Kusini Safari Camp

OVERVIEW:

Kusini is one of the best options in the entire Serengeti from January to March when the Great Migration thunders through! During the rest of the year, it’s a little quiet but there’s accommodation to suit most types of travelers, and children aged 6 years and over are welcome here.

ACCESS & LOCATION: 

Kusini has its own airstrip and is easily accessed via light aircraft flight from the airports of Arusha, Lake Manyara, Kuro, Dar es Salaam, and Zanzibar.

ACCOMMODATION & FACILITIES AT KUSINI SAFARI CAMP:

The communal lodge is a canvas, stone, and timber building, positioned on top of a kopje and blending beautifully with the surrounding bush. Inside, the lounge is comfortably furnished with sofas and armchairs around coffee tables. There’s a tea-and-coffee station here too, in addition to a well-stocked bar. Wildlife artwork and intriguing artifacts adorn the walls, and the palette is mainly neutrals with splashes of warm reds, oranges, and yellows – the canvas roof is a particularly vibrant red/orange hue! Kusini’s dining room is similarly decorated and features a long table for groups as well as several smaller tables for couples. The gift shop stocks a colorful range of clothing and jewelry. Emerging from the lodge, you will find a dining deck, a great spot for al fresco meals! And just a short walk away there’s the property’s fire-pit area, the perfect place for enjoying drinks before dinner while sharing safari stories.

Guest accommodation at Kusini consists of 12 tents, all set within woodland and linked to the communal lodge along neat pathways. Each has been constructed using canvas and wood. A few steps lead up onto a private veranda – this has both chairs and loungers, inviting you to relax with a drink and check out the likes of lion, buffalo, and zebra roaming the plains! Double doors bring you inside. You will find a double bed with a tall headboard creating a screen, elegant lighting, an easy chair and rug, and a writing desk cum dressing table with cushioned stool. Behind the screen, there are the washing facilities – separate flush toilet, twin washbasins with mirror over, and shower with hot running water. Other amenities include a safe, a hairdryer, mosquito netting – and every tent comes with a personal attendant too!

ACTIVITIES AT KUSINI SAFARI CAMP:

• Kusini’s activities focus on the local wildlife.
• The first three months of the year are simply phenomenal, with not only the huge herds of the Great Migration storming through this region of the Serengeti but also all the predators, the big cats, in their wake.
• Wildebeest, zebra, gazelles, lion, leopard, cheetah – sightings of all these species are possible from January to March.
• Other animals you can look out for include elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hyena, and hippo.
• Birding is very impressive, with the wooded areas around the lodge attracting raptors, woodpeckers, and francolin.
• Kusini offers cheetah treks too, as part of the Serengeti Cheetah Project. Guests are introduced to the cheetah’s habitat, before learning all about how to identify individual cats and how best to photograph them.
• Another activity here is stargazing, or cosmic safari, in which guests observe the night skies from atop the kopje or around the campfire, aided by information from the camp manager and a green laser pointer! This is a very relaxing way to end your day. Both game drives and cheetah treks from Kusini are led by exceptionally knowledgeable guides.

*This property is unfenced and located in a wildlife area, so large and potentially dangerous animals do pass through. If you opt to stay here, always be alert when walking around the camp and request for a member of staff to escort you if you have any concerns. Any guest is escorted after dark as a matter of course.