Standard Tent
Canvas on a raised platform with a private deck, one super king bed or two singles, ensuite with a flush toilet and hot shower, room for one extra bed.
Lodges & partnersSeronera Central Serengeti
Ole Serai Luxury Camp, Turner Springs
A quiet tented camp on the Turner Springs site, set back from the busiest part of the central Serengeti.
From $465 per person per night
01 / 06
- Tier
- Luxury
- All Inclusive board
- Location
- Seronera Central Serengeti
About
About Ole Serai Luxury Camp, Turner Springs.
Ole Serai Luxury Camp Turner Springs sits in the central Serengeti on the Turner Springs site, far enough off the main Seronera circuit that the camp keeps its own quiet and close enough that the valley and its cats are a normal morning drive away. The country around it is open grass and scattered acacia, with kopjes breaking the horizon, and the light in the first hour is the reason photographers keep coming back to this part of the park.
The camp is canvas on raised timber platforms, tents spaced along a line with their decks turned outward. Each has one super king bed or two singles, an ensuite with a flush toilet and a hot shower, and room for an extra bed where a family needs one. Solar power with a generator behind it runs around the clock, and WiFi reaches the main areas.
The centre of camp is a lounge and dining tent with a library, a viewing deck and a curio shop. Laundry is included to a daily value. A massage can be arranged in camp. There is no pool, which is normal for a camp of this kind in the middle of a national park.
It suits travellers who have been to the Serengeti before and want the centre without the queue at a sighting, couples who want quiet, and anyone building a longer route who wants a second central night that does not repeat the first. Guests who want to be five minutes from the airstrip are better served at Seronera.
Access is by air to Seronera airstrip, about an hour and ten minutes of flying from Arusha, then a longer game drive in than you would have to the Seronera camps. That drive is part of the point.
Signature experiences
Why guests choose it.
Kopje country at first light
The rocky outcrops around camp hold lion through the middle of the day and give the best early light in the central Serengeti.
Sunrise bush breakfast
A full breakfast set out in the open with a waiter looking after it, timed for the light just after dawn.
Private dinner on your tent deck
Dinner on your own deck rather than in the dining tent, with the plains in front of you.
Storytelling at the fire
The camp team tell stories around the fire after dinner, for a small charge a person.
Gallery
A closer look.
Room types
Where you will sleep.
At a glance
The essentials, in brief.
Amenities
- Private Tent Deck
- Solar power with generator backup, 24 hours
- WiFi In The Main Areas
- Restaurant And Lounge Tent
- Viewing Deck
- Library
- Curio Shop
- Laundry included to a daily value
- In Camp Massage On Request
Best for
- Returning Visitors
- Photography
- Couples
- Quiet Camps
- Big Cats
Wildlife and nature
- Lion on the kopjes around camp
- Leopard in the riverine country toward Seronera
- Cheetah On The Open Grassland
- Elephant And Giraffe Year Round
- Migration herds crossing the centre in May and June and again in November
Best time to visit
When to go.
- January: best
- February: best
- March: not a best month
- April: not a best month
- May: not a best month
- June: best
- July: best
- August: best
- September: best
- October: best
- November: not a best month
- December: not a best month
Best months
Best months: January to February and June to October.
Location & access
Getting there.
Location
Seronera Central Serengeti
Arriving by air
About two and a quarter hours in total. Forty five minutes by road from Kilimanjaro International to Arusha Airport, then about an hour and ten minutes by light aircraft to Seronera airstrip, then a game drive transfer in to camp.
By road
About eight to ten hours from Kilimanjaro International, normally split over two days with a night in the Ngorongoro highlands or at Karatu, then the descent into the Serengeti and across to the Turner Springs area.
On the map
Where it sits.
2.437° S, 34.933° E
What's included
What the rate covers.
Included
- Accommodation on a per person sharing basis
- All Inclusive board: breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Soft drinks as selected by the camp
- Laundry to a value of 15 US dollars per person per day
- Drinking Water In Camp
- VAT
Not included
- Serengeti National Park Entry Fees
- Concession Fees
- Tourism Development Levy
- Wildlife Management And Camping Fees
- Game Package: shared safari vehicle and airstrip transfers
- Private Safari Vehicle
- Flights And Airstrip Taxes
- Medical evacuation cover and travel insurance
- Gratuities And Tips
- Items Of A Personal Nature
- Tanzania inbound travel insurance, 44 USD per adult (children 3 to 17 half price, under 3 free), compulsory from 1 October 2026 and bought online before travel
Frequently asked
Questions, answered.
Where is the camp?
In the central Serengeti on the Turner Springs site, set back from the main Seronera circuit. The Seronera valley is a normal morning drive away.
When is the camp open?
Year round. The contract prices every month, with the highest rates from July to October and over the days around Christmas and New Year.
How do guests reach the camp?
By air to Seronera airstrip, about an hour and ten minutes of flying from Arusha Airport, then a game drive transfer in. It is a longer transfer than to the camps beside the strip.
How is it different from the Seronera camp?
Same sector, same game, fewer vehicles. You trade a longer drive from the airstrip for a quieter camp and quieter sightings around it.
Are families with children welcome?
Yes. Children under 6 stay free of charge sharing with their parents, children from 6 to 15 pay a reduced rate, and one extra bed fits in a tent. The camp is unfenced, so children are walked to and from their tent after dark.
What is included in the rate?
All Inclusive board, which is breakfast, lunch and dinner with soft drinks, plus laundry to a daily value. Park fees, the Tourism Development Levy and concession fees are charged separately.
Are game drives included?
No. Game drives come through the Game Package, a shared safari vehicle plus airstrip transfers charged per person per day with a minimum of two guests. A private vehicle can be booked instead, subject to availability.
Is there power and connectivity?
Solar with a generator behind it, running 24 hours, and WiFi in the main areas.
Is there a pool?
No. The camp is canvas in the middle of a national park and is built light on purpose.
How many nights should we stay?
Three. The longer transfer from the airstrip makes a single night poor value, and the country around camp repays being driven at different times of day.
Do I need travel insurance to visit?
Yes. From 1 October 2026 visitors entering mainland Tanzania must hold the government inbound travel insurance, 44 USD per adult and valid for up to 92 days, covering emergency medical care, evacuation, repatriation and lost luggage. Children aged 3 to 17 pay half and infants under 3 are free. It is bought online before you fly or on arrival, and residents of Tanzania and of East African and SADC countries are exempt. If you land in Zanzibar first, the Zanzibar policy covers you instead. It is paid by you directly and is not part of our quote.
What's nearby
Worth the short trip.
The Maasai Kopjes
Inside a normal morning drive
Granite outcrops on the eastern edge of the Seronera valley and the nearest cluster of rock to camp. The granite is around two to three billion years old and weathers into hollows that hold rainwater, so each kopje runs as its own small island of hyrax, mongoose and raptors. The lion pride that lives here is one of the best recorded in the park, followed for decades by the Serengeti Lion Project working out of Seronera.
The Seronera river valley
About 30 to 40 minutes
Permanent water in country that otherwise dries out, which is why the predator density here holds through the year. Guides work the sausage trees along the banks for leopard resting out the middle of the day.
Retima hippo pool
Under an hour, north of Seronera
A permanent pool at a river confluence with a resident hippo group and crocodile on the far bank. It is one of the few places inside the park where guests may leave the vehicle, looking down on the water from a bank raised above it at a marked parking area.
The Serengeti visitor centre
About 30 to 40 minutes, near the Seronera airstrip
A raised walkway built around a kopje, with panels that take the migration month by month, a video room and a shaded picnic area. Rock hyrax live in the rocks the walkway circles.
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