Ndutu Safari Lodge is a traditional Safari lodge in an outstanding wildlife location.
Steeped in history and famous for our homely warmth and generous hospitality, Ndutu offers peace, tranquillity and exceptional wildlife viewing throughout the yearWe have built a reputation over the past 50 years as consistently being the choice of expert guides, professional wildlife photographers, film-makers and biologists alike. The reason? It is simply the best place in the Serengeti eco system to watch and enjoy predators and prey, herds and hunters and is one of the finest locations to witness the extraordinary speed and spectacle of cheetah hunting their prey.
Ndutu Safari lodge is located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area on the edge of the Southern Serengeti plains filled with acacia trees and wide views across Lake Ndutu. Our Lodge comprises thirty four comfortable stone and thatch en-suite cottages beside a relaxed convivial dining, sitting and bar area all overlooking the ever-changing waters of Lake Ndutu.
We are a family at Ndutu and immensely proud of what we do and our dedicated team are key to the success, they are what makes staying with us a very special experience.
Wildlife in and around the lodge
Ndutu is famous around the world as being one of the finest areas to witness the natural spectacle of the Great Migration. Every year over two million wildebeest and zebra are drawn to the Ndutu region to have their babies. Ndutu safari lodge is a wonderful place to base yourself to see this and it is also a special place to sit back and enjoy the wildlife that lives actually around the lodge. . Just the other day a lion was seen lounging under one of our nearby acacia trees.
Dining under the stars
Watching a sundowner in the Serengeti is a moment that will leave you in awe, watch as the warm colours of a sunset dance on the horizon and the bright stars start to light up the vast night sky. What better way to experience this than with a lantern lit dinner at Ndutu with your loved ones or cherished friends?
Campfire
The evening campfire is a legendary part of life at Ndutu where stories have been shared under the stars for decades. Sit as the sunset fades across the plains and enjoy a drink or two in the firelight of the daily campfire, share some tasty pre-dinner nibbles and absorb the silence descending around you as night falls.
Your morning at Ndutu might start with an early morning game drive in one of many distinct landscape areas within the Ndutu Conservation Area: marshlands, acacia woodlands, soda lakes of Ndutu and Masek or the vast expanse of the Serengeti plains are all within easy reach – each with its own distinct wildlife populations and seasonal visitors. The marsh areas for example are favoured by big cats to bring up their young, whereas the short grass plains are where Wildebeest babies are born during the Great Migration.
Ndutu has retained its cherished status as a gem of the Serengeti plains since it was created by George Dove in 1968 as the first permanent camp in the area. Ndutu quickly established a reputation for warm hospitality and delightful food, fast becoming a favourite stopover for pioneering naturalists, distinguished zoologists and photographers such as celebrated primatologist Jane Goodall and renowned wildlife filmmaker Hugo van Lawick who researched, filmed and wrote about wild dogs in the area. The animal sightings around Ndutu are like no other. From Lions and Cheetahs to Cape Black Buffalo and Zebras, Leopards and Spotted Hyenas to Honey Badgers and Flamingos.
The Lodge itself is also home to a long standing population of sleek and graceful genets – patterned to camouflage into the shadows, these elegant nocturnal creatures can be glimpsed perching on the rafters of the dining area. The genets have come to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere as much as Ndutu’s visitors.
Ndutu Safari Lodge is also a proud support of KOPE Lion and Serengeti Cheetah project. Researchers rely on the photos sent in by tourists to help monitor the population and movements of these elegant creatures. If you send the Serengeti Cheetah Project your photographs, together with some basic information about where and when your cheetahs were seen, you will be helping to keep track of individual cheetahs across the country. In return, if the cheetah is known to them, they will tell you a little of their story and history.
Through our KOPE Lion partnership the lions of the Ndutu area are very well known to us, and we follow their stories and ever changing lives with great interest. We can identify the pictures you take by their unique whisker spot patterns, ear notches and scars; close up photos are most useful if they include side shots of the lion’s face.
You can view the sightings of wildlife seen in the previous seasons here.