Reviews of Little Oliver's

"We were going to be at Little Olivers but is was full with new guides being trained so we stayed at Olivers Camp. This turned out to be a great choice as the camp was not full anyway.

Oliver’s Camp is located deep within Tarangire National Park. The location makes for a great safari experience with very little traffic from other vehicles. We could go for two or three hours each morning before running into vehicles that had started outside the park.

Oliver’s Camp’s location well within the park means that departures for morning game drives needn’t be before the crack of dawn. We were able to enjoy breakfast in one of several pretty outdoor locations in camp, with gorgeous views of the landscape, and still leave camp by 7:15 am or so.

Lunches and dinners were also excellent and each group dined separately. Lunches were often in the open-air central lodge upstairs or downstairs, except when they were in a surprise location away from camp. There are also several hidden dining areas around camp and it seems we dined in a different, private location every evening. Often we spent time around the campfire before dinner. The chefs and staff do an amazing job serving fantastic meals.

The camp is surrounded by forest and regularly has lions and other animals roaming around at night. We were always escorted to and from our tent in the evening and morning by at least one and sometimes two of the staff. It was great to hear the lions roaring so close at night.

There is forest, grassland and a long drive along the shore of the Silale swamp — so a lot of varied terrain. There were large number of birds at the time of our visit in mid-February and we had a lot of fun photographing them. We even saw a crab walking across the road one day.

Our guide, Walter, was absolutely the best. The other guides called him “Professor” because of his extensive knowledge of flora and fauna. I think we learned more from him than all the other guides we had on our trip combined. We are interested in everything from bugs to the big five and Walter taught us about all of them. He and a park ranger also guided us on a walking safari, which was very interesting.

It was really green due to the rains and the roads were quite wet in places but none of it interfered with our drives. Even with all the vegetation we saw plenty of animals out in the open. Lions, elephants and giraffes were plentiful along with ostriches and hyena and a lot of mongoose. We watched lions hunting but they missed the warthog so no lion sausage for them that day. We also had a great night drive with a genet and serval sightings.

In mid-February there are tsetse flies, lots of tsetse flies. They weren’t everywhere but we did run into them often enough. Their bite isn’t too bad but they really itch a couple of days later, my wife was more affected with some swelling around the bites too. They didn’t interfere with our enjoyment but we were swatting at them a lot. I would recommend you bring gaiters to wear in the vehicle as they seemed to like our ankles more than anywhere else." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania; 10n in Rwanda; 8n in Kenya

"Exclusive and personal. This camp is a true delight and, to us, represented Tanzania at it's very best. The Manager, Abel, and all the staff were absolutely lovely. There are only 5 tents which means the service is very personal and although we only stayed two nights we felt very much part of the camp and the people. Our tent was number five and was set on it's own down a short path from the communal path. It was a fantastic experience. We could sit on our veranda and watch elephants moving peacefully through the bush. At night we could hear animals wandering around but we always felt safe. All the food and drink were excellent.

The safari experience at this camp was mind blowing. It must be said our guide, Penuel, was first class and exceedingly knowledgeable. He also had eyes like a hawk and could spot animals from afar and birds camouflaged in the trees. The sheer numbers of beautiful animals was a complete delight. The elephants liked to come up close to the jeep - one even came within four feet of our jeep, looked at us and started to give himself a dust bath. It was very humbling to be so closer to these huge, gentle animals.

We also went on a night drive which was an exceptional experience. On the night drive we saw so much including a lone serval and then a pair of servals and later an aardwolf which is very rare to see. The highlight of the night drive has to be when we saw two male lions. They were walking along the track towards us. Fortunately we recognised them as the two we had seen previously that day and we knew they had eaten well. One came straight up to the open jeep and walked by within three feet of my door. He was magnificent. To be so close to a walk lion is a tremendous experience.

Apart from that Penuel drive round the national park making sure we saw as much as possible. We saw at least 30 different mammals, 80 different birds that we know the names of but many, many more plus an African puff adder.

The low point was leaving the camp. I still miss it!" See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania

"Very friendly and accommodating staff. We really liked the Asilia ethos.

Lovely location and fantastic rooms

Excellent food

Amazing wildlife!" See all these reviews: 14n in Tanzania

"Tarangire is a beautiful park with lots of wildlife and varied terrain and vegetation. Little Oliver's Camp is a wonderful place. Each "tent" is secluded and has a great view of the Tarangire River Valley. The common area is nicely appointed, and there are lovely decks for dining. The camp is well managed, staff is very friendly and helpful, and the guiding is excellent. We saw lots of wildlife on our game drives, including large herds of buffalo and elephant. We counted over 100 elephant at one stop in the afternoon!

Walking safaris are also available, and our guide, Said, and Camp Manager Chris, made it a memorable morning with lots of game sightings.

Little Oliver's is located in a remote part of the park, and although we did see other vehicles on game drives, there were not that many." See all these reviews: 18n in Tanzania

"We loved our stay at Little Olivers camp... beautiful location, far away from everyone else, dinners under the stars, excellent cocktails (enjoyed at the campfire, a daily highlight), the tents were great (special kudos for the outdoor shower, a special treat!) and the game drives were superb, especially the only night drive we did this visit... We also did a walking safari, one of the highlights of our stay .

Special mention for Anna, the lodge manager, who made sure we loved every minute of our stay, and Herebert and Shomari, our fantastic guides.." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 2n in Zanzibar

"Hidden gem, lots of wildlife and diverse habitat

Excellent guides

Walking safaris but selling point for those interested - we loved to get on foot to get close up to the wildlife" See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 3n in Zanzibar

"Amazing camp. Fabulous location and brilliant staff

The rooms were comfortable, a shower watching the stars is something everyone should do. Elephants outside the room in the middle of the night too.

Food stunning, thanks for our anniversary cake

Nothing but praise for this camp. I would have no hesitation in recommending" See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania

"Great staff and routine flexibility. Attentive management. Could add hair dryer" See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania

"Very much enjoyed Little Oliver's. Julie was very welcoming and the staff were exceptionally helpful.

We had excellent trips in Tarangire and Lake Manyara. Both highly recommended." See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania

"Although the tented rooms felt a bit basic, our stay here was a true highlight. This was down to our enthusiastic guide, Noel, but mainly due to Julie, the camp manager, who made our stay feel very special with some thoughtful personal touches. She was also very good company!

In addition, on our last day, we needed to visit the medical centre in Arusha to have some insect bites looked at as they had blistered and needed antibiotics - Julie was very supportive and helped make the necessary arrangements" See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania