Write to us, or book Hatari Lodge and Shu’mata Camp online with the two booking buttons. Tell us when you would like to come, who is travelling and what pace suits you; Tanielle, our reservations host, replies personally within the day with a written proposal. A deposit of 25% confirms the booking, the balance is due 35 days before arrival, and you pay in US dollars by bank transfer or card.

There is no minimum stay. Even one night is worth your time, because we make it so. We recommend at least two nights at each of our two houses. If you would like to travel away from the crowds, nurture yourself and the ecosystems around you, and reconnect with the land, we suggest four nights at Hatari Lodge and two to three nights at Shu’mata Camp. Every extra night helps you slow down, reconnect and recharge with the land.

Every season has its own colour and light. June to October is cool, clear and bright, with the most reliable elephant viewing at Shu’mata. November to December brings the short rains, and the country becomes green. January to March is warm, green and quiet, with newborn animals. April to May is the time of the long rains; the elephants are more spread out and take longer to find.

Full board, all activities, park, conservation and concession fees, and transfers between the two properties. Not included: airport and border transfers, First Air Responder (FAR) emergency evacuation membership, laundry, bar drinks, gratuities and personal expenses.

The calves walk in the middle of the herd, and children are welcome here in the same spirit. There is a children’s menu, and three villas, each joining two suites through a connecting door. Children up to 4 years stay free; from 5 to 15 years they pay half the adult rate. Tell us their ages and we will shape the days around them.

Yes, on most days of the year. Shu’mata Camp lies in the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area, the Tanzanian side of the Amboseli ecosystem, which stretches across the border into Kenya. Kenya’s Amboseli National Park made this ecosystem famous; Enduimet is Tanzania’s Amboseli. The elephants move freely across the border in search of fodder, water and solitude. The herds come over to us to feed and drink, and leave again at first light to avoid the Maasai livestock. The bulls roam day and night for fodder and water, and to come into breeding condition; among them are some of the last great tuskers of Africa. The Tanzanian side remains a safe haven for many elephants, with space to spread out when the pressure of too many tourists in a small, confined park becomes too much. There is no guarantee, as this is wilderness and not a zoo. On our side of the border, the elephants and you, the traveller, have the freedom to feel real and to reconnect with the land.

We filter and bottle our own drinking water at the lodge and the camp. Bring your own bottle and refill it as often as you like, or buy one from us on arrival. We do not serve imported bottled water.

Giraffes cross the Momella meadow most mornings, so your first encounter is usually at breakfast on the terrace. Zebras, buffalo and warthogs graze in the meadow throughout the day, and in the late afternoon the bushbuck appears at the forest edge; you pass them on the walkway between your room and the lounge. At Shu’mata, the Maasai Steppe opens towards Amboseli along the ancient migratory route of the famous Amboseli tuskers. The gentle giants come to you, on foot, in the jeep, or at a picnic, surrounded by all of Tanzania’s ungulates and other steppe species, as well as its predators and birds of prey. This is your seasonal private Serengeti experience.

Dress in layers. From June to October, the early mornings on the steppe are cold, in an open jeep: wear a warm fleece, a windproof layer, a hat and gloves, then lighter clothes by mid-morning. Choose earth colours.

Each party (depending on its number of seats) has its own guide and its own open vehicle for the duration of the stay; we do not combine parties who do not know each other. We train our guides, many of whom have worked with us for many years, and many grew up on the mountain. At Shu’mata, a Maasai naturalist and, on walks, a ranger of the Wildlife Management Area, joins you.

Your guide meets you at Kilimanjaro International Airport with a closed vehicle, which is then swapped for a jeep when the safari starts and stays with you for the whole stay. Hatari Lodge is one hour away; Shu’mata Camp is one and a half hours from Hatari by road, through the farmland and open savannah landscape past West Kilimanjaro in the Southern Amboseli ecosystem. The transfer between the two lodges is part of your stay; airport and border transfers are quoted separately.

Hatari Lodge is in the forest on Mount Meru: rooms and suites inside Arusha National Park, giraffe on the meadow, Mount Meru and the Ngurdoto Crater on foot, the Momella lakes by canoe. Shu’mata Camp is in the open Maasai Steppe under Kilimanjaro: seven tents on a ridge, elephants on the plain, walks with Maasai naturalists, the open fireplace under the African sky. Most of our guests stay at both: four nights at Hatari and two at Shu’mata, in that order or the other way round, combined with a breakfast and hike on Kilimanjaro’s Shira Plateau: experiencing Kilimanjaro’s peaks without having to climb to the top.

The Kilimanjaro Safari Circuit is six nights: four at Hatari Lodge with Mount Meru, the Momella lakes, the Ngurdoto Crater and the Slow Food gardens; two at Shu’mata Camp with the Shira Plateau, the Maasai naturalist walk and a day in the Amboseli ecosystem. Rack rates per person per night are on the Journeys and rates page, with what is included and the reductions for four nights or more. Tanielle sends a written proposal within the day.

You can, and we know it well. Jörg walked the Serengeti with guests many times, was the first real walking guide there and wrote the best-known German travel guides to Tanzania. Follow the Elephant is a journey in its own right between two mountains, and most of our guests find it complete. If you wish to add the Serengeti, we do so by air through one partner who works as we do, and we tell you honestly what it costs, what it is like, and what the road version with everybody else looks like.

No. Many of our guests come to Tanzania for the first time, and many come back. Here you see elephants, giraffes, buffalo and zebra without a queue of vehicles; you walk, and you learn from people who know the land. If you later wish to see the Serengeti, you will do so with a trained eye.