Travel reviews by Dr G & Dr E from UK

"Very friendly and helpful staff. Swift check in and check out. Very convenient"

"We have never been on a rainy season safari before and so did not really know what to expect. I guess we assumed that there would be big showers with periods of no rain in between. It was like that for the first day or so, but then deteriorated into more or less constant rain. The upshot being that the roads rapidly deteriorated. Several had multiple bypasses and by the end of our stay, the main road into camp was treacherous.

The day before we arrived our flight had been changed to a different airstrip, as the usual one was quite muddy from all of the rain. As we came in to land, the pilot circled around and the tarmac strip disappeared from view. A few minutes later we landed at the muddy strip, complete with puddles, pot holes, deep grooves and mud. We therefore had to wait while our vehicle arrived from the other airstrip. Luckily there is a lovely cafe and by the time we'd had a cappuccino, we were off.

As we had an early departure from Nairobi, the camp manager had packed a breakfast for us, which meant we could linger and have a long game drive en route to camp. The morning drives in general were long, including one 7 hour marathon. with the evenings more like 2.5 to 3 hours. Food was excellent and on individual tables, which makes a nice change to communal dining.

The camp is small, which made it an intimate place to stay. As it was not full, we had a private vehicle for the duration of our visit. William was a very patient and knowledgeable guide, who clearly had photographic experience, as well as a good relationship with the rangers, who knew the whereabouts of the lions!

It was lovely to see rhino outside of South Africa and we were not expecting to see so many and with magnificent horns to boot. Photographing them on open plains was also unique. The rain also made for interesting sightings. One wet morning, we saw more bat-eared foxes on a drive than we have in nearly 25 years of safaris. A termite eruption also kept the birds (and photographers) busy.

We opted for a game drive transfer, which was the wettest of all of our drives. It was extremely dark, but we did see a very soggy pride of lions at the end, which made it worth it. By the time we got to the airstrip, the weather had not improved. There was fog/mist on the ground and the rain clouds were very low. As we sat with our breakfast, the time of the flight kept moving further into the future and the weather was not getting any better. After 2.5 hours, we moved to the nearby 5 star hotel for coffee and subsequently lunch. As we were finishing this, news came that the flight was 30 minutes away. Excellent. We were all dreading not only missing a night in the Mara, but having to drive all the way back to camp on a very bumpy, wet road and possibly going through the whole thing again the following day. The flight landed as scheduled, but two other passengers had not arrived. They had been driving for 8 hours and had to keep turning around due to flooded roads. In the end, we left 6.5 hours late, but hanging around a 5 star hotel whilst being fed and watered was not a hardship compared to what the other couple went through to catch the flight.

We will definitely return, but probably in the dry season!"

"It was largely the sightings and guide from our first visit here that convinced us to do a last minute wet season safari. The tents have been refurbished and are lovely. They feel much more spacious and have a hotel room like feel. The camp has also given up on communal dining of the entire camp, as it was becoming unmanageable. They now have smaller communal or individual tables, which was a vast improvement and made it much easier to keep up with conversation.

We arrived 6 and a half hours later than scheduled, as the flight was unable to land in Laikipia to pick us up, due to the weather. Consequently, we were exhausted when we stepped off of our game drive transfer. Andrew, the camp manager and Lucy, the head of housekeeping anticipated this. We were taken straight to our room to have a hot shower, rather than a welcome drink and going through the health and safety form etc. This was completed later at dinner, which was served on a table for two, very fast, so that we could get an early night. We were shocked when we got back to the tent to see that my rather slap dash unpacking had been redone and every item of clothing folded neatly. This continued for our entire stay. Anything that we left even remotely untidy or out of place would be moved on our return. This is only place we have ever stayed that provided such a service. It was a lovely surprise and made packing a cinch.

