Banyan Group has gone on safari.
Ubuyu, a Banyan Tree Escape, is now taking guests in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, marking the Singapore-based group’s first safari property and the second under its Banyan Tree Escape line. The debut Escape, Buahan, opened in northern Ubud, Bali, with a “no walls, no doors” concept across 16 adults-only villas.
Ubuyu is deliberately small. Six villas line the Great Ruaha River, each with a private plunge pool and open-plan layouts facing the savannah and hills. The opening inventory includes three One-Bedroom River Front Villas, a One-Bedroom River Glade Villa, a Two-Bedroom River View Villa suited to families, and the Ubuyu Private Retreat, a three-suite residence with a 360-degree rooftop terrace, firepit lounge, and optional private chef. Outdoor showers and wide decks angled toward the sunrise come standard on the one- and two-bedroom units.
The design borrows from the river’s curves and the circular form of Maasai homesteads, built from local clay, timber, and thatch with Mninga wood furniture made by Tanzanian craftspeople. The lodge runs on solar power and locally sourced water. Its name comes from the Swahili word for baobab fruit, and mature baobabs mark the entrance.
Guests gather at the Living Room, an open-air space modeled on the Maasai enkang, where meals and stories circle a central firepit. The Open Kitchen runs a plant-forward, zero-waste menu that reworks Tanzanian staples such as pilau and ugali na maharage ya nazi alongside meat from nearby farms. The rooftop Mganga Bar pours botanical cocktails over river views, and the riverside Maji Spa builds treatments around indigenous healing traditions and local oils.
Every stay is led by an Escape Host, who doubles as guide and fixer for programming beyond the standard game drive: dawn walking safaris, village exchanges with the Wahehe community (preceded by cultural briefings), and riverside dinners at dusk. Conservation touchpoints run through the Ruaha Conservation Project.
Ruaha is the quieter alternative to Tanzania’s northern circuit, with one of Africa’s largest elephant populations, the world’s densest concentration of lions, and a stronghold for the endangered African wild dog, plus more than 570 bird species.
For advisors: guests fly into Msembe Airstrip, then take a 45- to 60-minute game drive to the lodge. Coastal Aviation, Safari Air Link, and Auric Air operate scheduled service from Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Zanzibar, the Serengeti, and Selous. The lodge recommends three to four nights.
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