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&Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas (Ndutu)
HOTELS & CAMPS

&Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas (Ndutu)

Ultra-luxuryNdutu

Its luxury is not having everything — it is that out where there is nothing, someone still looks after everything beautifully. The camp follows the herds, putting you where the migration is most active: something a permanent lodge cannot reproduce.

Why we chose it

It does not stay in one place. The camp moves around the Serengeti with the migration, relocating five times a year to follow the herds. From January to March, the calving season, it comes down to the short-grass plains in the south so you sleep beside the most active part of the migration, with the exact site adjusted to the season and the animals. Each camp has only 9 tents and around 20 guests at most, on private exclusive-use sites with no fences and no permanent buildings — zebra and wildebeest may be just outside your tent at night, with hyena and lion calling further off.

Being this deep in the bush does not come at the cost of roughing it: the tents have genuinely comfortable beds, a private en-suite and a flushing loo, and the butler service, food and hospitality hold to &Beyond’s usual standard — recent guests return again and again to how carefully they were looked after, and how far the food exceeded what they expected of a bush camp. What you buy at this tier is a very good bed, very good food, service and personal attention this far into the wilderness, plus the mobile-camp experience no permanent lodge can offer.

Before you book

This is a genuine mobile camp, and it delivers comfort differently from a permanent lodge: showers are outdoor bucket showers, with hot water prepared by the staff in advance; charging happens mainly in the public areas and in the vehicles rather than reliably in every tent; and the rooms have neither air conditioning nor a bathtub. If round-the-clock hot water, dependable power, aircon and full hotel facilities matter a great deal to you, this is not the right choice — what is good about it lies elsewhere.

Our verdict

It suits a particular kind of guest: "I know a permanent lodge would be more comfortable, but I may only come to Africa a handful of times in my life. I will trade two nights of hardware comfort for the experience of an ultra-luxury mobile camp right beside the migrating herds." For that guest, we recommend it wholeheartedly — and that is exactly what makes &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas so compelling.

If it is full

  • · For the wilder option: Asilia Olakira Migration Camp (also an Ultra-luxury mobile camp that follows the migration)
  • · For the more comfortable option: Lake Masek Tented Lodge (a tier lower, but a permanent camp with dependable comfort)
Looking out of a tent: rolled-back flaps, director’s chairs on the deck, short-grass plains beyond
Looking out from inside a tent: the flaps rolled back, two director’s chairs and a wash stand on the timber deck, and beyond them the short-grass plains of Ndutu with their scattered acacias. Inside, a made-up bed and a day bed, with mesh walls all round so you can see out lying down. "Sleeping beside the herds" means this distance.
The camp at dusk: campfire, dining tables, director’s chairs and two big tents
The camp at dusk: white-clothed dining tables and a ring of red-checked director’s chairs around the fire, hurricane lamps everywhere, two large tents standing under the acacias and a pink sky above. Nine tents in all — no fence, and not one permanent structure.
The lounge tent: upholstered armchairs, a backgammon board, candles and a bar behind
The lounge tent: pale upholstered armchairs around an iron-framed low table, a backgammon board and a row of lit candles on it, and the drinks table behind. Both sides are open to the bush, a crystal chandelier hangs from the ridge, and a striped rug covers the ground. A mobile camp can be dressed like this.
Inside a guest tent: bed, sofa, old campaign chairs and a Persian rug
Inside a guest tent: the bed in the middle, a long sofa to the left, two old campaign chairs to the right, a wooden trunk at the foot of the bed, a Persian rug over striped matting, and a camera and hat on the table. Mesh walls all around — no air conditioning, this is the ventilation.
Official websitehttps://www.andbeyond.com/our-lodges/africa/tanzania/serengeti-national-park/andbeyond-serengeti-under-canvas/(opens in a new tab)
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