In short
- Singita Sasakwa is an Edwardian style manor on a hill in the private Grumeti Reserve. Ten cottages, a stable, a tennis court. From about USD 3,100 per person per night, and about USD 4,300 in the high season.
- Four Seasons Safari Lodge sits in the central Serengeti around a waterhole the elephant use all day, with an infinity pool over it. From about USD 1,750 to about USD 2,250.
- Sasakwa buys land. Off road driving, night drives, walking and almost no other vehicles, none of which the national park allows.
- Four Seasons buys service. Three restaurants, a spa, a gym, a Discovery Centre and the only proper kids club in the Serengeti.
- For a family, Four Seasons. For a second safari with no children, Sasakwa, and it is not close.
We sell both. We have stayed in both. And we will say plainly which one we would book for you, because at these numbers nobody should be guessing.
At a glance
| Singita Sasakwa | Four Seasons Serengeti | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Grumeti Reserve, western corridor | Central Serengeti, near Seronera |
| The land | 350,000 private acres | National park, open to all operators |
| Rooms | 10 cottages, 1 to 4 bedrooms | 77 rooms, suites and villas |
| Guide price, from | About USD 3,100 per person per night | About USD 1,750 per person per night |
| Guide price, high season | About USD 4,300 | About USD 2,250 |
| Off road driving | Yes | No, the park forbids it |
| Night drives | Yes | No |
| Walking safaris | Yes | No |
| Park fees | Inside the rate | USD 83 per adult per day, extra |
| Pool | Private, at each cottage | Infinity pool over the waterhole |
| Children | All ages, and a family cottage | All ages, kids club, Discovery Centre |
| Spa and gym | Yes, and a tennis court and stable | Yes, and 3 restaurants |
What Sasakwa is actually selling
Not the manor. The manor is beautiful, with 10 cottages, log fires, a library and a view down the whole western corridor, and it will not be the thing you remember.
What you are buying is the Grumeti Reserve. Singita took a conservation lease in 2006 on a hunting block that had been shot out, removed the hunting, funded anti poaching and a scout school, and the game has come back across 20 years. The reserve is roughly the size of Greater London with 4 small camps on it.
Because it is private land, your guide can drive off road, drive after dark and walk you out. The national park allows none of those. On a quiet morning you will go an hour without seeing another vehicle, which in the Serengeti in August is close to impossible anywhere else.
What Four Seasons does better than anyone
It is the only lodge in the Serengeti that works as a hotel as well as a safari camp, and that is a compliment. Three restaurants means a fussy eater is fine. A kids club and a Discovery Centre means a 9 year old has somewhere to be at 2pm. A gym, a spa and an infinity pool mean the hot middle of the day is a pleasure rather than a wait.
The waterhole is the trick of the place. It sits directly below the pool and the elephant use it all day, so guests spend the gap between drives watching elephant drink from a sun lounger. We have had guests skip an afternoon drive for it.
The central Serengeti also carries the densest resident game in the park, which means you are not relying on where the herds happen to be. For a first safari that certainty is worth a great deal.
Where the money actually lands
On a 3 night stay for 2 adults, Sasakwa in high season runs about USD 25,800 and Four Seasons about USD 13,500 on the game package, before the TANAPA park fee of USD 83 per adult per day which Four Seasons excludes and Singita does not.
That gap is roughly 3 extra nights of Four Seasons, or a gorilla permit and a night in Rwanda, or the Ngorongoro Crater added to the same journey. Which is the honest way to think about it. Sasakwa is not expensive for what it is. It is expensive against what else the money would buy.
Who each one suits
Book Sasakwa if
- This is a second or third safari and the crowds have started to matter.
- You want night drives and walking, which the park does not permit.
- Photography is the point and off road access is worth real money.
- You are travelling as a family or group taking a whole cottage, where the rate divides.
- You are coming in June, when the herds cross the western corridor.
Book Four Seasons if
- You are bringing children, especially between 5 and 12.
- It is a first safari and certainty of game matters more than exclusivity.
- Somebody in the party wants a pool, a gym and 3 restaurants.
- The budget is better spent on more nights than on fewer, better ones.
- You want the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater in the same week without the cost running away.
What we book
Four Seasons carries the 3 Serengeti nights on our 14 day Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya journey, because that journey already holds a gorilla permit and a private Mara conservancy and does not need a third ultra luxury line.
Sasakwa carries the Serengeti half of our Rwanda gorillas and Serengeti journey, where the whole point is the top of the market in both countries. We have written at length on whether Sasakwa is worth it, and the short answer there is yes, for the right guest.
Our verdict
With children, book Four Seasons. The kids club, the pool, the 3 restaurants and the waterhole make a Serengeti week work for a family in a way no tented camp manages.
Without children, on a second safari, book Sasakwa. You are buying 350,000 private acres and the right to leave the road, and that changes the safari rather than the stay.
If the gap between them would come out of your nights rather than your pocket, take the nights. More days in the Serengeti beats a better bed in it, every time.
Written by Abner Ongeri, founder of Ongeri Expeditions in Karen, Nairobi. We stay in every camp we sell and we sell all of these, which is exactly why we will tell you when one is not worth the money. Last checked 2 October 2026.
