Gorillas, Tanzania Safari & Beach

On the banks of Lake Victoria lies our beautiful, picture perfect golf resort with a 18-hole golf course, designed by Golf Plan with a challenging layout for golfers of all skill levels. The views of the lake and its surroundings are soft on the eye with ample bird life, while each hole has a different and relaxed feel to it. Its unique features include a finishing hole with an island green that is not seen in many courses. Additional amenities and services include a driving range, caddies, equipment rentals and golf professionals to provide instruction for juniors and adults.

Take a trip to Paradise Island, an unspoiled paradise covered by dense tropical forest that is inhabited by monkeys as well as birds. Later, treat yourself to a tour around the fishing villages and meet Ugandans to learn their culture and ways.

Located 23 km offshore from Entebbe, this 100-acre forested island is a safe haven for juvenile/ orphaned chimpanzees who are free to enjoy the natural habitat on this wonderful island.

Enjoy fishing from the waters of the largest lake in Africa, Lake Victoria, at Paradise Island right off Entebbe.

The resort’s boating marina on Lake Victoria is located on a man-made bay featuring a channel and yacht basin with moorings for yachts and motorboats. Take a trip to the channel to Lutembe beach and view the exotic birdlife or cruise to Ngamba Island, a chimpanzee preserve where guests can participate in feeding the animals. Additionally, we offer dawn lunch and sundowner cruises for small groups.

The gorillas are completely wild but have become used to seeing a few humans after years of habituation. Many of the expert guides have been involved in this process since the beginning and are able to explain the complicated etiquette involved in meeting a giant silverback. This is an opportunity afforded only to a select few, as just eight visitors are allowed to view each group every day. Tracking through dense forest with steep slopes means that participants do need to be physically fit to enjoy the track. Once the gorillas are located, spend a maximum of one hour with them before returning back to camp. Please note only children aged 15 and above can track gorilla.

A tracking permit must be bought in advance in person in Bwindi.

Learn about and interact with the local Batwa People. This full day activity involves a three hour walk followed by about an hour spent with the Batwa. The walk back to camp is two hours. The visit includes a music performance, visitation by the goddess, hunting and gathering demonstration and an opportunity to see how they live. The Twa tribe who are also known as the Batwa are the oldest inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. They speak the same language as the Hutu and Tutsi groups of Rwanda. Like most of the tribes in Africa, they have moved from place to place and are now found in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and eastern portions of the DRC. Statistics show that by the year 2000 their numbers were approximately 80,000 people, making them a significant minority group in these countries. The first records of the Batwa were made by the Egyptians over 4,000 years ago. They described them as short statured people living near the "Mountains of the Moon" extolling their abilities as dancers and story tellers.

Bwindi is surrounded on the Buhoma side by the Bakiga community and the Batwa people community. The walk takes about two hours and begins with a stroll through a small tea farming project. Here you can stop to meet the tea pickers and perhaps even learn how to pluck tea leaves along the way. Then visit a local beer brewery and see how they mash bananas to make a fermented brew which is mixed and distilled to make banana beer - a popular local drink in the area. From here walk a short distance to the local hospital which Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp supports through various projects. Learn about how it started and the work they do for the community. Continue your walk to a nearby village and visit a traditional medicine man. The knowledge of using herbs for healing has been passed on from generation to generation and he will show you some of the herbs that grow in the forest and talk about how they are used. Later, relax and enjoy a performance by the Batwa community before returning to the camp.

Bwindi boasts over 350 bird species, including 24 that are endemic to these highlands straddling Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo - the so-called the "Albertine Rift Endemics". For keen birders, we can arrange for a local expert to guide you on a fascinating 2-3 hour walk through the park.

Bwindi is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a spectacular place to visit. In addition to the gorillas, Bwindi is also home to rare forest elephants, giant forest hogs and eleven kinds of primates, such as red tailed and blue monkeys, black and white colobus, baboons and chimpanzees. You can also find forest duiker antelopes, bush buck antelopes and over 200 species of butterflies. We can offer a guided forest walk on the Munyaga waterfall trail. This trail starts from the Park office and ends at the magnificent Munyaga waterfall. The walk to and from the waterfall takes about three hours and is a good way to practice or cool down a day before or after the gorilla tracking.

