Auberge Collection has officially arrived in Africa, bringing its particular brand of understated luxury to the plains of Tanzania with a new portfolio of safari lodges and camps that feels far more thoughtful than a typical hospitality expansion. The new Auberge Safari collection spans nine properties across some of East Africa’s most extraordinary landscapes, from the Serengeti to Lake Manyara, and quietly positions the brand inside a category where authenticity matters far more than thread counts or marble bathrooms.
The move also marks a significant moment for Auberge itself. Until now, the Friedkin Group-owned hospitality brand had carefully built its reputation through intimate resorts in destinations like Greece, Mexico, Italy, and the American West. Safari changes the conversation entirely. Guests here care about migration routes, conservation corridors, and the instincts of a guide who can spot a leopard hidden in the trees from half a mile away.
That’s likely why Auberge chose to build this collection around operators already deeply embedded in Tanzania rather than arriving as an outsider attempting to reinvent safari culture. The new platform brings together Legendary Expeditions, part of the Friedkin Group’s conservation-focused safari business, and Chem Chem Safari, the quietly influential luxury safari company founded by Fabia Busch.
Together, the two brands map out a notably seamless route through northern Tanzania. The journey could start in Arusha among shaded coffee estates, continue into the Serengeti during the migration season and eventually slow beside Lake Manyara as elephants emerge at dusk along centuries-old wildlife paths. Safari, by nature, is about constant motion, though today’s travelers tend to prefer itineraries that feel considered instead of overpacked. Auberge understands the distinction.
Several of the camps sit directly along the Great Migration route, including Nyasi in Lamai, in the Northern Serengeti, where wildebeest crossings unfold with startling intensity during the season.
Nearby, Songa places guests beside the Mara River in Kogatende, an area famous for its dramatic herd movements and enormous crocodile populations waiting patiently below the surface.
In Nyasirori, Mila offers a version of the Serengeti that feels a touch more intimate and atmospheric. Lions dominate the landscape here and drives tend to revolve around watching them lounge beneath acacia trees as the light softens toward evening.
It all feels almost too cinematic to be real until you find yourself lingering over dinner outside, under an impossibly luminous sky, hearing unseen movement somewhere beyond the lantern glow.
Mwiba Lodge may ultimately become the collection’s defining property. Set within the Greater Mwiba Protected Wildlife Area, the lodge’s ten tented suites rest atop granite outcrops overlooking an enormous private reserve protected by the Friedkin Conservation Fund.
The setting feels intentionally removed from the busier safari circuits farther north. Guests spend their days on game drives, visiting local Datoga communities, or simply sitting on expansive private decks watching animals gather below in silence.
Closer to the grasslands themselves, Mwiba Plains offers a more intimate camp experience, particularly during calving season when newborn wildebeest and zebra begin appearing across the savannah in staggering numbers.
There’s a tenderness to this phase of the migration that often gets overlooked beside the spectacle of river crossings.
Back in Arusha, Legendary Lodge serves as the collection’s quieter counterpart to the bush camps. The property occupies a historic coffee estate framed by lush gardens and Mount Meru in the distance, with twelve cottages, a spa, and the sort of calm atmosphere that feels deeply restorative after several early mornings bouncing across dirt tracks in a Land Cruiser.
The Chem Chem properties bring a very different rhythm. Chem Chem Lodge, Little Chem Chem, and Forest Chem Chem all sit within the Burunge Wildlife Management Area, which connects Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks through one of the region’s most important wildlife corridors. The camps have long been associated with what owner Fabia Busch calls “Slow Safari,” a style of travel centered less around racing between sightings and more around spending time within the landscape itself.
“Slow Safari was never about doing less. It was about feeling more,” Busch said in a statement announcing the partnership.
That philosophy lingers throughout these camps. Little Chem Chem offers particularly strong opportunities to encounter the region’s famous Big Tusker elephants, while Forest Chem Chem places guests beneath a dense canopy where leopards occasionally emerge from the shadows with unnerving elegance. Days unfold at a gentler pace here. Long breakfasts stretch into late mornings. Wildlife appears unexpectedly rather than according to itinerary.
Conservation remains central to the entire venture, and Auberge has leaned heavily into that message from the outset. Every stay directly supports both the Friedkin Conservation Fund and the Chem Chem Association, organizations dedicated to preserving migration routes, wildlife habitats, and the communities surrounding them.
Christian Clerc, Auberge Collection’s President and CEO, described the partnership as part of the Friedkin family’s decades-long stewardship of Tanzania’s ecosystems and wildlife habitats, an area where luxury travel companies increasingly face pressure to demonstrate genuine environmental involvement rather than simply attaching themselves to conservation language.
The Auberge Safari collection is now open for bookings, with rates ranging from approximately $1,505 to $3,230 per night depending on the property, season, and accommodation category.
