Sayari Camp

Sayari Camp is a 30 bed permanent camp in the Northern Serengeti, located close to the Mara River in the Kogatende area, where the wildebeest spend much of their time between late July and late October.

This is currently the only permanent camp in the area, although there are some excellent seasonal ones, including {Nomad's Serengeti Mara} camp which, whilst simpler by design, is much smaller at 12 beds and guarantees private cars & guides. Having itself been seasonal for its first two years of operation, Sayari has just undergone a major renovation and is now a properly established presence in the area. Strung along a fairly open ridge, the 15 huge tents all have long views towards the Mara river about a kilometre to the north. 

The sleeping tents are all stylish and contemporary in design, perched on wooden platforms and all with king sized beds and small private balconies. The en suite bathrooms have flush toilets, power showers, double stone hand basins and even free standing baths so one assumes there's a huge and reliable water supply somewhere close by.

The central areas consist of a large comfortable lounge area with 'all day bar', a large dining area where people can eat seperately or join up with others as they please, a rock swimming pool, fire place area and two seperate chill out areas, set a little way away from the main hubbub. In an effort to retain a small camp feel, the camp is split into two wings (of 9 and 6 tents) each able to take over one of the chill out areas as a bar cum dining area and each bookable privately by small groups.

This area still has relatively little traffic and remains largely unspoilt. It changes character quite dramatically from the increasingly hectic dry season, when the wildebeest herds are almost certainly going to be within reach of the camp. With luck there will be a good chance of seeing them crossing the Mara river, with the attendant croc and vulture action that follows on from that.

Once the migratory herds move away, from late October through to mid / late June, the area becomes a lot quieter, in terms of both game and visitor activity, but there is quite enough resident game to ensure a fantastic 'exclusive' safari experience and the months of November to February should definitely NOT be ruled out. As well as the hippo and croc activity along the river, there are good numbers of elephant and buffalo as well as year round populations of predators in the area. Accessibility becomes a real problem between February and early May, and the long grass can impede easy game viewing a little in May and June, but this area pays back in other ways.  

As well as game drives, there is the opportunity for fairly low key early morning or late afternoon walks in the area. One possible downside to be aware of is that, unless you drive in with your private car & guide, or pay a premium for one of Sayari's own private vehicles, you're likely to be sharing with others on vaguely regimented activities. This area also has a few tsetse hot spots but in most months its easy enough to avoid the major concentrations.