While staying at Gorilla Forest Camp guests are able to venture out on game drives to Ishasha, located in the south of the well known Queen Elizabeth National Park popular for its tree climbing lions, savanna elephants, buffaloes, topi, hippos, various bird species, warthogs and the occational leopard.

The Ishasha Sector is famous for its population of tree-climbing lions. The Lions are normally seen lazily lying within the branches of the huge fig trees staring down at the numerous Uganda Kobs grazing in the open Ishasha plains. This is usually a full day outing where guests are able to stop for lunch at the hippo pool. Departure is 6:30 in the morning.

On the banks of Lake Victoria lies our beautiful, picture perfect golf resort with a 18-hole golf course, designed by Golf Plan with a challenging layout for golfers of all skill levels. The views of the lake and its surroundings are soft on the eye with ample bird life, while each hole has a different and relaxed feel to it. Its unique features include a finishing hole with an island green that is not seen in many courses. Additional amenities and services include a driving range, caddies, equipment rentals and golf professionals to provide instruction for juniors and adults.

Take a trip to Paradise Island, an unspoiled paradise covered by dense tropical forest that is inhabited by monkeys as well as birds. Later, treat yourself to a tour around the fishing villages and meet Ugandans to learn their culture and ways.

Located 23 km offshore from Entebbe, this 100-acre forested island is a safe haven for juvenile/ orphaned chimpanzees who are free to enjoy the natural habitat on this wonderful island.

Enjoy fishing from the waters of the largest lake in Africa, Lake Victoria, at Paradise Island right off Entebbe.

The resort’s boating marina on Lake Victoria is located on a man-made bay featuring a channel and yacht basin with moorings for yachts and motorboats. Take a trip to the channel to Lutembe beach and view the exotic birdlife or cruise to Ngamba Island, a chimpanzee preserve where guests can participate in feeding the animals. Additionally, we offer dawn lunch and sundowner cruises for small groups.

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.

Legendary Lodge Credit: Legendary Expeditions

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.

Legendary Lodge Credit: Legendary Expeditions

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.

Legendary Lodge Credit: Legendary Expeditions

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 Credit: Legendary Expeditions

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.

Credit: Legendary Expeditions

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.

Credit: Legendary Expeditions

There are no better game viewing locations on earth than the Masai Mara and Serengeti.

We believe our converted 4×4 vehicles, expert guides and eagle-eyed spotters are without peer or parallel.

The combination makes any Bushtops safari simply unforgettable. This activity is included in the price for the ground package rate and is not included in the price for those who are paying for the full board package.

You leave Camp at around 6 am for a game drive en route to the walking venue at Wayo near Mara river. The walk takes around one hour and is accompanied by your Ranger and an armed Tanapa (Tanzania National Parks) Ranger, who’s expertise means you can safely approach herds of impala, zebra and giraffe. They will also spot and interpret the animals tracks left from the night before and identify the flora and fauna. All you need is a pair of good walking shoes and a sense of adventure!

After the walk you head back to Camp for breakfast or continue with your game drive.

(Please note that an indemnity form has to be signed before the walk)

Minimum age requirement for children on a walking safari is 16 yrs and above

Charge Per Person is USD 50

It’s a classic moment, immortalized in films, fantasies and a million great safari adventures: watching the sun set over the African bush. There’s simply nothing like it.

You may see a burnished disk slip gracefully from view. If not, the clouds will diffuse an amazing palette of colour, flooding the horizon.

Either way, you’ll be part of an incredible experience which will live on in your mind’s eye, for ever.

Serengeti Bushtops isn’t just the perfect place for a safari: it includes the ideal spot for a sundowner. We call it Simba’s rock. The reason is simple. Simba means lion and our favoured sundowner location is theirs too!

