As the camp’s name indicates, the main reason to stay here is to catch the Great Migration, the annual movement of more than one million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle making an 1,800-mile circuit through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park, and into the Maasai Mara in Kenya.

At the camp, large, tented chalets on stilts have wraparound decks with a 360-degree view of the landscape and its denizens. The lodgings blend into the surroundings on the bank of one of the great migration obstacles: the Grumeti River, with its many crocodiles, hippos, and boulders.

Herds pass through the vicinity from August through November, and the Elewana’s northern Serengeti location miles from the main concentration of game lodges gives it a sense of privacy rarely achieved in the far more visited western and southern park corridors.

On the eastern edge of Serengeti National Park, Namiri Plains opened in July 2014 as the first permanent in the Soit Le Motonyi reserve. The reserve was closed to tourism for two decades to allow the cheetah population to recover.

Forty-five minutes away from the next camp, and comprising just eight tented suites, Namiri Plains' guests have prime access to lion, cheetah, and hyena territory.

The area is so secluded that guests can watch the sunrise from a high rock outcropping and spot no other people or vehicles on the horizon. Year-round sightings of big cats are assured; however, the action peaks in November through May when herds of migrating wildebeest boost game numbers and predator activity.

The delicious feeling of solitude in nature is enhanced by the solar-powered camp’s comfortable, eco-friendly amenities. Each tent has a flush toilet, hot running water, and indoor and outdoor showers. Tent luxuries include real beds, stuffed chairs, and couches.

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is gorgeous from every angle. Outside, along the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, there are sunrise views of one of the world’s deepest and largest volcanic caldera, which is also a haven for more than 25,000 wild animals (including the endangered black rhino).

Inside, the lodge has Masai-inspired mud-walled and banana frond–thatched architecture, which contrasts beautifully with the silk, velvet, and crystal of sumptuous, neo-Victorian boudoir furnishings. The romantic, glamorous guest suites—divided into three sub-camps—are supremely comfortable, and butlers strew thousands of locally grown rose petals in them each day.

But the emphasis here is on 4WD game viewing on the 100-square-mile crater floor, and guests wake up early (5:30 a.m.) to beat the traffic jam of safari vehicles making the slow, 2,000-foot descent on the common access road.

One of the most luxurious tented camps in all of Africa sits on an open plain within Singita Grumeti, a 350,000-acre private reserve that adjoins the Serengeti National Park ecosystem, through which vast herds of wildebeest and zebra migrate.

Huge, ornate tents are throwbacks to 1920s expedition style, decorated with crystal port decanters, freshly cut flowers, decorative carpets and kilims, four-poster beds, clawed bathtubs, and wood-and-leather campaign chairs. A personal assistant organizes game drives, horseback riding, and hot air ballooning.

Leased by American hedge fund mogul Paul Tudor Jones, the private Singita Grumeti concession has off-road driving rights (unlike the Serengeti National Park) and strategically placed manmade water holes that encourage resident wildlife to congregate for the guests. 

One of the five lodging options within the 350,000-acre Singita Grumeti game concession, Faru Faru Lodge sits amid dense woodland on the bank of the Grumeti River.

Originally inspired by a mid-20th-century botanist’s camp, each wood-and-glass–enclosed suite comes with a private outdoor shower, comfortable stuffed sofas, and an artist’s desk equipped with watercolors and colored pencils.

General game viewing is excellent year-round, and guests who want to be close to nature but prefer the security of solid walls between them and wild animals—including lions, elephants, and hippos—will prefer Faru Faru over its colonial-themed and more formal sister, Singita Sabora Tented Camp,

where African buffalo might brush the canvas at night.

This lodge offers a private island stay, paired with the option of experiencing the Swahili architecture, music, and culture of Stone Town (Zanzibar’s main town, 20 minutes from Mnemba by boat plus a 90-minute drive).

Ten high-ceilinged, thatched bandas are footsteps from a flour-fine sand beach and are romantically furnished with elaborately carved wooden beds. For those who want a change of scenery, verandas and shaded beach beds offer a variety of places to sleep off all the early morning safari wake-up calls.

Just under one mile in circumference, Mnemba Island has permanent residents that include poodle-sized Suni and rabbit-sized Ader’s duiker antelope, breeding doves, and enormous terrestrial coconut crabs. Sunbathers can spot dolphins from the beach year-round, and scuba divers might encounter the occasional whale shark.