It's an exhausting business...

watching this camp being built.




































































Meanwhile the camp crew have daily encounters with a variety of wildlife in, on and around the kopje.






































Pictures by Kyle Ray

Life on the Rock

A well-known British photographer, and several large cats, visited our kopje this past week, to somewhat differing degrees of welcome. Our Lamai Serengeti building crew are town boys mostly, straight out of the bright lights and dala-dala-traffic-chaos of Arusha town. Lions wandering through camp on nocturnal sojourns are not really their idea of a good time, or something that helps them with a restful night.

















Indeed, on our arrival, they were exceedingly quick to point out the very large paw prints etched in the mud in the midst of the current site; looks like these lion were very keenly checking out the back-of-house building progress as well they might, the Kogatende kopje has been prime lion territory for many years.

Sadly, game viewing is not something at the forefront of the boys daily activities, but if they did have time to look up and out over the rocks, they'd see an astonishing amount of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo and elephant literally everywhere.

















The Kogakuria Kopje has always served as something of a magnet for game in the area, not just during the months when the migration is in residence (August to mid-December). Everywhere you go the kopje navigates you; it's at your back as you head towards the Mara River and a day spent in hesitant excitement watching the often gruesome spectacle of a river crossing. Heading home at sunset it dominates the horizon, hard not to ... it's the highest point for miles.

















Photographer Jo caught up with building contractor Charlie Mason who explained the finer points of a load of rocks and rubble, some long pieces of rope and a very ingenious 'spirit level' made from a length of hosepipe.
























Download the Lamai Serengeti Fact File here

Breaking Ground at Last!

So, it's finally happened - we're at, on and in the kopje; we're quietly but firmly there, evaluating, conjugating and generally snooping about and getting under its very skin. Our team - John, Uli and Charlie - flew in last week in Nomad’s very small plane, all the tools of their respective trades stuffed in every available space and then some.

On arrival they were met by Mr Mwikoko and his very useful truck. Mr Mwikoko, a local man from the area, bounces his way across the open savannas from Mugumu (just west of the park) bringing with him all the locally sourced sand, gravel and rocks; you see, even at this early stage we’ve got a beady eye fixed firmly on our carbon footprint!

Joined by Edgar, the camp foreman, the team spent last week concentrating on the back of house area, siting staff quarters and making sure everything had the right zen and flow, important in the scheme of things. Ever present, and watching all the proceedings with interested eyes, were copious baboons, oribi, zebra and giraffe. They say there’s even a resident leopard there, the workers hear him at night when they’re tucked up safe under cover of the temporary shelters.

John, Uli and Charlie enjoy mozzie nets under the trees, a sky lit by insurmountable stars (and much story-telling) and gallons of camp coffee to start the day. Then they walk every path, they look at every view – noting always the far-off balloons rising and falling over the Maasai Mara, and they start to feel more and more ‘at one’ with Nomad's new home. Their mission, as in all things regarding this kopje, is to have as little impact here as possible, and this takes shape more and more as we learn and appreciate all that this area has to offer.

About the view Charlie says "you come in hidden and behind the ridge, you're just below the top of the kopje so have yet to be aware of the scale. You then emerge out of the rocks and suddenly WOW...it hits you...the enormity of it all...and how everything just falls away right in front of you with views extending forever north and east. It's all about the arrival you see, not giving the secrets away until you're actually standing there".

Nomad's new Serengeti camp and our "Pride Rock".

If you were to visit only one place in the Serengeti, it should be here.

This is no half-hearted boast; the iconic Kogakuria kopje in the northern Serengeti is the most commanding vantage point for miles around, with never-ending views beyond the Mara River valley across the whole Lamai area to the north.

It's the site where some of Nomads founders - Mark & Milly Houldsworth - ran their very first safari camp in 1993; where they sat amongst the rocks and planned their wedding and future adventures thereafter. As they headed off to the Selous to join Richard Bonham, another Nomad founder, Richard & Jules Knocker took on the running of this camp and went on to make it their own much-loved home.

Over many a star-lit evening these fine safari pioneers, soon to be joined by other like-minded souls, planned and dreamed as they sat on, and within, the rocks and thought 'if only'. During the years since, Nomad has been careful not to stray too far and has kept its feet planted firmly in the area with mobile and seasonal camps operating from this very spot to much acclaim.

Now many years later, with thanks to planetary alignment, or whatever you might want to call it, this most special place has been entrusted to Nomad with a long lease from Tanzania National Parks. So with a growing sense of 'returning home' we're developing, within these rocks, what will surely become one of the Serengeti's most iconic camps

Did we mention the views? And how you can spend an entire day sitting on a rock here, forgetting whatever it was that might have been important before you arrived. Because in this place there is only one thing that is relevent and that is that you're here.

There are just 12 tents in all, split between two entirely separate camps, the Main Camp and our smaller Private Camp. Each tent site has been carefully thought out. Firstly and most importantly, with the elements in mind, to take maximum advantage of the view, the sun, the wind and even the rain, welcome when it comes. This involved much sitting in quiet and careful contemplation, with binoculars, compass and sundowner in hand. But also, and perhaps of even greater importance, each site is designed such that to the casual eye you won't see that there is anything there.

The rooms - a clever blend of canvas, ferro and natural poles - have given our 'camp designers' much debate, thought, and - to be honest - a multitude of headaches. The brief was simple: to become the guardian of this kopje, we needed to preserve all the things about it that has made it iconic.

Nomad understands absolutely the responsibility that comes with this.

East Africa is full of creative and ingenious folk and it wasn't long before we'd harnessed the talents of the very best of them. We soon had them pouring over every inch of the kopje, scrutinizing each idea and debating every detail until they came up with a plan, and then a drawing and before we knew it an opening date of 27th June 2011!

Over the past weeks our little Cessna 182 has been flying north on a regular basis with fundis, carpenters, interior wizards and eco-warriors as Lamai Serengeti takes shape before our eyes. We have all become experts in sustainable timber, solar power & eco-flush loos, brainstormed clever plans for walkways across dizzy drops and learned how to appreciate that a rock planted right in the midst of where we were going to put a double bed can be a really good thing.

Recognising that most will want to do more than just sit and absorb the view, although that in itself can be enough, we'll be focusing on game drive adventures out into spectacular scenery, Mara river crossings from July through December, discovering an altogether quieter and less-crowded part of the Serengeti that comes replete with its own mass of year-round resident game from December through June.

Initially we'll be offering short Nomad guided walks within the immediate area, through nearby kopjes and along the myriad riverlines, before moving on to longer walking safaris with fly camping in the still pristine neighbouring wilderness areas - after all, who in Tanzania has more experience of this than all of us at Nomad?

In both camps you'll find a natural rock swimming pool to keep everyone cool on a steamy day, library and map room; fantasy bar area with cosy nooks hidden within the rocks; fabulous food; perfectly chilled wine; outdoor showers; roomy verandas with sofas to sink into - think Sand Rivers Selous meets the Serengeti, with a tweak of fresh genius amongst it, and you won't be far wrong.

As the perfect compliment to Lamai Serengeti, our small authentic tented Serengeti Safari Camp will continue to shadow the migrating wildebeest herds as they roam from one end of the Serengeti to the other and Nduara Loliondo will continue to rotate between the Ololosokwan & Piyaya village areas of Loliondo, offering unlimited walking, picnicking & night drives in the safe hands of its Maasai staff. Depending on season, interests and budget, there are numerous ways to combine any, either or all of these wonderfully diverse safari experiences.

For more information, you can download our fact sheet here or contact us at info@nomad.co.tz