Reviews of Tortilis Camp

"This camp had great views of Kilimanjaro and offered the best food on our trip overall.

Thet also approached the bush breakfast and sundowners in a slightly different way with staff waiting at certain locations ready to serve you when you arrived.

This meant we had a hot breakfast in the bush complete with chef and set table.

The sundowners being served high on a hill will mount Kilimanjaro as the backdrop was magical.

It's nice to have a pool although it does get a lot of debris in it quickly.

Staff all very friendly.

Game drives have nice scenery and lots of elephants." See all these reviews: 6n in Kenya; 3n in Tanzania

"We love our stay at Tortilis Camp. The room was very comfortable. The staffs are very friendly. Our Safari guide Solomon was amazing!" See all these reviews: 4n in Kenya

"Great camp, relaxed and comfortable.

Breakfast was one buffet style in the lodge with one bush and one picnic. Bush breakfast in particular was really special. Nice to be able to walk around the camp unaccompanied.

Really liked the drinking water tap in our “tent” . House wines good. Food and staff very good.

Game guide Juma was excellent - an amazing “spotter”. Host managers were fantastic !

Best of both worlds with the Amboseli National Park and also the conservancy on the doorstep.

Amazing to have Mt Kilimanjaro in the background d of our best photographs." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya; 5n in Zanzibar

"Beautiful property, very nice rooms, staff excellent and the guiding fantastic.

It’s a bigger camp than we usually like, but it was very well run by charming hosts. Y

ou can walk around the property since it is fenced and the public spaces overlook a very active waterhole." See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya

"Tortillis Camp is a well appointed camp located in its own private conservancy with lovely views over the plains below. The views of Kilimanjaro were usually at their best at sunrise and sunset. During the rest of the day Kilimanjaro was usually covered in thick cloud!

The tented accommodation was very comfortable with chairs and a day bed on the small terrace area outside. All the tents are situated below the main camp areas so a bit of a short climb back up to the top. The fire pit was usually lit in the evenings but never used as the seating area is very small.

The main lounge/bar area is very comfortable and spacious with good views over the plains. The food was really very good. Lunch was a buffet with a selection of excellent salads along with one or two hot dish selections. The starter for dinner was always soup with a choice of two dishes for the main course one of which would be a vegetarian option.

The camp is managed by a Scottish couple who have been working in East Africa for many years. They would often be there to meet you after your game drives and also before dinner in the evening. All the staff were very attentive and keen to make sure your stay ran smoothly.

Amboseli N P is rightly famous for its huge elephant population and it is probably impossible to drive for more than 15 minutes without coming across elephants! That is the main reason that I wanted to visit this park but I heard that some guests have been disappointed that other wildlife is sparse. I don't think this a destination for for first time safari goers unless they only want to see elephants!

The guiding here was good but the guides here do seem to have something of a fixation to give you the perfect photo shot of an elephant with Kilimanjaro in the background. There is supposed to be a decent lion population here but they are seldom seen. I did have one sighting of 3 male cheetah brothers but that was very fortunate as they are very skittish and shy. There are no leopards in the park.

Overall I enjoyed my time at Tortillis and in Amboseli but for me it is a once only visit. That is not a criticism of Tortillis or the park itself but simply recognition that there is not enough to draw you back." See all these reviews: 8n in Kenya

"This was my third visit to Tortilis and for obvious reasons. It is located in a conservancy which means game viewing is excellent and mostly private.

The camp is also very nice, there is a climb from the tents to the main lodge and eating area but it is not difficult and you can also get picked up near the pool for the game drives which makes it so much easier. My guide Juma is absolutely the best and it was a treat to have him in the car.

The facilities are top-notch and everyone is always ready to help. Food is superb, it is even better than I remember. Breakfast is a buffet and dinner is a multiple course meal served at the table. Everyone is assigned a room steward who looks after all your needs in the tent, including the morning wake-up tea/coffee, laundry and anything else. You also have a personal waiter who attends to you during mealtimes and will get your packed breakfast prepared according to your wishes, apart from other things.

I had a massage twice during my 10 day stay there and it was very good, perfect for all the back pains I developed from the 'safari massage' sustained during the game drives." See all these reviews: 15n in Kenya

"Because of the number of guests we were offered the private house. It was a treat having our own pool. No-one was in the family tent for the first two days so we had the pool to ourselves.

The house had a fridge with cold drinks which we enjoyed. The main bedroom had a huge tub! In the early evening we sat on the covered porch watching the dikdiks and birds. On our third night I woke at 2am with my back, right side (the side I sleep on) and upper arms covered in itchy welts. I assumed something (mites?) was in the bed. It was very very uncomfortable. Fortunately there was a third twin bed in the room I was sharing, so my roommate installed me in that bed so I could get some sleep. But now, 9 days later I have raised red spots that are only slightly itchy if I rub them by mistake.

A number of us experienced itchy welts around the time we were at the camp, so we shared antihistamine tablets some brought, which helped temporarily. Eventually we were given some anti-itch cream at another camp, also with mixed results, providing temporary relief. I strongly recommend bringing antihistamine tablets and bug bite cream. There was some doubt about where I got my bites. But I know for sure I was in bed and wakened at 2am by itchy itchy welts and I felt like I was being bit. Expert Africa was empathetic and tried to figure out the source.

Food was good but sometimes hit and miss. The beef was tough tough tough. Don't have any beef there. Chris was a pleasant server but he often mixed up orders." See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya

"For a first visit to the Amboseli, Tortilis was a wonderful experience.

Only one thing marred our stay, which was that several of us in the group were quite badly bitten by insects in our beds. I believe that this was reported, but I do want to reiterate it. I am not sure what the protocol is when this happens; however, I would hope that camp management would take a good look at current practices and to update how bug management is handled.

That out of the way, everything else at Tortilis was amazing. The staff was wonderful. The chefs outdid themselves, and their Pastry Chef is truly outstanding. Meals were always very very good.

I would have prefered our Bush Breakfasts to be laid out and take what you want as opposed to box breakfasts. Not everyone would eat everything in the boxes, and I fear that some of that food was wasted. Our one sit down and omlette station bush breakfast with other visitors, was the best.

Our guides, Dixon and Chege (I hope I spelled that correctly), were beyond excellent. Both gentlemen were so well informed on the wildlife, plants, rocks, terrain, everything. I would not hesitate to travel with them again. We saw so many animals, including Craig (!), and were truly blown away.

To add to animal sightings: We saw ground squirrels twice." See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya

"Great camp, super location in its own conservancy with outstanding views of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Our main goal was to find and photograph supertusker Craig and our guide was brilliant. He found Craig on two separate days.....simply amazing!!!!!

We also found a cheetah with four cubs lounging in front of Kilimanjaro. The conservancy is a huge plus.

The lodge staff and food......simply outstanding." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya

"staff were very friendly and food was excellent. Tents were clean and basic. The camp is quite large and we prefer smaller camps. It was not busy when we were there but i can imagine if the camp was full it would be overwhelming." See all these reviews: 16n in Kenya