Mantis Collection Opens First Migration Camp in Serengeti

Serengeti, Tanzania, August 19, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / Mantis, a leading conservation-focused hotel group with luxury hotels, eco-lodges, waterways and impact experiences located across the globe has opened its newest property in Tanzania and welcomed its first guests on August 6th 2021.

The mobile camp moves every few months to follow the wildebeest herds, zebra, Thomson’s gazelles, and the predators the Great Migration attracts within the Serengeti National Park.

Paul Gardiner, CEO of the Mantis group comments: “The Great Migration is known as one of the greatest shows on earth and is on the wish-list of many international travellers. The Siringit Migration Camp by Mantis returns to the roots of safari: where sustainable, intimate, mobile camps move in symbiosis with wildlife. The unique shape of the tents – octagonal with transparent sides – is designed to dissolve the division between indoors and outdoors, allowing guests to be closer to nature. We look forward to welcoming guests and offering them the chance to witness nature at its best.”

The Siringit Migration Camp by Mantis opens in Kogatende region (Northern Serengeti) where it will remain until November 2021. The camp will then move to the Ndutu region (Southern Serengeti) reopening on 15 December 2021, where it will remain until 31 March 2022 when the herds start their migration north again. Both locations have their own airstrip for guest arrivals and departures. There are daily scheduled flights from Arusha or Seronera to Kogatende, and the airstrip is only a short 10-minute game drive direct to the camp.

The Bedouin-style camp has eight luxury guest tents, positioned on a raised platforms to provide guests with unobstructed views across the  Serengeti wilderness. Each of the guest tents can accommodate up to two guests, while two can be interlinked to form a family tent that can accommodate up to four guests (two adults and two children). All tents have en-suite bathrooms with double vanity. The camp also has a separate dining tent and lounge tent which includes a selection of coffee table books and board games.

For an overview of the camp’s design, facilities and more please see below.

Design

The tents are made in Tanzania using recycled materials. The stretched canvas panels are handstitched, and the hexagonal-shaped shade net dips to the earth with transparent side panels designed to remove the boundaries between nature and man, bringing guests even closer to the Serengeti wilderness. All furnishings are custom-designed and made by Meg Vaun Interiors based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Due to the mobile nature of the camp, most items are designed to fold effortlessly and be transported in bespoke packaging.

Wildlife:

Wildlife is most active in the golden hours of the morning and the evening. On game drives guests can encounter leopard and lion prides, impala, gazelle and thousands of wildebeest and zebra walking the plains to the river in search of a safe crossing point. Guests can also spot herds of elephant and many bird species.

Dining:

During a full-day game drive picnic hampers can be arranged for guests to enjoy out on the plains, under the canopy of an Acacia tree or close to the Mara River. Alternatively,  guests can take breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining tent which serves contemporary seasonal plates with an African twist.

Body Treatments 

Siringit has partnered with Healing Earth, a premium African spa brand that uses organic products made from natural active ingredients sourced from the continent’s powerful minerals, oceans, flowers, herbs, fruit, seeds and natural oils. Guests can choose from a selection of massage therapies – each of which starts with a traditional African foot cleansing. The treatment menu also includes a ‘Mini Me Treatment’ for children which includes a face mask and a foot soak in a lavender and jasmine bubble bath, followed by a gentle mango orange scrub whilst a relaxing soundtrack, specially created for kids, plays.

Eco Credentials:

Unlike many mobile camps, Siringit Migration Camp by Mantis is built on raised platforms (rather than the more commonly used ground mats) leaving a smaller eco footprint. Solar power is utilised for electricity and heating. All Mantis guests are invited to reduce their carbon footprint using the Mantis and Accor foundation CCFA’s carbon offset calculator.

Insider Tip:

Undoubtedly one of the best-known wildlife sanctuaries in the world, the Serengeti National Park has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa. The best time to travel is during the crossing season between July and November, and the calving season between January and March. But all year round has benefits to experience the marvellous ecosystem of the region.