After dark
Stargazing & Serengeti Night Bush Safari
The half of the day most safaris miss. Private concessions permit spotlit night drives, so genets, bushbabies, aardvark and hunting leopard are on the table — and with no light pollution for a hundred kilometres, so is the sky.
About this journey
The half of the day most safaris miss. Private concessions permit spotlit night drives, so genet, bushbaby, aardvark and hunting leopard are on the table — and with no light pollution for a hundred kilometres, so is the sky.
Best months. June to October for clear nights. New moon is far better than full for both the stars and the nocturnal game, and we will plan around the lunar calendar.
Pace. Gentle. Late nights rather than early mornings.
Who this journey suits
You have been on safari before and want the part you missed.
The night sky is a reason to travel, not a bonus.
You would rather stay up late than get up at five.
Smaller, quieter and emptier matters more to you than ticking off the Big Five.
Highlights
- Spotlit night drives, which are not permitted inside the national parks
- Nocturnal species almost nobody sees: genet, civet, bushbaby, aardvark, porcupine
- Leopard and lion hunting, which mostly happens after dark
- A sky with no light pollution in any direction, and someone who can read it
- Private concession ground with a handful of vehicles across the whole of it
Route
| Stop | Nights | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Private concession, Serengeti boundary | 3 nights | Night drives and the sky. |
| Central Serengeti | 2 nights | Daytime game, for contrast. |
How the journey flows
Every point below is a real place at its real coordinates. The coastline is simplified — this is a route diagram, not a survey map.
- Light aircraft
- Private 4×4
Boundaries and protected areas are OpenStreetMap data, stored with this site. The dashed line is the order of the route, not the road taken.
In order
- Arusha (ARK)Arrive
- SerengetiLight aircraft
- Seronera (SEU)Private 4×4
- Arusha (ARK)Light aircraft
Flights and bush aviation
If you have not flown in a twelve-seat aircraft off a grass strip before, this is the part worth reading twice.
| Sector | In the air | Aircraft | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arusha (ARK) → Serengeti concession strip | about 90 min | Light aircraft | — |
| Serengeti → Arusha (ARK) | about 90 min | Light aircraft | — |
What to expect either end
| Luggage | One soft bag of about 15 kg (33 lb) plus a small day bag on bush sectors. Soft is a requirement, not a preference — the baggage compartments are shaped, not boxes, and a hard case will not go in. The allowance is set by the operating carrier and we verify it for your sectors before you pack. Subject to confirmation. |
|---|---|
| Where a hard case goes | Into store in Arusha, Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar, and back to you at the end. Routine and included. |
| Boarding | A short ladder or a step onto the wing. Assistance is routine and manual: no aisle chair, no ambulift, no jet bridge. A powered wheelchair needs a separate conversation about weight, battery type and cargo-door size. |
| Delays and weather | Normal, especially in the rains. We never connect a bush strip to a same-day international departure, and nor should anybody else. |
| Weights | Operators ask for each passenger's weight before the flight. It is a load sheet calculation, not an indignity, and it is not optional. |
| The operator | Flights are flown by carriers licensed by the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority. We have no contracted carrier yet, so no operator is named on this site. The operator for your sectors is named in your written proposal, before you pay. |
No airline is named on this site. Several carriers fly these routes under Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority licences, and we have no contracted relationship with any of them yet. Naming one here would imply a partnership that does not exist. The operator for your sectors is named in your written proposal, before you pay anything. (subject to confirmation)
Day by day
A starting point. Every day here can be moved, shortened or removed — open one to read what it holds.
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Day1 Fly in WhereSerengeti concession OvernightTented camp Meals LD
Light aircraft from Arusha, about an hour and a half. Afternoon drive, dinner, and the first night drive after it.
Where you would sleep this night
Described by standard, not by name: we do not name a property we have no agreement with. Your written proposal names the actual place, and the photographs here are examples of the standard rather than pictures of it. Power, water, wifi and access for each standard.
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Day2 Night and day WhereSerengeti concession OvernightTented camp Meals BLD
A late start by safari standards. Afternoon drive, dinner under the sky with somebody who can name what is overhead, then out with the spotlight.
Where you would sleep this night
Described by standard, not by name: we do not name a property we have no agreement with. Your written proposal names the actual place, and the photographs here are examples of the standard rather than pictures of it. Power, water, wifi and access for each standard.
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Day3 The concession WhereSerengeti concession OvernightTented camp Meals BLD
A full day on ground that holds almost no other vehicles, and a second or third night drive. Aardvark is the one everybody wants and almost nobody gets.
Where you would sleep this night
Described by standard, not by name: we do not name a property we have no agreement with. Your written proposal names the actual place, and the photographs here are examples of the standard rather than pictures of it. Power, water, wifi and access for each standard.
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Day4 Into the park WhereSerengeti OvernightTented camp Meals BLD
Across into the national park for the daytime game the concession cannot match. No night drives here — they are not permitted, whatever you are told.
