There are not many areas of life in which the order you do things is unimportant, and the trajectory of a safari is no exception. If we’re being technical, a circuit is defined as ‘a closed path through which energy flows’ – and what the path is made up of determines the nature of the flow. If you apply circuitry to the concept of a safari, the right circuit will flow with smooth, seamless, beautiful ease.
There’s the technical aspect: the building blocks of a trip, and how they’re assembled… flights, camps, getting from A to B… And luckily for you, we’re artistic architects in this respect and we can craft start to finish with exquisite care. There’s a magic touch throughout, and a feeling of harmonious continuity that’s the hallmark of excellent planning – and it’s precisely what we pride ourselves on.
Then there’s the other, less tangible aspect… the stuff that money can’t buy. We believe that a good safari should lead you to yourself. So we’ll build a trip that takes you on that journey… not just an actual trip, but a progression through the wild that brings you gradually into the essence of what we are. Discover wilderness… truth… freedom. After all, travel is not just about moving about; it’s about being moved.
Step one is to begin at the beginning: Legendary Lodge has been a home since the 1800s, and a home it always shall be. It’s our Arusha base, and when you’ve come a long way, you long for a soft landing. Think lush gardens alive with birdsong, roomy cottages with mountain views, meals to nourish the soul… in short, the warm quintessence of hospitality. Stay two nights – you’ll thank us for this one; everyone always does, and those who didn’t do it wish they had. It’ll give you the time and space you need to re-orient, recalibrate and start your safari with your best foot forward.
Then wing your way from the majesty of Mount Meru over Ngorongoro Crater and above an infinity of plains, to the Legendary Expeditions Migrational Camps. You’ll land in one of two locations, depending upon the whim of the wildebeest: when the Great Migration is exploding across crocodile-infested waters, we’re up where the Serengeti meets Kenya. When calving season comes, we move down to the very bottom of the plains for a front-row seat to a spectacle of newborns, predators and the full spectrum of life in between.
The thrill of sleeping under canvas connects you to the wild in primordial ways. Our camps combines the pioneering essence of safari with carefully considered creature comforts that make the exhilaratingly untamed feel like home. Abandon yourself to the wilderness from dawn to dusk: there’s such a plethora of life to drink in that you’ll want to throw every second of daylight at it, returning happy and exhausted, hair windswept and soul steeped in magic as the sky unveils its stars…
The more you immerse, the more you’ll see, and soon it’s not just the big beasts, but the birds; the delicate gazelle; the human-like comedy of baboons… the wild starts to unfurl its secrets, layer by subtle layer. And now it’s time to go deeper.
Mwiba Wildlife Reserve is our own totally private swathe of the Serengeti, and its precious luxuries lie in its exclusivity: hundreds of thousands of acres of no one else, and all the freedom to adventure. It’s time to slow the pace and absorb on a new level: explore on foot with Hadzabe hunter-gatherers, or visit the Datoga tribe and ask what it means to be human in a landscape whose nature defies civilisation. Take a helicopter ride that plunges thousands of feet into the Great Rift Valley, and skims you over flamingo-jewelled lakes, landing you atop an active volcano… or simply behold the sunset and be held in wonder.
Mila Tented Camp and Mwiba Lodge were both inspired by the landscape, and that at-home feeling translates into the perfect base from which to undertake a journey of discovery, outward and within.
Finally, it’s time to pack up your memories and wend your way home. As Mount Meru guides you back, the circuit is complete – you’re back where you started, but with a new depth to your eyes and a new breadth to your soul. Until next time…
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