Needless to say, if they are there first, our advance team swiftly detours to prepare one of several alternative options. Usually, though, we’re able to look across the Serengeti plains from Simba’s Rock, watching the sun set on paradise.

Sundowners are private at Serengeti Bushtops, meaning they are exclusive to you as an individual, couple, family or group. The charge is 50 USD per person.

Sundowners can also be enjoyed for free in the privacy of your own luxury tent. Each tent has a sunken lounge or you could enjoy the sunset from your hot tub.

What a way to end the day!

There is nothing quite like soaring high above the herds in a hot air balloon, as the sun rises over Serengeti. If this prospect appeals, and you decide to add a balloon safari to your itinerary, do let us know in advance, so we can arrange a booking with our local hot air balloon operator, based near Kogatende.

You will be picked up from Serengeti Bushtops before dawn, ready to take off as the sun makes its appearance. The flight lasts an unforgettable hour, before your balloon is brought gracefully back to earth – and a celebratory Bush champagne breakfast.

You can then head off on a full day’s day game drive, or return to camp for a more leisurely morning and even a return to bed, to catch up on lost sleep.

Please note that a balloon safari lies outside your Serengeti Bushtops booking and our direct control: you should allow around US$550 per person for the flight.

If you are bringing younger members of the family with you, there's something new and exciting awaiting them at Bushtops. Our Bushcraft Challenge. This introduces youngsters to basic survival skills, local culture, the importance of conservation and (of course) local flora and fauna.

Activities include learning to make fire without matches or a lighter; completing animal spotting checklists (assisted by our rangers); identifying animal tracks and making a memento plaster cast of their favourites (we can even arrange to have a Bronze made out of your cast. This will be sent to you via courier); learning about animal bones; practicing archery; trying out bead making skills; baking Swahili cookies and more!

Completing the challenge leads to a Bushtops Bushcraft Certificate, authenticating unique skills and a sense of real achievement. This activity carries no additional cost.

Education is the greatest gift – and helping out local schools is very much part of the Bushtops way. It’s fundamental to our belief that luxury safaris must go hand in hand with care for the land, its wildlife and the communities who were there long before us.

Our local schools are proud of what we achieve together, so the headmaster or a teacher is always happy to give our guests a tour. In around 45 minutes you get to meet the students, see them in class and note some of the projects we’ve funded, built or worked on.

A visit always creates an unforgettable impression: it’s a captivating experience, seeing how children in less fortunate communities take every chance they can get to learn – creating new opportunities for their future.

To take part in a school visit, just let us know before you arrive. If not, we may still be able to arrange things once you join us. There is no cost.

Picture this: an early morning wake-up call, followed a mysterious drive into the wilderness. Then, as the sun rises and light

floods the landscape, you find yourself in an oasis of tranquility.

You hop from the truck to survey this wonderland. Moments later, your table awaits you. This is your Private Bush breakfast.

It’s highly unlikely that you have ever started the day in such a glorious location, or in such splendid isolation. No fellow diners: just you, our chef and your driver, serving a hot meal and an array of delicious buffet delicacies. A glorious day in the Bush has begun …

We recommend you pre-book your private bush breakfast with us before you arrive. The cost is 50USD per person – but the experience is priceless.

The perfect end to the perfect day: total privacy in your own illuminated corner of the darkening Serengeti. That’s what our Klipspringer dining experience delivers, within a setting of charm and intimacy.

The surrounding rocks, of the sort favoured by local Klipspringer antelope, form a natural amphitheatre, adding intimacy for honeymooners or families (the 130USD cost covers up to six people).

Within this magical haven, lanterns and a bonfire turn beauty into wonder, creating the ideal spot for a sumptuous meal, prepared by our executive chef.

As day turns to night in the Serengeti, has life ever been this good?!

When you visit us, we want you to be exhilarated by the wildlife, but relaxed by everything else. You can book an Aromatherapy or Deep Tissue massage with products from Terres d’Afrique.

As you contemplate the delights of the safari you have just completed or the dinner about to be enjoyed, what better way to let the cares of the world slip from your shoulders? These treatments and massages carry an additional cost.

