Privately owned. Slowly grown. Family-run.
Twelve years in. Same family at the helm. Same Tanzanian team on the ground. Member of Relais & Châteaux since 2019.
Started by a guide and a chef
The Example Lodge began in 2012 with a single eight-suite property on the Serengeti rim, built by a Tanzanian guide and a chef from Stone Town who had been quietly working together for a decade in other people's lodges. They wanted something smaller, better, and theirs.
The first three years were just the rim property. Then the crater rim came in 2015, the Zanzibar villas in 2018, and the Kilimanjaro coffee farm in 2021. We have stopped expanding for now. Four properties is enough; the General Manager has to be able to know every guest by name on every site, and that line gets crossed at five.
Relais & Châteaux invited us to apply in 2019. We were inducted that November. Since then, the same family runs the operation, the same chefs run the kitchens, and we have the lowest staff turnover of any operator in the EATA register.
Five principles that shape every stay
Tanzanian-led
Every property is run by a Tanzanian General Manager. Every guide, chef, and host is Tanzanian. We pay above the TATO minimum and run an in-house apprentice scheme.
Small by design
Eight to twelve keys per property. We turned down a fifty-key offer in 2017. Above twelve, the General Manager stops knowing every guest, and the standard slips.
Solar-first
Three of the four properties run on rooftop solar with battery storage. The Zanzibar villas added the array in 2024. Diesel generators are for emergencies only.
KPAP for porters
All Kilimanjaro guests are routed through KPAP-certified operators. We pay porter wages above the recommended floor and audit our partners every quarter.
Community-partnered
1.5 percent of every rate goes to a partner programme: rim village schools, the Mkomazi rhino sanctuary, the Zanzibar reef restoration project, and the Kilimanjaro tree nursery.
Anti-poaching support
We co-fund a four-ranger anti-poaching unit with a partner reserve adjacent to our Serengeti rim concession. The unit reports quarterly to all guests in our newsletter.
The team across the four properties
Our four senior team members run the operation between them. Below them: 6 General Managers, 14 chefs, 22 guides, and a permanent staff of 87 across the four properties.
Founding General Manager
Began as a head guide in 2002. Co-founded the lodge in 2012. Holds the property licence and is the named owner across all four sites.
Head Chef
Trained in Stone Town and Cape Town. Wrote the four property menus around East African ingredients with a French finish. Mentors all four kitchen brigades.
Lead Naturalist Guide
Senior wildlife guide, Tanzania Bronze Level. Trains the apprentice guides. Big cat tracker; 800-plus lion sightings logged in the Seronera valley.
Sustainability Director
Manages partnerships with rim villages, the Zanzibar reef project, the rhino sanctuary, and porter welfare audits. Reports to the founding General Manager.
Where the rate goes
The figures below are from our 2025 financial year, audited by KPMG East Africa. The full report is available to guests on request.
What others have said
Relais & Châteaux
Inducted at the November 2019 Marrakech meeting. Reaccredited 2022 and 2025. The only multi-property Tanzanian member in the East Africa register.
Travel + Leisure
Listed in the top 25 hotels in Africa, with a guest score of 96 out of 100. The Serengeti rim property took the highest individual score in Tanzania.
Condé Nast Traveler
Three consecutive years on the Readers' Choice Awards top 50 in Africa & the Indian Ocean. Highest-scoring boutique operator in the Tanzanian set.
The team picks you up at the airstrip
Most stays start with a five-minute introduction at the airstrip and a slow drive in. By the time you reach the lodge, the General Manager already knows what you ordered for dinner.