Prior - The Heart of Africa

Walking, running, and cycling trails of varying lengths allow guests to explore the property's sprawling tropical gardens and the coffee estate that surrounds it.

Spend time with the whole family by enjoying a leisurely outdoor activity, with the fresh air and green surroundings of the estate providing a tranquil backdrop for the game.

Whether you're returning from your safari or preparing for your journey into Tanzania's wilderness, spend some time indulging in the selection of pampering treatments available at our in-house spa. For your convenience, certain treatments are available in the privacy of your cottage or in a secluded garden spot.

Treatments are available at an additional charge. Please enquire about the spa menu.

Shopping in Arusha offers a fantastic opportunity to experience and learn more about Tanzania's vibrant cultures. Guests staying at Legendary Lodge have the option of several shopping excursions.

The Cultural Heritage Centre is one of the most comprehensive curio shops, with genuine antiques and African artwork, as well as an outstanding selection of gemstones, including the legendary Tanzanite and Tsavorite.

For those passionate about true community upliftment, then Shanga is the place. A heartwarming project dedicated to empowering the disabled community, Shanga produces unique hand-made glass and beaded products from recycled materials.

Trawl the Maasai market and discover a wide selection of handmade art, woodwork, textiles, clothing, jewellery and other beadwork — and take the opportunity to engage in some friendly bartering with the Maasai shopkeepers while you're at it.

Legendary Lodge's own boutique also offers a range of jewellery, clothing and bags.

Please enquire about transfer options.

Not forgetting the beginnings of this century-old estate, Legendary Lodge is surrounded by a working coffee plantation. Guests can spend a morning following a coffee bean from tree to cup: from the agriculture, to picking and roasting, to the making of that delicious blend many of us enjoy at home, as Tanzanian coffee is exported far and wide.

Coffee tours take place on Legendary Lodge's neighbouring Burka Coffee farm.

Legendary Lodge is on the doorstep of several wonderful protected wilderness areas that make for unforgettable day trips. Day trips to nearby national parks, including Arusha, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, can be arranged on-site with the lodge manager.

Elevate your safari experience to new heights with a private helicopter excursion. The helicopter is available for private transfers between properties, stunning scenic excursions, or as the ultimate aerial adventure for your entire safari circuit.

Enquire for rates and further information.

The cornerstone of a safari experience at Serian is that each group has their own open-top safari vehicle, and their own dedicated guide and spotter. The freedom this grants you is key to getting the most out of your stay: go where the day takes you, without the limitations of fixed schedules, or fitting in with other peoples’ plans. Nothing but personal desire need dictate what you do.

Our vehicles are specially customised to be a climbing frame, and a photographer’s extra tool. They are comfortable, able to handle the terrain, and cover the distance…. And were designed for sun, rain, wind, and above all, the feeling of having as little as possible separating you from what’s out there.

Our guides and spotters are intimately familiar with these special places, so they know all its secrets and the ways the animals interact with it, from the subtle changes of the seasons, to the stages of an animals lifecycle, to the flora that sustains it all – they are the key that can unlock it all for you.

Although ‘Walker’ really is Alex’s surname, being born to such an identity turns out to have been a self-fulfilling prophecy. Spending his childhood days out on foot with his father’s trackers, then turning this into a full-time career as soon as he possibly could, Alex’s passion is walking, and it is without a doubt his preferred method of accessing the bush.

Walking safaris epitomise the golden chance to get away from the trails and beaten tracks, and immerse in the environment in a way that the noise and speed of vehicles don’t permit. Once you slow down, there’s a whole world that you never noticed before. The beauty of walking is that it engenders an appreciation of an ecosystem’s sheer perfection: every tiny element has its place, and plays its role.

Stripping away the layers between you and an untamed setting beckons forth your primal instincts: your hearing, sight and smell all sharpen in response – and your appreciation of what you perceive is heightened as a result.

In Serian’s Serengeti North, the focus is on the Mara River – water is always a concentration of so many life forms, and with the wildebeest crossing back and forth over it at this time of year, their effects on the bush, the predators and scavengers makes for fascinating exploring along the banks. We tend to steer clear of the herds though, as the idea is to steer clear of the crowds and vehicles – but this meander offers a combination of big game encounters, and beautiful countryside.

First off, a disclaimer: flycamping has nothing to do with flying. Rather, it takes its name from sleeping in the bush under nothing more than a flysheet, as was the camping tradition before the luxury-laden era of ‘glamping’ arrived.

The premise is that you spend the days walking, and the nights sleeping out in light weight tents, in a makeshift camp that moves each day – the end of each day’s walk brings you to your new site for the night.

Flycamping can easily be incorporated into your stay with us, with some nights spent in our main camp before and after – and in fact, we can’t recommend it enough. It can add a whole new dimension to your experience, and a taste of the wilderness that few others ever encounter.

