Good For You

Oliver's Camp is set in the remote south-eastern corner of the beautiful Tarangire National Park in northern Tanzania. Smaller and less well-known than the Serengeti National Park, Tarangire nevertheless offers guests an incredible African bush experience.

Walking safaris are a speciality at Oliver's and the naturalist guides will not only be able to find the lion prides but will also be able to tell guests about the different family members of the prides, their characters and their habits. You will also spot many of the large African mammals including leopards, buffalos and the greater kudu.

With just eight tents, the camp is small and very friendly. Oliver's crew have worked together for years and as such, a holiday here feels very much like staying with a family. This is no more apparent than in the evenings when everyone gathers around the campfire to drink cocktails and watch the sun set over this magical land.

Good For Tanzania

Oliver's Camp is part of Asilia Lodges & Camps, a small group of owner-run properties located in some of the most magical corners of Tanzania. Asilia means 'authentic' and the group aim to offer incredible accommodation while leaving no environmental footprint whatsoever and to provide the best employment opportunities possible for locals.

Oliver's Camp, together with a group of tour operators, launched the Terat Village Initiative in 2005 in order to halt the local Maasai farming on the Simanjiro Plains (a crucial birthing spot for thousands of wildebeest each rainy season). The bulk of the scheme's financial support goes directly to the village to fund the construction of its primary and secondary schools. In exchange, the village has agreed not to farm on the plains.

Rooms

Food

Features & Facilities

• En-suite bathrooms
• Restaurant
• Lounge
• Walking Safaris
• Game Drives

Local Info & Activities

The range of activities on offer at Oliver's Camp is unique for a camp inside a Tanzanian National Park. Off-road driving makes wildlife drives more intense and interesting and allows you to get closer to the action. Walking and fly camping add another unique element to a safari that is hard to find in other parts of Tanzania. The park's stunning natural beauty is ideal for wildlife and nature photography.

Game Drives

Game drives from Oliver's Camp are usually carried out in open vehicles, giving a feeling of absolute freedom. Off-road driving, allowed only in the remote areas of the park, gets you closer to nature and wildlife - from spider to lion - and you'll discover rare and interesting species that usually go unnoticed when driving on dedicated roads.

Walking Safaris

Walking is the absolute specialty of Oliver's Camp. The privilege of walking in these prime natural areas gives you exhilarating feeling of adventure. Although you'll usually get close to large mammals such as elephant, giraffe, buffalo or even lion, walking safaris are very safe: the experienced naturalist guides of Oliver's Camp avoid confrontations with animals and an armed national park ranger accompanies every walk.

Fly Camping

Walking safaris can take an hour or a whole morning or afternoon, but combined with fly camping, they can take several days, letting you discover the most remote parts of Tarangire. The light weight fly camp is an extension of the main Oliver's Camp. The fly camp is typically booked as part of a walking safari or simply as a completely private night away from the main camp. Tents are made of thick mosquito mesh, separating you from bugs, but allowing you to see skies filled with stars and passing animals at night. Fly camping is about adventure, not luxury: beds are comfortable and the crew cooks amazing meals in the middle of the wilderness, but tents are simple, with outside shower and bathroom facilities. For those who appreciate the true luxury of absolute proximity to nature and the private, intense and overwhelming experience that fly camping is, this is an experience that will stay with you for a lifetime.

Bird Watching

The rich variety of vegetation in Tarangire means a rich variety of habitat for birds. Species differ from flamingos to eagles, cranes to woodpeckers, hornbills to geese. The changing fortunes of land outside the park make this healthy habitat even more attractive. Resident bird species number in the hundreds and, during September to April, migrant birds bring the known number of species to over 500. Each year, new species are added to the already impressive list. Over the course of a week it is common to see well over 200 species, especially between December and April.

INSIDER TIP/S

The currency of Tanzania is the Tanzanian shilling. There are no foreign currency restrictions. Foreign currency or travellers cheques should be converted to shillings at a bank or Bureau de Change. Most shops or hotels will accept payment in US$.

Credit cards have limited use in Tanzania, with Visa having better coverage than Master Card.

Airport departure taxes (currently US$30 when exiting Tanzania, $20 when exiting Kenya, $6 from Government airstrips) must be paid in US$ cash only - traveller's cheques and other currencies are not accepted.

Guests are advised to bring insect repellent, a hat, comfortable shoes and sunglasses. Long sleeved shirts and trousers in neutral colours are recommended.

