Reviews of Grumeti River Camp
Wildlife sightings and reviews
9 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Grumeti River Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
"Nice location - to late for the migration"
Very nice accommodation, best veranda of the trip, lovely spot for a couple to hang out and watch the wildlife. River was a bit dry but at the right time of the year it would be spectacular. Hippo and Hyena walking up around the tent at night so perhaps nerwrecking if you're a light sleeper.
Airstrip 5 min from the camp - very good.
Food and drinks lacked nothing - gained 2kg on eating too much lovely food.
Very accommodating staff, managers not local (South Africa) which is a different approach than Asilia. We always like to see as many locals enrolled as possible. But everybody was very nice.
Post migration with a dry river doesn't offer as much wildlife as Tarangire did, 50+ lions in the roaming pride but was hard to find. Our jeep had a run in with local park "enforcers", who drove up with a full pickup 10 pax with covered faces starting to make allegations to our guide driving off-road. Didn't feel official and left everybody a bit shaken. Didn't feel unsafe but did distract the group.
Did comment to Grumeti to try to separate bird watchers and big game lovers in separate cars as the focus between the two type of groups is wasted different and not really jointly compatible.
Dead hippo in the river in front of camp started to send off a bit of a smell, not the camps fault, they were in the process of trying to figure out historical remove it.
Told them to copy Asilias walki talkie solutions, so guest could reach out to the camp team if need something or want to arrange pickup in the dark.
With the migration in full swing and more water in the river this camp would be a Top notch location." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 3n in Zanzibar
"Want to go back!"
The drive to the camp was long (Coastal timetables had meant we had to land at Seronera rather than the airstrip next to camp) but very rewarding. Within the first hour we had seen four bat-eared foxes playing in full daylight, hyenas and the three cats – lion, leopard and cheetah. These were followed by thousands of wildebeest as the migration had started early.
Arriving at camp we were greeted by singing staff and welcomed by manager Mussa who could not do too much for us. We were the only guests for the duration of our stay and were spoilt rotten! They even switched the wifi on early for us one day so that we could book flights for our next trip to Africa.
Rooms have changed substantially since Expert Africa’s last visit and are now decorated in peaceful colours of brown and cream. The big wooden headboards have gone and have been replaced with a modern, minimalist unit housing a fridge and safe. Entrance to the rooms is now through what used to be the shower, providing a useful ante-room including a butler’s cupboard where early morning tea of coffee can be left. We thought this was one of the best rooms we have had anywhere on safari (and we’ve had quite a lot!)
The room was taken care of by Tanu who kept it immaculate and amused us with his little notes wishing us Lala Salaama. We were very impressed when, after discovering we’re wine rather than beer drinkers, our fridge was restocked with wine.
Jackson’s food was delicious though our appetites could not cope with the quantity available – we are simply not used to three big meals a day plus nibbles! I hope my request for two of his recipes went some way to show our appreciation even though we couldn’t eat everything! Dinner was served in a variety of locations, from the main dining area to the lawn by the river (surrounded by lanterns which must have taken ages to set up) to the deck outside our room with champagne – sorry we didn’t fall for the story about the monkeys having wrecked the place to get us back there! John was a wonderful butler who provided excellent service without obsequiousness and was chatty and friendly without being pushy; he struck just the right balance for us.
Although this was supposedly not the best time to visit this area of the Serengeti we saw an amazing amount on our drives with Waziri. Vast numbers of wildebeest, huge, huge herds of topi, big prides of lions, elephants in a strop, a gazelle being born and loads of the usual suspects. Waziri was a great companion and guide and proved an excellent barman for sundowners too! It’s not often you find yourself discussing the future of the EU in the middle of the Serengeti! The one minor downside to Grumeti was that there are a lot of biting insects around, including tsetses, but the fly whisks in the vehicle did help to keep them off.
We would return to Grumeti without a doubt and give it six paws in all categories if the website allowed it!!
Jane awarded it the ultimate accolade by bursting into tears when we had to leave, much to Waziri's consternation!" See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania; 1n in Kenya
"Beautiful setting"
The service was very good; the food was nice but I didn't get a special attention to my dietary needs.
The game tours were OK, not as good as compared to Nxabeja maybe because there are not so many animals in the area.
If I could go back to deciding the trip, I would have probably chosen another camp in the Serengeti with a better game area, like Kleins Camp or in central Serengeti. However, at the time I did not have the information I now have." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 4n in South Africa; 3n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana; 1n in Zanzibar
"Grumeti River Camp review"
A wonderful experience in everything and Deo, was the best butler we could of hoped of." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar
"Beautiful setting and excellent service"
The visit provided three highlights of our trip to the Serengeti......the black and white colobus monkey, a herd of common eland and a confrontation between an elephant and a group of hippos" See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania
"Grumeti River Camp review"
Excellent all round lodge - by far the best food of the trip, great location (except how close it is to the airstrip - you are definitely in the flight path), lovely permanent tented rooms that are nicely decorated with local influences and really nice staff." See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar
"Balloon flight and hippos, great combination"
At first we thought that we would find the game drives rather tame as we didn't go very far and we spent a lot of time looking at each group of animals but we came to really appreciate the opportunity to study the animals rather than just tick them off the list of things to see. Robert our guide knew the area very well and showed us hyena cubs in their lair as well as other more usual sights.
The tents are fantastic, the thatched roofs make them very attractive and they are well furnished and comfortable. The food here was the best on our holiday, the cold soups at lunch were particularly delicious, but everything was very good.
A really unexpected treat here was that balloon flights were started in November last year. We thought that we weren't going to be able to have one as we were so far from Seronera so we were thrilled when we arrived to hear that they had become available. It was a fantastic experience and I'm pleased that I was brave enough (having always been scared of heights) to take a ride." See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar; 1n in Kenya
"The perfect lodge to stay at the Serengeti"
The service was great! And the staff very friendly! The room's are very cool, but if we compare with the other cc lodges they aren't excellent. Anyway we do feel that it was the ideal place to stay at the Serengeti." See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 6n in Tanzania
This was very unlucky, but the migration is a natural event, and cannot be precisely predicted. We could have tried to move them to Grumeti’s sister-camp, Klein’s Camp, but even if that had been possible … the migration wouldn’t have been there either! In late July, it was in Ikarongo Reserve, where there are no camps, and the extreme north-west of the Serengeti National Park.
"Senior Africa Specialist | East & Southern Africa"
"Grumeti River Camp review"
Saw some great snakes (Mamba, Spitting Cobras) and Colobus Monkeys which was cool. Loads of Tetse Flies though, especially by the river
On the first night they did a "surprise" gathering in the bush with all the guests which was ghastly and just reinforced that we were staying at a full camp. It was much (much) nicer when we just did sundowners on our own (ie just our vehicle). Side trip to Lake Victoria was good." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar; 1n in Kenya
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