At Mwiba, taking the opportunity to get out on foot is highly recommended. The terrain lends itself to walking, and the chance to get out of the vehicle, stretch one's legs, and zone in on the smaller things is one to be embraced.

Walks are always accompanied by an armed ranger, and for safety reasons we stipulate that we leave it to the discretion of the walking guide to determine whether a child is permitted on the walk or not.

At Mwiba, each party is allocated a private vehicle and guide, and guests are free to decide their own schedule. Spacious game viewing cars enhance the feeling of proximity to nature, and for keen photographers there is plenty of room for equipment and manoeuvring for that perfect angle.

Free access to our exclusive-use concession, Maswa Kimali, allows guests to roam further afield, and for anyone staying three nights or more, entry to Ndutu or Southern Serengeti is complimentary. All in all, there is no shortage of game-viewing opportunities, and the chance to explore a variety of different terrains is guaranteed.

Unlike many reserves and parks, Mwiba grants guests the freedom to explore the nocturnal element of safari: under the light of the moon, the landscape seems magically different, and an array of nocturnal species come out of hiding.

The Hadzabe are a hunter-gatherer tribe indigenous to the area, and live in perfect symbiosis with their environment, which provides them with all their needs for food, medicine and shelter.

Guests have the incredibly special opportunity to accompany them for a morning as they move through the wilderness, foraging for food and following honey-guide birds to sweet treats.

Join the Hadzabe on a foraging walk through nature and learn more about their folklore and history.

The Datoga are a pastoral tribe with a lifestyle akin to the Maasai. The opportunity to visit them in their village provides an excellent opportunity to gain insight into a proud and vibrant culture that is as much part of Mwiba's landscape as the wildlife is.

Dropping by late in the afternoon, guests are treated to the buzz of domesticity as the herders return home, and women busy themselves about their homestead in exquisite beaded and copper jewellery. They are delighted to show off their dwellings and rhythmic, joyous dancing in what is always a vibrant cultural exchange for all parties involved.

There is no better way to salute the end of a day on safari than with an ice-cold G&T in hand, watching the sun paint the sky shades of pink and orange as it sets.

Choose from an array of pampering massages to soothe the body after hours spent exploring the region on safari.

Elevate your safari experience to new heights with the inclusion of a helicopter excursion — exclusive to Legendary Expeditions.

Revel in the freedom to explore hundreds of thousands of acres of unspoiled wilderness: from the wide-open plains, dramatic volcanoes and mirror-like lakes to the spectacular geological formation of the Great East African Rift Valley, which tears through 7000km of African landscape.

Available for private transfers between properties, stunning scenic excursions, or as the ultimate aerial adventure for your entire safari circuit.

Max 4 adults OR 2 adults and 3 children (luggage restrictions apply).

Guests staying at Mwiba Lodge have the option to experience a night under the stars in true expeditionary fashion. Fly-camping is the perfect off-grid getaway for those seeking a full immersion into the wilderness — without compromising comfort — and, with no distractions, get closer to nature than anywhere else.

For couples, fly-camping offers a truly remote and romantic experience, and for families or groups of friends, this makes for an unforgettable adventure with nothing but canvas between you and the wild.

A bucket shower with warm water and a long drop loo are available while fly-camping, and there is also the option to arrive or depart via a bush walk.

Nomad share the mountains and the lake with so many animals, but it's the chimps that inspire; it's hard not to compare their daily lives, their movements, feeding, squabbling, foraging and grooming, with our own. Time spent with them is time away from everything else that is ordinary. The Greystoke guides have watched, over the years, as families have grown, alpha males have come and gone, bonds and friendships have been created and then broken, and then created again. They are not so different from us.

After tracking them, for an hour or two, maybe more, only aware of the sounds they are making ahead of you, you find them; suddenly they are everywhere. You sit quietly on the forest floor and take a deep breath, this is what it's all about. For the next hour it's as if you scarcely breathe, so wrapped up are you in watching them go about their daily life. You become aware of the subtleties of different relationships, through gesture, sound and expression. One dictating the pace, another courting favour, yet another perhaps plotting a coup. There is humour too as the young chimps fall about the floor and play remarkably human games.

It's all acted out on this natural chimpanzee stage, and witnessing it is a true privilege.

Hike the forest paths looking for birds and butterflies, as well as the other shy mammals who quietly live there. Swim in ice-cold pools up in the mountain waterfalls, take a kayak out for a dawn paddle towards the middle of the lake; drink your morning coffee there and enjoy the sunrise coming up over the mountains.

Go for sundowners on the old wooden dhow, lazily following the shoreline and stopping to fish along the way, or just relax on the warm sands of the beach with a drink in hand.