It's worth remembering that domestic flights have a luggage limit of 15kgs per person.

Guests are advised to contact their doctor regarding anti-malarial medication and to bring all necessary medication with them including tablets for diarrhoea and pain relief.

The stunning beauty and richness of Tarangire's nature and wildlife and the wide range of activities at Oliver's Camp are best enjoyed by staying at least 2 nights. However, most guests prefer to stay for 3 up to 5 nights, combining a stay in the base camp with exploratory walking adventures.

Sustainability

Oliver's Camp is part of Asilia Lodges & Camps, a small group of owner-run properties located in some of the most magical corners of Tanzania. Asilia means 'authentic' and the group aim to offer incredible accommodation while leaving no environmental footprint whatsoever and to provide the best employment opportunities possible for locals.

The Honeyguide Foundation

The Honeyguide Foundation is a grassroots organization dedicated to community support and the conservation of wildlife through long-term community partnerships. Established in 2006 by the Asilia Group, the Foundation is an independent entity that supports specific projects in the areas where the Group has a presence.

The foundation is trying to cover a wide range of different projects, such as education by providing teacher training, material improvements and scholarships, supporting small local, eco-friendly businesses, initiation of land use plans and environmental initiatives that aim to conserve community resources, community health care initiatives and conservation awareness and conservation awareness initiatives. Many communities, especially in the rural areas where Asilia operates, are poor, lack education, and may not even be aware of their basic rights to land, water and honest leadership.

With more than a decade's experience in Tanzania, Asilia believes the most successful projects are those initiated from within a community - rather than imposed from outside. A selected community must be able to articulate its issues, needs and vision to the Foundation, rather than simply being handed a solution. The Foundation aims to evaluate sensitively the status and progress of each community's capability as well as to monitor and help guide the individual projects. By encouraging self-awareness and good leadership at a focused, grass-roots level, the Foundation envisions that their partner communities will pull themselves out of poverty, and become stable, imaginative and progressive contributors to the preservation of the country's wildlife and wild places.

Oliver's Camp

Terat Village is 40 kilometres from Tarangire National Park. What happens in Terat bears mightily on the future of the park, for it lies in the middle of the Simanjiro Plains where thousands of wildebeest come to give birth each rainy season. The grass here is rich in phosphorous, a mineral crucial to lactating mothers. The cows also prosper here. But in Terat, as elsewhere on the plains, immigrants and local Maasai have begun farming.

Terat Village Initiative

The Terat Village Initiative was launched in 2005 by a collective group of tour operators, including Oliver's Camp, specifically to halt the expansion of this unsustainable land use pattern. Currently, the bulk of the Initiative's financial support goes directly to the village to fund the construction of its primary and secondary schools. In exchange, the village has agreed not to farm on the plains.

The Initiative also supports a village anti-poaching team. Four Game Scouts have been provided with bicycles, binoculars, telephones and salaries. The scouts patrol each day, systematically covering six different routes and reporting any poaching or charcoal burning incidents to authorities in the Wildlife Division and in Tarangire National Park. Although they have no legal right to stop the perpetrators, and response from the authorities is limited, it is believed that the scouts are a deterrent.

Meanwhile the village has become more proactive, pursuing court cases over land ownership issues with several immigrant farmers and hiring a surveyor to settle boundary disputes with a neighbouring village.

Getting There

The international airport at Dar es Salaam is serviced by a number of airlines including Air France, Air India, Air Tanzania, Air Zimbabwe, British Airways, Emirates, Gulf Air and South African Airways.

The nearest airstrip is Kuro, which has daily scheduled flights to Arusha, Manyara/ Ngorongoro, Seronera and Kogatende. Oliver's Camp has a complimentary transfer service to Kuro.

Visit our Transport section for flights, hybrid car rentals and train bookings.

Rates & Bookings

All rates are in US Dollars ($) and are per person per night sharing.

Full board Package

Low Season $300

High Season $330

Rates Include

• Full Board Accommodation
• All Drinks (ecept premium drinks such as champagne
• Transfers to nearest airstrip
• Laundry Service
• Walking Safaris can be booked at $40 per person

Game Package

Low Season

$400

High Season

$425 Rates Include

• Full Board Accommodation
• All Drinks (ecept premium drinks such as champagne
• Game Drives
• Walking Safaris
• Laundry Service
• Fly Camping
• Transfers to nearest airstrip

booking & cancellation policy

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Want to avoid cancellation fees? Visit our Insurance section for information on travel insurance.