No where will you experience luxury safari tents like on an African Safari. From designer tents suspended in the air to family-oriented tented camps and anything in between, you can rest assured to find the perfect luxury safari tent for you.
These Luxury safari tents, inspired by the dramatic African landscape and often set up in some of the most remote locations in Africa, offer a romantic and feeling of the old style of travel which you cannot experience anywhere else.
There is something inexplicably magical about staying in a tent when on safari. Instead of being shut away behind brick and glass, you can enjoy the glow of lantern light on canvas walls and drift off to sleep to the sounds of the surrounding untouched nature.
If however your idea of staying in a tent means having to rough it in a brightly coloured, polyester ‘dome’, you’re in for a wonderful surprise. Africa’s top tented camps offer a softer kind of adventure with all the comfort and the trimmings you’d expect from a luxury safari lodge.
Richard’s River Camp – Masai Mara, Kenya
Ideally situated on the banks of the Ntiakatek River and incredibly private, Richard’s River Camp is one of only eleven safari camps in the exclusive Mara North Conservancy.
The camp’s surroundings are simply lovely. It overlooks Ngoyanai Springs, a permanent spring that attracts a steady stream of wildlife to the area and keeps the surroundings lush and green. Believe it or not, the camp even has its own resident pride of lions.
Activities at Richard’s River Camp
Richard’s River Camp offers a wide range of adventurous activities to its guests. You can choose from game drives by day or night, scenic guided bush walks and walking safaris, birdwatching, sundowners, bush meals, visits to a rhino sanctuary and cultural visits to a local Masai village. For an even more spectacular means of going on safari, you can book a hot-air balloon safari
Cottars 1920s Camp – Masai Mara, Kenya
This world famous luxury tented camp in it’s own private conservancy in the Masai Mara really does take you back to the grand safaris of yesteryear – everything in this camp was used by Africa’s first great explorers and the camp is still owner run.
They have been operating this and other camps under the Cottar flag for over 100 years (five generations). That they’ve done so successfully is noticeable through the many awards the camp has been presented with throughout the years. The camp is known for its stunning marquee tents, world-class Maasai guides and trackers and arguably some of the best food in the Mara. The camp’s staff is extremely attentive and will do all they can to make sure your stay is very memorable.
Activities at Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp
Cottar’s Camp has a slightly different approach to safari activities than other safari lodges. The act of going on a safari and spotting the big five has become fairly standardised at most lodges.
Cottar’s now also offers the following unique and engaging activities to its guests. Additional fee may apply for some activities:
vulture / raptor rehabilitation experience
Masai Mara’s all-female conservation ranger unit meet-up
pangolin project talk
wild dog talk
medicinal plant walk & talk
Mara predator project experience
foraging adventure and foraged dining experience led by a Maasai staff member
tour of the Maasai community-owned private Olderkesi Conservancy complete with a lovely sundowner
e-bike tour of the surrounding area
reforestation seed dispersal bushwalk
stargazing
Maasai warrior school
history of safari talk
Cottar’s sustainability talk
game walk or run with Maasai guide
visit to local Maasai school
professional photography experience
hot-air balloon safari
bush bath
This area where this camp is situated boasts the largest concentrations of terrestrial wildlife on Earth as well as some of the most dramatic vistas in Africa. Established in 1919, Cottar’s exudes the same grandeur of the era in which it was born and perfectly captures the spirit of the early explorers with its Hemingway-style tents. The suites are lavishly furnished with authentic antiques – picture canopied beds, faded Louis Vuitton trunks and fine candlelit dinners followed by a glass of port as the gramophone crackles into life.
Sayari Camp – Serengeti, Tanzania
Sayari Camp is a seasonal camp that offers front-row seats to the annual wildebeest migration, where massive herds of animals move in a circular passage, following the rains and fresh grazing from the Serengeti to Kenya’s Masai Mara. For those who wish to get away from the crowds, this seasonal camp, lying in the northern Serengeti and far off the usual tourist track, is the perfect accommodation choice. Besides the serene atmosphere and outstanding game viewing, its spacious, stylish tents make it easy to see why Africa Geographic considers Sayari one of its ‘Special Places in Africa’.
Activities at Sayari Camp
The camp offers a great range of activities – game drives, bush walks, culture and community visits, and hot air balloon rides.
Drives take place in early morning and late afternoon into evening. They are expertly guided, and a wonderful opportunity to see a real wealth of wildlife!
As Sayari is close to the River Mara, you can enjoy watching the world-famous Great Migration river crossings while the huge herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles are in residence, typically from July to November. Look out for scary crocs too!
Outside the migration months, there’s still a lot to see, such as all Big Five – lion, rhino, leopard, elephant, and buffalo – in addition to numerous smaller predators and herbivores.
There are hundreds of bird species too, not least a thrilling assortment of raptors and oodles of songbirds!
Sayari’s bush walks are fantastic for anyone seeking a closer look at all the wildlife, in the company of a knowledgeable guide.
If you have an interest in culture, you will relish visiting a nearby village, Merenga, to find out about the Kuria tribe. You can even pop in to a local garden to pick a few ingredients for dinner!
And if you are looking for a really special experience, we recommend paying a little extra to go on a hot air balloon ride. The balloon launches at dawn, drifting over the Serengeti plains for about an hour before descending to a bush breakfast – a real treat.
Sausage Tree Camp – Lower Zambezi, Zambia
Sausage Tree is one of Africa’s best luxury tented camps with white canvas stretching from the roof, and with stunning views of the Zambezi.
It’s location within the Lower Zambezi National Park on the banks of the Zambezi River means that game viewing activities take place both on the water, by boat and canoes, and on the land by four-wheel drive game viewing vehicles or on foot (bush walks).
Here you will be utterly spoilt for elephant and hippo viewing, and will see leopard and lion too. The camp is relaxed and informal with exquisite food and huge rooms which all have verandahs above the Zambezi itself. Sausage Tree have some of the best guides in Africa, their knowledge is unbelievable and they know the Lower Zambezi like the back of their hands – it is a pure pleasure to go out on a game drive with them.
Activities At Sausage Tree Camp
The location offers an ease of safari activities including walking safaris, day game drives, night game drives (with sundowners to start the drive), canoeing, fishing and boat safaris. Something that is unique to Sausage Tree Camp is that they offer lunches out on the shallow parts in the river – they set up a table and chairs and as you eat your lunch, your feet are dipped into the Zambezi River! Of course shallow and safe areas are strategically picked beforehand!
Walking Safaris are also an activity at sausage tree camp.
