Reviews of Olakira Camp
Wildlife sightings and reviews
73 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Olakira Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
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"Olakira review"
Staff were keen and attentive but were notable less experienced than those elsewhere.
Our guide Juma was good fun and worked hard for us" See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar; 1n in Kenya
"Best place for migration and river crossings"
There’s plenty of game here, and we saw active leopards, cheetah, a hyena kill, lions and so on, as well as the awesome hordes and hordes of wildebeest, a spectacular sight in its own right. But, the absolute stand-out experience was the river crossing, and we saw two short ones (half an hour or so), and two mega-crossings of over three hours non-stop, with crocodile attacks both successful and unsuccessful. It was breathtaking and mesmerising. Yes, there is a bit of a vehicle scrum to race down to the banks once the animals have entered the water, but you forget this once you’re in position - and Daniel was always in the right position.
Be aware of how chilly this area can be - you are best off taking a bobble hat/beanie, and several warm layers. Blankets and hot water bottles are provided if you’re under-dressed!
This is a mobile camp, that moves twice a year. Nevertheless, it’s well-appointed and luxurious. The tented rooms are spacious and comfortable, with a nice seating area looking out over the plains. There’s plentiful hot water in the shower, but none in the hand basin, so you have to make sure you order a flask for hand-washing - the camp doesn’t automatically provide this, so we were rather caught out on our first morning.
The camp doesn’t wash any underwear, male or female. There’s no shower cap or hair dryer.
Morning coffee and biscuits are delivered to help with that early morning start. Hot water bottles make the nights comfy, as this area of the Serengeti in august was cool and wet most evenings and nights. You have a dedicated ‘butler’ to look after you and your room. The ten tents are spread out along a long track so, if you’re infirm at all, ask for a low-numbered tent near the central area.
You can have pre-dinner drinks around a nice boma (when it’s not raining), but there aren’t enough chairs, so it’s a bit irritating having to wait for a chair to be found. Dining is at a communal table under canvas, with an open-front, but you can also arrange your own private dining. Dinner is served at 7.45 pm, and there’s not much flexibility about this, meaning that if, as often happened with us, you got back a bit late around 7 pm, it was all a bit rushed (you had a choice of either a shower or a drink round the boma, but not both).
Dinner is a self-service buffet, which isn’t all that convenient, but the food was very good. Lunch was also very nice. We mainly had picnic breakfasts in the bush, which were great fun and delicious. When we had breakfast in the camp, the service was really slow. There’s also a drinks tent, and you can have drinks or afternoon tea there, theoretically at any time, although there wasn’t always a staff member around to serve. Wines here are mediocre.
Staff can be a little over-zealous in their interaction with guests. There is a tendency for an intrusive (but well-intentioned) stream of staff lining up to interrupt your meals with questions about how much you are enjoying the food/safari/lodge/life in general. It would be nice for the management training to address this." See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania
"Olakira review"
All the accommodation was excellent.
Once again the guides were very knowledgeable, great fun to be with and made our teenage granddaughters first safari experience very special.
The rest of the staff could not have done more to make our stay very very pleasant.
The Mara wildebeest crossings were exceptional and spectacular. Our drivers were particularly skillful in positioning us in perfect places after the "Wacky Races" !!" See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania
"It is hard to imagine a more special place"
But the best thing about this amazing place is the staff. Everyone was incredibly welcoming and nice and made us feel truly special. We were very sad to leave them at the end of our stay. The guides (our personal guide was Lenga) are very knowledgeable and the safari with them is an unforgettable experience." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar
"Great location with excellent guide"
The camp is comfortable, staff is helpful and the food was very good." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya; 3n in Tanzania
"Outstanding guide"
Great game drives - our guide (Kaneal, if I'm spelling it right) was very knowledgeable; he got us in very good places to observe what was happening - some domestic life with a pride of lions, the migration of about 400 wildebeest over the Mara River, a lone female lion eating a freshly killed wildebeest - lots and lots of birds --" See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya; 3n in Tanzania
"Olakira"
If I ever go back, that's exactly what I would hope for." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 4n in Rwanda
"Olakira review"
Although the camp moves twice a year depending on the migration, you would never know as it looks permanent.
Great food and accommodation as always with these safari camps, the staff and guides are friendly, knowledgeable and attentive for your every need.
Our guide Eustace was superb in getting prime positions for the Mara crossing in competition with the many other safari vehicles jostling for a view.." See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya; 9n in Zimbabwe; 6n in Tanzania; 5n in Botswana; 5n in Zambia
"Spectacular camp in a beautiful setting"
They must have recently upgraded the showers — because the literature talks about bucket showers, but in fact the showers are easy to use, hot and powerful, and don't require any advance planning.
The service is superb. Our guide was outstanding. It's a mobile camp, so the individual rooms and common areas aren't as luxurious as other permanent camps that we have stayed in, but it's still very nice, the location is excellent, and the service is exemplary." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania
"Wildebeest Calving in Ndutu"
Due to the popularity of the calving event as a spectacle there were far more vehicles from lots of other camps and lodges." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania
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