One of the first choices in planning an East African safari is whether to stay in a tented camp or a fixed lodge. Both are legitimate and popular formats. Both put you in the middle of the wildlife. What they offer you is quite different in terms of atmosphere, sound, proximity to the environment and, often, price.

What is a tented camp?

A luxury tented camp is not a camping trip. The tent itself is typically a large canvas structure on a raised wooden platform, with a proper bed, real linen, an en-suite bathroom with a flush toilet and hot shower, and often a private deck or veranda. What makes it a tent is the material of the walls — canvas rather than brick or concrete — and what that material allows: you hear everything outside. The rain on the roof at night, the zebras grazing at dawn, the hippos moving to the river. The bush is immediately and constantly present.

What is a safari lodge?

A safari lodge is a permanent structure — stone, wood or mud-brick — with solid walls, typically better insulation from heat and cold, and often a larger footprint. Lodges in some parks are very large (50–100 rooms), which affects the atmosphere considerably. Boutique lodges of 10–16 rooms are common at higher price points and offer an experience closer to a tented camp in intimacy, but with more permanence and solidity in the construction.

How the experience differs

Immersion

A well-placed tented camp wins on immersion every time. Falling asleep to the sound of hyenas and waking to birdsong through canvas is qualitatively different from the same experience through a solid wall. For many safari travellers, this is the whole point. For others — particularly those who are light sleepers or travelling with young children — it can be a source of anxiety rather than wonder.

Location

Tented camps are often more remotely located than lodges because they are easier to permit and build in wilderness concessions that do not allow permanent structures. Some of the finest safari camp positions in East Africa — on a private river bend in the Serengeti, deep in a Mara conservancy — are available only in tented camp form. If location within the ecosystem matters to you, tented camps often have the advantage.

Seasonality

Many tented camps are seasonal — they close during the long rains when roads are impassable and wildlife disperses. Lodges tend to operate year-round. If you are travelling between March and May (Kenya/Tanzania's long rain season), lodges are often the only option in some areas.

Price

At comparable levels of quality and location, tented camps tend to cost more than lodges — the canvas and infrastructure require more maintenance and more staff per guest. But the range within each category is huge, and a mid-range tented camp can cost less than a luxury lodge.

For the traveller who wants to feel as if they are sleeping in Africa rather than sleeping in a hotel that happens to be near Africa — a tented camp is the answer.

Which to choose

  • Choose a tented camp for: immersion, the most remote locations, the sound and feel of the bush.
  • Choose a lodge for: year-round access, travelling with young children, lighter sleepers, more consistent facilities.
  • Mix both: many of the best itineraries combine a nights in a remote tented camp with a lodge-based stay in a more accessible area.

We advise on the right accommodation format for your group, dates and preferences. Ask us →