving the theory that we may all be African in our earliest origins. This fascinating site is not just for those interested in archaeology or geology, it is a beautiful place to peruse the dramatic, almost lunar landscape, indulge in some exotic bird-watching, and enjoy a spot of lunch.

The Mto Wa Mbu village, literally translated as the River of Mosquitos, is located along the arid, dusty highway toward Lake Manyara, past the ubiquitous baobab-dotted savannah, herds of grazing cattle patiently watched by Maasai Herdsmen and towards the dramatic backdrop of the lush and fertile Ngorongoro Crater highlands and shimmering Lake Manyara. Its a great place to sample a red banana. In my opinion bananas oughtn’t to be red, so I felt I should try one of these unnatural-looking fruit. I stopped by one of the battered and wonky wooden stalls lining the road, and was initially besieged by women offering me yellow bananas. I pointed to the small bunch of red bananas in a plastic bucket and headed back to my car, intrigued. I can tell you that they taste like banana, with a hint of raspberry and that they are absolutely delicious.

As the camp’s name indicates, the main reason to stay here is to catch the Great Migration, the annual movement of more than one million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle making an 1,800-mile circuit through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park, and into the Maasai Mara in Kenya. At the camp, large, tented chalets on stilts have wraparound decks with a 360-degree view of the landscape and its denizens. The lodgings blend into the surroundings on the bank of one of the great migration obstacles: the Grumeti River, with its many crocodiles, hippos, and boulders. Herds pass through the vicinity from August through November, and the Elewana’s northern Serengeti location miles from the main concentration of game lodges gives it a sense of privacy rarely achieved in the far more visited western and southern park corridors. One further advantage: The camp is within driving distance of the other great wildebeest crossing point, the Mara River, on the border region between the Serengeti and Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Park. The atmosphere at the lodge is cheerful and relaxed, and the huge tented suites, which are divided by canvas walls into bedroom and bathing areas, have comfortable queen or twin beds, wood floors, colonial-style leather chairs, African textile accents, and, unlike most mobile migration safaris, hot water and electricity 24/7.

Explore the varied wildlife of Kenya and Tanzania while immersing yourself in the region’s culture.