Ronjo Bivouac

the coolest mid-priced experience in Serengeti

Ronjo Camp is located in the Serengeti Central area of northern Tanzania.

This property is owned and operated by MKSC, a partly French-owned safari company which is actually the oldest of its type in Tanzania.

This is a very simple light mobile safari camp, which is taken out into the bush by separate vehicle and is set up specifically for your visit.

The camp is for the exclusive use of a private group of 6 to 20 or more guests for a minimum of three nights.

It actually has its origins in the distant past, before camps started to stay out in the bush for a whole season and before they started to get much larger and more fancy. This is the kind of camp that can fit on the back of a single safari vehicle.

The camp itself is a very simple facility, comprising a table and chairs for dining and a simple campfire. If there is a chance of rain then a mess tent or simple tarpaulin is also provided to cover the dining area.

Guest accommodation at Ronjo Bivouac is in small dome tents with stretcher beds. Separate bush toilet and shower facilities are shared between the group,

When you arrive in camp with your driver-guide, a separate vehicle with the camp and usually two or three members of staff will be there, waiting with broad smiles and welcome drinks.

You are not expected to help with any of the camp preparation, this is not a participatory camping experience. Although you are always welcome to help out if you can find anything that needs doing and fancy joining in. But really you are here to relax and enjoy. Although the camp is simple, you are likely not to be too discomforted.

In some ways a simple camp like this offers a better experience than a larger camp. For a start it is private, so only you and a handful of camp staff sharing a campfire and exchanging stories. It is a very intimate and special experience.

It’s clearly not for everyone, but if you are quite outdoorsy and keen to have a really authentic and exciting safari experience, then it really does not get much better than this.

One aspect we always appreciate is the amount of wildlife that can come into camp. Here you can expect to see wildlife around most of the day, whilst at night animals often pass right between the tents, including lions and elephants, which can be very exciting in such a simple camp.

Activities

Ronjo Bivouac provides the following guided activities, not all of which are usually included in the price …

• Vehicle safari
• Balloon safari : not included

The Serengeti Central area tends to feature in far fewer trips than you might imagine, since we usually try to avoid the crowds that converge here in high season. We tend to include it only when visiting out of season or using one of the more remote camps.

The usual stay duration is 2-4 nights.

Seasonality

This Serengeti Central area tends to be of most interest during the Apr-Nov period, when transiting migration herds and intense predator action combine to make for action packed safari days. That period also largely coincides with the main dry season, although weather conditions in April and November can both be considerably less predictable.

During the converse Dec-Mar season this Serengeti Central area tends to be of less interest (although the core area can still experience very high traffic). Having said that, if the rains lull on the southern short-grass plains, the migration herds can become obliged to slide northwards onto the long-grass plains of this area, in which case the more remote southerly camps can really find themselves at the heart of the action.

Getting around

The majority of people visiting Serengeti Central do so as part of a guided overland safari, so they travel to their camp and around the area in their private vehicle.

Very few people visit Serengeti Central in isolation, flying in and out of the airstrip here. In this case they travel around the reserve with a vehicle and guide from their camp.

serious traffic issues demand careful planning