Where you would sleep this night
Described by standard, not by name: we do not name a property we have no agreement with. Your written proposal names the actual place, and the photographs here are examples of the standard rather than pictures of it. Power, water, wifi and access for each standard.
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Day5 Serengeti, all day WhereSerengeti OvernightTented camp Meals BLD
A full day. Cats, kopjes, and the plains at whatever scale your month gives you.
Where you would sleep this night
Described by standard, not by name: we do not name a property we have no agreement with. Your written proposal names the actual place, and the photographs here are examples of the standard rather than pictures of it. Power, water, wifi and access for each standard.
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Day6 Home WhereSerengeti → Kilimanjaro Overnight— Meals B
Light aircraft out, about an hour and a half.
The places this journey goes
One photograph for each place on the route, in the order you reach them.
These are licensed photographs of the places themselves, credited on our photography credits page. They are not photographs of a Montero departure, vehicle or camp — we have not run this journey yet, and a gallery that implied otherwise would be worth nothing to you.
Where you would stay
Open any of these for rooms, power hours, hot water, Wi-Fi and the honest access position.
What it costs
Price on request — private concessions are priced above the park. No price on this site has been approved, and nothing here is a quotation.
No price is published for this journey. It is quoted on your dates, the size of your party, how much of it you fly, and the standard of camp — and those four move the figure by a very large margin. Rather than print a range nobody has stood behind, we will build you a written, itemised quotation. It is free, and it is not a booking.
All quotations are per person sharing, in US dollars, and exclude international flights. A single traveller pays more and a larger group pays less per head. See what it costs for where the money actually goes.
What moves the price: season, how many of you there are, whether you fly or drive the long sectors, and the standard of camp. A single traveller pays more; we will say how much before you ask twice.
Access and comfort
Each line is either confirmed by our own measurement or it is not. “On request” means we will plan and cost it and nobody has measured it yet.
| Provision | Status | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Night drives | Partial | Seated throughout, open-sided, and genuinely cold after dark. Suits travellers who find walking difficult. |
| Step-free rooms | On request | Concession camps are small and vary widely. Nothing confirmed. |
| Hoist-fitted vehicle | On request | On request; the concession vehicle would need to be positioned in advance. |
| Late nights | Partial | This journey is physically gentler than most and later. Worth knowing either way. |
| Light-aircraft boarding | Partial | Ladder or wing step; manual assistance. |
We do not ask for a diagnosis — only for what you need. How we plan accessible journeys.
The detail
What is covered, what it involves on the ground, and the changes people most often ask for. Open whichever you need.
What is included, and what is not
Included
Private 4×4 safari vehicle with a pop-up roof and a professional English-speaking driver-guide, for your party alone
Accommodation as described, on a full-board basis
All park, conservation and concession fees
Airport and airstrip transfers, met at the aircraft rather than at the kerb
Bottled drinking water in the vehicle
24-hour local support while you are in the country
Night drives in the concession, with spotlight and a trained spotter
Astronomy guiding at dinner, weather permitting
Concession fees, which are separate from and higher than park fees
Light-aircraft sectors as described
Not included
Telescope hire, where a camp offers it
International flights, visas and travel insurance
Tips, premium drinks and personal expenses
Optional activities such as a balloon flight, unless listed above
Emergency medical evacuation cover — strongly recommended, and not something we currently provide
Practical detail
| Where night drives are legal | In private concessions and some conservation areas, not inside Serengeti National Park. An operator offering night drives inside the park is either confused or lying. |
|---|---|
| The moon | A full moon washes out the stars and makes the spotlight work harder. We plan this journey around new moon where your dates allow. |
| Cold | Open vehicle, 1,500 m, after dark. Properly cold. Camps supply blankets and you will want a layer of your own. |
| Astronomy guiding | Camp-dependent. Some have a guide who knows the southern sky well; some have a keen manager. |
| Price | Not set. Concession rates sit above park camps. |
Ways to personalise this journey
The changes people actually ask for, with what each one does to the shape of the trip. Prices for these are quoted in your proposal, not here.
This itinerary is a draft. It is written to real logistics but has not yet been checked by a guide who works this circuit, and no price here has been approved. Treat every figure as indicative until we confirm it in writing.
Questions about this journey
Will we see an aardvark?
Probably not. They are the thing everybody asks for and the thing that most often does not appear. Genet, civet, bushbaby and hyena are near certainties; aardvark and pangolin are luck.
Is the stargazing guided or just dinner outside?
It varies by camp and we will tell you which you are getting before you book. Some have a genuinely knowledgeable guide; at others it is a good dark sky and a chair.
Why not just do night drives inside the Serengeti?
Because they are not permitted there. That is the whole reason this journey uses a concession.
If this one is not quite it
Journeys that share a region or a style with this one, and the background reading for the places on the route.
Tell us what you have in mind.
One conversation with the person who would plan it, and an honest answer about whether we are the right company for the trip.
Free, and with no obligation. A real planner replies within 24 business hours, East Africa Time. No payment is taken to enquire.