About Us
Intimate Places Tanzania is a highly experienced safari accommodation provider headquartered in Usa River on the outskirts of Arusha. Our ethos is that of the personal touch, treating each and every one of our guests as a VIP worthy of our full attention. This respect and effort on our part ensure the experiences of a lifetime. With links to East Africa going back literally decades, we have built up a relationship with the area and its peoples which we are pleased to share with all who travel with us.
Our professional, experienced and highly enthusiastic staff can be found at all levels of our organisation. From the managers of our properties, to our top notch guiding team, to the friendly and courteous support staff in our offices, camps and lodges, nowhere else are you likely to find such a motivated group of people who are so committed to looking after your every need.
Not only will Intimate Places Tanzania enable you to experience the more celebrated parts of Tanzania such as the endless Serengeti plains and the natural amphitheater of Ngorongoro Crater, but we can also help you to enjoy some of the more remote destinations as well as introduce you to the romantic and charismatic people who inhabit our extraordinary country.
To be able to experience the rawness of “wild Africa,” you have to go on a camping safari which will give you a more privileged and intimate perspective of the nature, wildlife and people you will encounter. Canvas does not cut out the thousand sounds of Africa’s night and it allows access to the most remote corners of the African game lands. Fortunately, Intimate Places Tanzania’s reputation as operators of luxury mobile, seasonal and permanent tented camps is second to none and our managers and staff look forward to welcoming you on a safari of a lifetime.
1. We believe in bringing our guests closer to nature.
2. We believe in providing exciting wildlife experiences.
3. We believe in encouraging our guests to engage with local
communities so as to gain a better understanding of their cultures.
4. We believe in safeguarding the environments in which we operate
for the sake of future generations.
5. We believe in providing our guests with a better understanding of
all that they see on Safari through a process of education.
6. We believe in the luxury of a natural and wildlife experience.
7. We believe in providing families with private, safe havens from
which they can explore the exciting world around them.
8. We believe in providing quality ‘edutainment’ to younger
generations so that they may better appreciate their Safari
adventures.
At the beginning of 2017, Intimate Places embarked on an ambitious plan to further reduce the company’s impact on the environments in which it operates.
Intimate Camps are luxury mobile camps set up in different locations for short periods of time. Once guests depart, they are broken down and everything is carried away leaving no evidence that a camp was ever there.
Camp Zebra operates in exactly the same way, except that this camp stays in each location for longer periods of time; normally anywhere from 6 to 15 weeks.
Because of the problem of transporting fragile items on the back of trucks over long distances with challenging road conditions, both Intimate Camps and Camp Zebra have traditionally been reliant on generators for electricity.
Generators are however pollutants and so, as part of this new plan, the company resolved to find a way to operate their camps without them.
With the assistance of a firm of local electrical engineers, a system was devised which would allow each tent to be individually supplied with sufficient electricity to power lights, charge personal electronic equipment and run CPAP machines for guests suffering from sleep apnoea.
Portable individual power generating units consisting of solar panels, trickle-chargers, inverters and solar batteries were constructed and specially designed packaging was also fabricated to prevent breakages during frequent transportation.
Since January 2018, the company has powered all of its ‘Intimate Camps’ using this new system. The solar panels ensure that the batteries charge fully during the course of the day and that there is plenty of electricity available for all guests throughout the night.
Due to the resounding success of this new system, the same solar power generating equipment was also introduced at Camp Zebra in the same year and the company is therefore no longer reliant on generators for electricity.
Hot water for guest showers is heated using eco-friendly Safari boilers which were especially manufactured for Intimate Places by a local engineering works in 2015. These boilers are deployed at both Intimate Camps as well as Camp Zebra. What makes them special is that they require minimal amounts of fuel to produce an ample supply of hot water.
Briquettes manufactured from waste wood products are transported into the national parks to fuel these boilers so as to avoid the company playing a role, no matter how small, in the deforestation of our planet.
For the 2019 / 2020 season, the company will be experimenting with a new kind of solar hot water boiler and, in the event that this proves successful, the same technology will be introduced in all Intimate Camps.
Perhaps the final area which the company will need to address is that which concerns the types of toilets used in all of its camps.
Currently the toilets to be found in the ensuite bathrooms of all accommodation tents at both Camp Zebra and Intimate Camps are the conventional ceramic ones which are similar to the ones found in most parts of the world.
The problem with these is that they use a great deal of water which is a scarce resource in most wilderness locations in Tanzania. They also require the installation of separate drainage systems to disperse the waste produced.
Since 2015, Intimate Camps has offered its guests the option of using ‘Eco-flush’ toilets. These are very similar to chemical toilets and use a special bio-degradable product which breaks down waste quickly and efficiently. The waste itself is disposed of in a hole dug by the camp crew during the set-up of each camp and water consumption is minimal.
Guests of Intimate Camps are given the option to choose the type of toilet they would prefer to use as part of the planning process for their private camp.
Intimate Places is always on the look-out for ways in which to reduce the environmental impact of its camps even further and a great deal of attention is paid to new technologies as and when they become available. The ultimate aim of the company is to have ‘zero impact’ and, as you can see, it has already made great strides towards achieving this goal.
What our camp guests say
We stayed at the Intimate Camp in October after a last minute change from our tour operator, but we were so lucky to do so. The camp is in a beautiful location with stunning views, surrounded by the wildlife we had come to see.
We had an amazing time! everything was perfect!! Our two teenagers absolutely loved the place. Beautiful and cozy clean rooms. The staff was super kind and warm. The food was excellent. Can’t wait to come back
