Travel reviews by Mrs L from Netherlands

"Pioneer Camp was supposed to pick me up from the airport. When I arrived at Lusaka’s international airport in the middle of the night there was no car to pick me up. It turned out the telephone numbers of the camp did not work. After calling ExpertAfrica’s New Zealand office Marushka solved the problem and a car came from Lusaka to bring me to Pioneer Camp.
The location of the camp is beautiful, a rural area, nice and most of the time quiet. The cottages are spacious and comfortable, although they felt a bit cold in June. Food was not very good. Apparantly they were hiring a new chef."

"This is a very comfortable modern camp, close to the Luangwa river. Elephants walk through camp every day. I enjoyed very much the company of Kim, the manager and John, my guide. The food was excellent. The river crossings were very convenient. The wildlife was very dispersed at this time of the year, so apart from hyena I did not see any predators. Highlight was a herd of 200+ buffalo."

"Nsefu Camp is right on the edge of the river, in fact it may not even be there in a couple of years if the river continues to break down the shore. Every day I saw elephants cross the river, which was a great spectacle. The accomodation is comfortable, food is very good. But what is best is the Nsefu area and its abundance of wildlife and very few other cars. I was lucky to have Willie as my guide; he is very sympathetic and knowledgeable."

"This was my favorite camp during this trip, and it may well be my favorite out of nine safaris. The location along a dry river bed is beautiful, everyday I saw wildlife from my hut/room. The open air bathroom is very comfartable. The room is designed with a lot of taste. The meals very very good. Game drives were very productive, and there are very few cars in this area. My guide, Elias, was very knowledgeable and I learned a lot from him. The small team and Maddy the manager are very sympathetic and did everything to make my stay at Mwamba truely unforgettable."

"The ownership of the camp has changed a couple of months before my stay. All the staff and the new manager, Levi, are very friendly but somehow this place seems to miss something. Maybe a hostess or host that is around in the main area all the time would bring back a feeling of warmth."

"I arrived at The Aeroclub around midnight and left after breakfast for my flight to the Masai Mara. I chose The Aeroclub because I did not want to be in the early morning Nairobi traffic chaos and worry about wether or not we would arrive at Wilson in time.

The reception was very friendly. My room was comfortable, with tea and coffee making facilities, bottles of drinking water, and a minibar. The bathroom was very spacious.

For breakfast there was a wide choice, and it was very pleasant to sit on the porch and enjoy the sound of the small airplanes arriving and landing.

This will be my preferred hotel when I have a one night stay-over in Nairobi between my arrival and the connection with the domestic flight."

"I stayed in Tangulia Mara for 11 days, as a solo female traveller. I felt very much at home in this very pleasant camp.

I indicated that during the pandemic I did not feel comfortable having communal meals, so I had my meals at a separate table, where I was joined in the beginning of my stay by Susan (assistant manager) and later by Damaris ( the manager). We had long talks about the various aspects of the Masai culture and their and my personal lives.

Whenever I was in the comfortable lounge area, I would be joined by one of the staff members, and we always had interesting conversations about the Masai people and the changes that are taking place in their culture. For me this was important as I was eager to learn, and I very much like to engage with the people whenever I travel in Africa.

Tangulia Mara camp is a rustic camp, that is beautifully located in a quiet part of the Masai Mara. The path from the lounge to my tent was newly paved, which was very comfortable as it rained a lot at night and my tent was located downhills.

The tent was airy and spacious, and decorated with nice wooden details and beautiful beadwork. There was a big container with drinking water, a fridge, and a fan.

I had a tent with a view on the salt lick and the Mara river, and every day I saw hippo’s, elephants, buffalo, giraffe, impala, waterbuck, baboons, and many birds from my big porch. The shower was great, and I would find a warm waterbottle every evening. At six in the morning I got hot tea in a thermos mug and biscuits in my tent, and we always enjoyed a picknick breakfast during our gamedrive.

Sometimes we would also take a picknick lunch.

I had Sophia and Dalton as my guides, they were a knowledgeable team, and good drivers which was important on the extremely muddy and bad roads in the Masai Mara.

We had wonderful sightings, and could stay there as long as I wanted to observe the behaviour of the wildlife. One of the many good things about Tangulia Mara is, that each guest/couple/group gets a private car if possible, even in the high season.

Last but not least: the food was very tasty.

The only downside is, that it can be rather busy with cars on sightings of predators, especially in the central part of the Masai Mara. The area where Tangulia is based, was much more quiet."