The Highlands
Bonnie basecamp
Crater good
With its geodesic domes and guided crater hikes, there’s an otherworldly feel to stellar safari camp The Highlands in Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Local community visits and year-round game viewing — with predators aplenty — are in its orbit, and you’ll be left just as starry-eyed by its all-inclusive set-up. Nods to Maasai shuka in plaid-popping suites, teamed with fire-toasted spaces and a barrel sauna, bring a soul-warming cosiness, that’s welcome after dreamy days out.
Once you’ve booked your chosen stays, the Asilia team will work to be in touch, on business days, within 48 hours, to help arrange travel between camps, which may include charter or private small-plane flights and/or overland transfers.
Facilities
Rooms
Eight domes.
Checkout
10am. Check-in is at 2pm.
More Details
Rates at The Highlands include all meals and drinks (except premium wines and champagne), limited laundry service, game drives, crater hikes (for over-12s) and return overland transfers to Manyara Airstrip.
Also
Unfortunately, this remote camp is not suitable if you have limited mobility.
Laundry
Room Service
At the Hotel
Free WiFi in the main area and rooms. In rooms: radio, electric fan, torch, USB charging ports, free bottled water, laundry detergent and Healing Earth bath products.
Our Favourite Rooms
Each of The Highlands’ geodesic domes is crafted out of canvas and Perspex, with touches of plaid and hide throws bringing a quaintness to the contemporary suites. Stays are made all the more romantic in a Honeymoon Dome, with its fire-warmed seating area and forest-backdropped hot tub.
Spa
At the spa boma, you'll find post-safari soothing at the barrel sauna, which pairs well with the cold-water bucket shower, or in an African-wood massage in the domed treatment room.
Packing Tips
You can leave your Moon Boots behind — the craters you’ll be hiking are volcanic (though, they are out of this world).
Also
Once you’ve booked your safari stays, the Asilia team will be in touch within 48 hours, on business days, to help arrange travel between camps, which may include charter or private small-plane flights and/or overland transfers.
Children
Over-fives are welcome. With under-12s in tow, you’ll need to book a private vehicle for game drives at additional cost. For some activities, the minimum age is 12 years old; younger Smiths will need to stay at camp, supervised by one of their adults.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
You’ll dine all together, but if you’d prefer a private table for two, this can be arranged on request.
Dress Code
Come as you are in this remote, outdoorsy stay.
Hotel Restaurant
Expect farm-to-fork dining that showcases seasonality and is proudly low on food miles. A commitment to sustainability and a celebration of local, indigenous ingredients underpin Asilia Africa’s approach to cuisine across all camps. Breads, cakes and even ice-creams are made freshly in-house, and dishes are always paired with South African wines.
At The Highlands, breakfast might be a picnic in the bush consisting of fresh fruits, yoghurt, muesli, freshly squeezed juices, baked pastries, breakfast sandwiches and wraps. But if you're staying in camp, you also have an option to start your day with hot dishes à la carte.
Across all Asilia Africa camps, the menu changes by the day; at each meal, there’ll be a choice of starters, mains, sides and desserts, with vegetarians as well served as meat eaters. Lunch on Wednesdays and dinner on Sundays are a distinctly Swahili affair, spotlighting local culinary traditions. If you have food preferences or dietary requirements, the camp’s kitchen team will be happy to adapt dishes to suit.
Hotel Bar
Gather in the main lounge area — a convivial and inviting space with its bush views, wood-burning stove and serpentine seating area — where staff are on hand around the clock to pour drinks, should you wish.
Last Orders
Rather than working to scheduled hours, meals fit around your plans and staff are happy to flex to meet your wishes.
Room Service
Available 24 hours: you can order drinks and snacks to your suite; meals, too, can be arranged chez vous.
Planes
From Kilimanjaro, Arusha or Dar Es Salaam airports, connecting flights touch down at Lake Manyara airstrip, where you’ll be met by Asilia staff for the three-hour drive to the camp, included with your stay (private vehicles can be arranged for an additional charge). Bush flights can also be organised.
Automobiles
All the driving at The Highlands is taken care of by trained staff using Asilia vehicles.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
The Highlands' remote perch in Ngorongoro Conservation Area is set away from the region’s other camps, but within easy reach of its scenic landscapes. Here, you’re uniquely placed for half-day trips to Empakaai Crater, where a flamingo-studded lake and elephant-roamed rim are encircled by dramatic caldera cliffs. A shorter option — or addition — is the Olmoti Crater climb, an ancient cattle trail along which you might spy buffalo, zebra and leopard. Full-day excursions to the notable Ngorongoro Crater are marked by closed-vehicle game drives through verdant landscapes to spot the Big Five. Equally soul-stirring are visits to local communities, where you’ll be invited into a Maasai boma to learn more about traditional cattle-herding practices.
Put your three-night stay at The Highlands at the heart of a pan-Tanzanian trip taking in a trio of Asilia Africa camps. Start with the up-close and intimate nature of safari in Tarangire National Park at Oliver’s Camp for three nights, before heading to Ngorongoro and The Highlands. Three nights to finish at northern Serengeti’s Namiri Plains is the perfect foil with which to round off your East African adventures.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
