If you want to stay in a safari lodge in the southeastern area of the Serengeti Plain during the time of the Great Migration in February, then you have a choice: Ndutu Safari Lodge. It's your only choice. Another option is one of the tented camps that follow the migration. This option may provide a unique experience -- and may also be more expensive than the lodge. For our family, the lodge could more easily accommodate three people in one room.
Ndutu provides basic, clean accommodations in a rather remote and desolate location. Under the circumstances, it's unreasonable to expect anything more at a reasonable price. What you do get is the standard Tanzanian friendly service, a nice restaurant / bar area, and good food and drink. It's hard to complain about $2 beers and $4 glasses of wine.
And you may see a greater variety of wildlife on the lodge grounds than some people see on a half-day tour of the plains in other areas. In our case, we saw:
-- the weaver birds in the acacia trees
-- the dik-dik grazing under them
-- the rock martin building a nest where the wall and roof of the reception building meet
-- the mice scurrying along their trails at the entry from the parking lot
-- the glossy starling battling with a moth - and winning
-- the Fischer's lovebirds, mourning doves, and blue-capped cordon-bleus at the bird pond just outside the restaurant
-- the amethyst sunbird savoring the flowers on the aloe plants
-- the hyenas howling at night
-- the bat hanging from our bungalow roof to protect us from mosquitoes
-- the now infamous giant beetle referred to elsewhere
-- and, of course, the genet cats who inhabit the restaurant rafters at night and give the lodge its logo.
Are we watching them or are they watching us? We're the ones with the cameras!
From journal Safari in Northern Tanzania