Untouched sections of the Serengeti are finally opening to tourists. I was among the first to visit

Telegraph

26-04-2025

Emerging from a muddy gully, a pride of 16 lions paraded along a grassy catwalk. Although declining in number across Africa, the regal big cat is bossing out in the Serengeti. What made our early morning sighting so unusual was the feline family's behaviour – looking back at us with wild, inquisitive eyes as if they'd never seen a vehicle before.
Up until six months ago, that was exactly the case.
'This is the first time they've allowed me to get close,' explained safari guide Abu Wa Ngua, who has been making near-daily recce missions to create potential driving loops in an area previously inaccessible within Tanzania 's flagship national park.
Southwest of the busy Seronera airstrip, the vast plain dotted with flat-topped acacias and yellow-barked fever trees sits at the foot of new luxury lodge Explorer Serengeti by Elewana –which hugs the slopes of the Nyaboro Hills.
In an unusual move, government agency authorities have allowed the established East African company to investigate new routes, presenting (subject to final approval) a rare opportunity to have crowd-free sightings in one of Africa's busiest national parks.
It's a bold ambition for a lodge built on a grand scale. A sleek black waterwall and sharp-edged architecture welcome guests into a property more akin to a beach resort or a city hotel. A TV plays above a pool table, gleaming espresso machines whir in an open-front café and golf-carts zip between rooms.
In a similar vein to the Marriott (£1,200pp per night) and Four Seasons (£500pp per night), this is a year-round lodge designed to suit a new type of comfort-seeking safari traveller. But at £564 per night for two adults and a child, it's a fraction of the price.
All this is made possible by economies of scale. At 74 rooms, Explorer is a far cry from the boutique tented camps typically found on the plains. Even though it was empty during my soft opening visit in March, the sheer size initially made me freeze like a scrub hare in a Toyota's headlights.
Making use of an existing footprint, the ambitious construction sits on the site of Serengeti Sopa Lodge, which closed during Covid after almost 30 years of operation. Now part of Elewana, other properties in the former family-owned portfolio will open as Explorer lodges in Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park from next year onwards.
Guests have the option of choosing a full game drive package, travelling with their own guide or bolting on safari outings – the rationale being that not everyone wants to be out in the bush all day.
Given the number of on-site activities, there's good reason to remain behind.
I stayed in one of six suites with a balcony and daybed overlooking the plains. While the bathtub was a treat, a walk-in wardrobe seemed excessive for my tatty Gore-Tex trousers and worn-out fleece.
Echoing a wellness trend rippling through the traditionally sedentary safari industry, sunrise yoga sessions are offered along with a 24-hour gym. Daily massages became a welcome curative for bumpy game drives along rain-ravaged roads, while a Reiki session presented a surprise tool for tapping into the tranquillity of the bush.
When I did need a wildlife fix, I headed to the on-site hide. Accessed via a long stone tunnel, the first facility of its kind in the Serengeti has 14 plush leather swivel chairs and narrow windows with removable nets overlooking a permanent water hole.
As a die-hard safari obsessive, I very reluctantly agreed to skip evening drives. But sundowners from Explorer's panoramic deck and infinity pool were admittedly hard to beat. Curated by resident sommelier Tarryn Bennett from a choice of 150 bottles, a wine tasting session in the lodge's dedicated temperature-controlled cellar turned out to be as memorable as watching a cheetah giving chase.
Not that I had to sacrifice any animal sightings.
Beneath a sky swirling with the reds of a freshly poured pinot noir, I listened to a thousand wildebeest hooves thunder into the night. A sea of shiny pelts ebbed and flowed as herds rolled like waves across the plains.
Impacted by changes in climate and rainfall, the great migration has been disrupted, with large herds passing back and forth across the Serengeti at unexpected times. By taking a gamble and travelling during the rainy shoulder season, when many camps close, I witnessed one of nature's biggest spectacles without the crowds.
On several occasions, I found myself dazzled by a monochrome mass of zebras and deafened by the grunts of noisy gnus. Irritated lions clambered to the top of kopjes to avoid flies carried by the transient travellers, leaving more patient predators to huddle quietly in the long golden grasses and lie in wait to ambush newborn calves.
'During the rainy season, lions need to move around and mark their territory,' explained Abu on a morning drive through the nearby Moru Kopjes, one of the Serengeti's highlight landscapes crafted by volcanic activity.
Guided by faint roars and paw prints, we threaded between the giant curved-top granite monoliths, where perfectly spherical boulders were scattered like snooker balls following a break shot. Hardy rock figs sprouted between cracks; their spidery roots capable of splitting a millennia-old material in two.
Even from a distance, watching a pride reforming was a thrill, made extra special by the efforts of our search.
Sat on the rocks, we ate strawberry vol-au-vents and croissants worthy of a Parisian patisserie – one example of Explorer's exemplary menus, which range from pizza cooked in a clay oven to seared steaks served with vegetables from Elewana's shamba in Arusha. A barbecue in an outdoor boma on my final night was a tasty dip into African cuisine.
Drawn from the likes of Mantis, One&Only and Singita, the team helming Explorer Serengeti is top drawer. Many admit that, like me, they were initially daunted by the size and scale of the property but agree it has a place. Flat and low-lying, the black building disappears discreetly into the hillside during daylight hours; at night, lights have been designed to avoid any upward glare.
For now, it's hard to imagine how the lodge will be at 140-plus capacity, but in this lesser visited area of the Serengeti, there is plenty of space to spread out. A home to herds in big numbers is perfectly primed for a mass migration of a new kind.
Essentials
Elewana's Explorer Serengeti has rooms from US$750/£564 per night (sleeping two adults and one child under 12) on a full board basis. A full game drive package costs from US$1,230/£925 per room.