A favourite destination of African safari enthusiasts, Grumeti Serengeti Tented Camp in Tanzania's Western Corridor is to undergo an extensive rebuild.
Conservation-led luxury travel company andBeyond has announced that on completion of the work, the camp will reopen as Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge.
"Grumeti was originally built in the early 1990s," explained Niall Anderson, andBeyond chief operating officer Africa lodges. "While it has since undergone two refurbishments, we decided that it was time for a comprehensive rebuild after the Grumeti River burst its banks in April 2020 and the lodge was flooded."
The rebuild will utilise the footprint of the former structure to redefine the classical tented camp look in a form that will have least impact on the natural landscape. Reinventing the traditional safari tent, the brand-new lodge will be even more luxurious and contemporary, while retaining the rustic and tactile nature of the original camp.
"What has always set the lodge apart is its magnificent setting on a tributary of the Grumeti River," said Anderson. "Our brief to the design team was to create spaces that would bring guests even closer to these riverside views, connecting them to nature while ensuring a sense of understated luxury."
Natural setting
Drawing inspiration from the natural setting, the main guest areas will form a single sweeping arc that will follow the contours of the river, creating a series of sitting and dining areas that will flow naturally together. The design will cleverly provide shelter from the environment while retaining a wide open and natural feel.
More than doubled in size, the guest suites will feature raised ceilings and taller doors, allowing for an abundance of natural light. Canvas, banana fibre and hardwood cladding will add a layer of richness and call to mind the design of the original camp. Guest suites will now also feature deep baths and indoor showers, as well as extensive outdoor decks with private plunge pools. A family suite featuring an additional attached bedroom will also be included in the lodge offering.
All buildings will be constructed from lightweight steel frames clad in canvas and sustainably sourced local hardwood. This will allow them to float over the landscape without the need for heavy concrete foundations and slabs, in keeping with andBeyond's ethos of touching the earth lightly.
While the form of the buildings will draw upon the manyattas or circular homesteads of the nomadic Maasai, the colour palette for the interiors will take inspiration from the tribe's vibrant beaded necklaces and the kitenge fabrics found throughout Tanzania's Great Lakes region. The lively purple tones of the original lodge will be pared down to a more subtle tone reminiscent of hippo hide and accented with bright fabrics and hand-blown glass.
Guest favourites such as the boma and lodge pool will remain almost untouched, while a state-of-the-art gym will be a welcome addition.
Sustainable use of resources
As with all andBeyond projects, sustainability will be key in the rebuild and the new lodge will include a 130kWh solar system, which will allow it to run on 80 per cent renewable energy. All hot water systems will also be replaced with brand new, energy efficient ones. Wastewater from the laundry will be recycled for other use and rainwater will be harvested for the swimming pools, while brand new technology will be installed to monitor underground water levels and ensure borehole capacity is not exceeded.
An extended selection of experiences is also being developed in time for the launch of the lodge, which will reopen on 6 June 2022. These will combine with the rich resident wildlife of this remote corner of the Serengeti, as well as the lodge's ideal location for experiencing the thrilling river crossing and vast herds of the Great Migration.
Established in 1991, andBeyond designs personalised high-end tours in 13 countries in Africa, five in Asia and four in South America, offering discerning travellers a rare and exclusive experience of the natural world. It owns and operates 29 lodges and camps in iconic safari, scenic and island destinations in Africa and South America, positively impacting more than three million hectares of wildlife land and three thousand kilometres of coastline.
Photos: andBeyond