Canvas or Walls: Choosing Between a Safari Tent and a Lodge

By Safari News — Africa Calling Safaris, Partner desk, Nairobi · 24/10/2026

Few decisions shape a safari more than the choice between a canvas tented camp and a permanent lodge. Both can deliver outstanding wildlife sightings, but the nightly experience differs sharply. Tented camps, a tradition dating back to the 1920s, place guests directly inside the ecosystem, with unfiltered sounds of lions, hyenas and hippos, wider temperature swings, and sometimes bucket showers heated over a wood fire. A recent survey of luxury safari travellers found that 67 percent named a night in a tented camp their most memorable sleep of the trip, precisely because of those untamed night sounds.

Permanent lodges, by contrast, offer air conditioning or heating, steady hot water, reliable Wi-Fi and occasionally swimming pools, making them a practical choice for families with young children, travellers with accessibility needs, or those visiting during the cooler July–August season, when canvas walls offer less insulation. Many lodges are also notable for their architecture, built along riverbanks or into rocky kopjes.

"Sleeping in a tent, listening to the night, is not a hardship, it is the whole point," said Nikos Pocock, head guide and co-founder of the Nairobi-based operator partnering on East African itineraries. "But I also know some guests sleep better knowing the walls are solid."

Most camps accept children from age eight, though policies vary by property, and travellers from Europe or the Caucasus should weigh connecting flight times through Nairobi when deciding between a remote tented stay and a lodge closer to an airstrip.

Based on reporting by Safari News, the travel desk of Africa Calling Safaris (Nairobi), GTour’s partner for East Africa. Read the original there.