During a full-day game drive your ranger will find a nice spot under a tree to set up a picnic lunch. Dining in the middle of nowhere with nobody to disturb you except for the noises of animals nearby also enjoying their lunch is an experience one cannot easily forget. This carries no additional cost.

Ngorongoro Crater is unofficially the "Eight Wonder of the World". Visitors will understand instantly when they reach the first viewing point on the lip of the crater and take in the majesty of the ecological wonder.

Descending to the floor of the crater, guests are treated a magnificent wildlife spectacle as they traverse a variety of landscapes, from open grasslands dotted with game, soda lakes coloured pink with flamingo and dense riverine woodland, with the rising walls of the crater framing every view.

A half-day or full-day gamedrive into the Ngorongoro Crater is included in a Game Package

Take a canter or a leisurely walk on a horse through the fertile grounds of the surrounding gardens and coffee plantation. The Manor has a stable of horses and ponies suitable for most ages.

Horse riding is at an additional cost.

Lake Manyara National Park is known for its astounding variety of landscapes for its relatively smaller size compared to other well-known parks on the Northern Tanzanian circuit. From dense forest, to soda lake wetland, open grasslands and acacia thickets, the variety is superseded only by the variety of wildlife found throughout.

Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in East Africa, and is famed as the place where Louis and Mary Leakey made some of the most important discoveries of early hominids. A still active excavation site, visit the place where some of the earliest hominids lived and breathed.

A full-day excusion is included in a Game Package

The Manor at Ngorongoro is located on a working coffee estate called Shangri-La. Take a tour to learn more about the world's most famous morning beverage!

Take on of The Manor's mountain bikes and explore the surrounding gardens and coffee estate at your own leisure.

Mountain biking included in Game Package.

When not exploring why not indulge in a pampering massage or treatment from The Manor's own spa.

Spa treatments not included in Game Package.

A nice refreshing dip in The Manor's pool also offers a wonderful way to relax while on safari.

Tarangire National Park is transected by the Tarangire River which in the dry season becomes a life source for an abundance of animals, including thousands of elephant. The lush swamplands are home to one of the largest populations of breeding birds, and 550 species of bird have been recorded within the park's boundaries. The red earthed and white-grassed landscape of Tarangire is punctuated by magnificent baobab trees and termite mounds, and is home to a myriad of animals.

Enjoy the offerings of Tarangire National Park on a game drive with an expert Elewana guide. Elewana Tarangire Treetops is a short 45 minute drive from the entrance of the national park, however being located in a wildlife area adjacent to the park your game drive begins as soon as you are in the car.

Sit back, drink in hand, a top Sunset Hill and soak in the kaleidoscope of colours of a spectacular African sunset. You will be spoilt with a menu of cocktails on offer as well as delectable bitings.

The African bush comes alive at night, with a plethora of different creatures becoming active. Located in Randilen wildlife management area outside of the national park, Elewana Tarangire Treetop guests are afforded the special privilege of doing night game drives and having the chance to witness these nocturnal animals.

The slower pace and proximity to nature of a guided bush walk allows intimate enjoyment of your surrounding environs. With the expertise of your guide, view and learn about the animals, insects and flora at a pace that allows appreciation of the intricacies and nuances of each and their place in the web of life.

Enjoy a home-cooked meal served with extraordinary views over the Tarangire plains.

Zanzibar is an islands of exotic sights, sounds and scents, and a multitude of activities to enjoy.

• Scuba diving and snorkeling
• Jet skiing, water skiing, knee boarding and small sailing catamarans
• Deep-sea fishing
• Spice farm tour
• Stone Town walking tour
• Catamaran and exotic sunset dhow cruises
• Day trips to Jozani Forest

These are not included in accommodation rates.

The ultimate in indulgence, the Kilindi Spa offers world-class treatments to pamper your mind, body and soul. With treatments from massages to body scrubs and rejuvenating facials, you will leave feeling revitalised from head-to-toe.

Spa treatment are not included in accommodation rates.