The following morning we were back to the usual safari routine. Johnson, our guide, was younger and less experienced than the others. Although we specified an interest in birds, he did not seem to share this. His lack of photographic experience was also stark when compared to our other two guides. However, we quickly noted this and directed his vehicle placement for photography or asked him to stop for unusual birds where necessary, so it all worked out ok. He was however, very good at noticing where the action was and got us to kills (really attempted hunts) amongst the first vehicles on several occasions.

Food and drink was again excellent. For meals we were grouped with a photographic safari tour, run by the co-owner, Paul Goldstein. I don't know if this was because we were from the UK or into photography, but it worked out well, once the ice was broken. Mealtimes were certainly memorable. It was very interesting seeing his shots from sightings that we had also been at, to compare with ours. Having not met him before, it was an experience as he is a larger than life character. We got to see a very shy male leopard and despite arriving as the last vehicle, managed to get the best position twice as we followed it, with shots comparable to his!"

"Another small and intimate camp. The staff were friendly and welcoming. Minnie, the camp manager was very accomodating, perhaps to the detriment of the smooth running of the food service. There were a two parties of photographic guests who ate on their own schedules, for both lunch and dinner, which meant that everyone else who arrived at the advertised meal times were always left waiting. They were equally as flexible with game drive times. We are usually one of the first out of camp in the mornings, so it was a bit of a shock to see that we were last, especially as it was pitch black when we left at 5.30 am.

We requested Edward, our guide from Kicheche Mara last year, who is now working at Kicheche Valley. This meant that we again had a private vehicle. I think that this would have been the case anyway, given the two sets of photographic guests. It was lovely seeing him again and being able to relax, knowing that he would get us into a good position and not miss anything.

This conservancy feels the least wild of the three which we have now been to, as you can see the lights of nearby settlements. It is less open than Mara North and has more areas of trees and shrubs than Olare Motorogi, but they all have their charms.

There was a cheetah with five cubs very close to camp. This provided great photographic opportunities and was the only time where it felt crowded with vehicles.

Like Kicheche Mara, they offer spa treatments here, but I don't know when you are supposed to fit them in, as there is never any free time!"

"We were greeted back like old friends.

I am very glad that we booked a day room before our overnight flight home, as our flight back from the Mara actually landed at JKIA, saving us an hour in traffic from Wilson and the BA flight was also delayed by over an hour."

"Very efficient and an ideal stopover for late/early flights.

The breakfast buffet was extensive.

Just a shame that we could not experience the rooftop pool!"

"We did not really expect too much from Amboseli, apart from elephants and birds, but boy, we were pleasantly surprised. This was the start of our twenty fifth safari and we saw our first ever lion kill on our first drive!

The following morning we saw a cheetah - not seen here for over a month and a melanistic serval (again, our first) and to top it all off, a golden jackal (you guessed it, our first) on the last day. Although we were hoping for birds, we did not expect water and marshland birds and so the flamingos were a great surprise. Guiding was excellent.

The camp has a lovely position and the tents are well appointed, if a little too close together (canvas does not insulate sound). We did not test the pool as the water was really cold. The food was excellent - by far the best that we have ever had on safari. Others have commented on the larger size of the camp, but we received a personal service and it did not feel too large. In fact, one of the benefits of a larger camp was that you could have dinner when you wanted it, not at a set time.

Birding around camp was excellent."

"We included Meru to get the rarer Northern species as well as some different habitats for birds. Apparently it is off of the beaten track - we had the incoming flight to ourselves!

Again, the main focus of this part of our trip was birding and the specialised mammals, which we saw, but it was also lovely to see rhino somewhere other than in South Africa. The park is really beautiful and deserves more visitors. Drives were quieter here, but we expected that. However, our guide was very engaged and knowledgeable. This was the only camp where we had time for proper sundowners.

The camp is gorgeous. The rooms are amazing and make you feel that you are a part of the kopje, looking out over the plains. There are resident hyrax, which are very cute. There is a fabulous infinity pool on top of the kopje, which we planned to use, but never got around to (maybe to do with the long uphill walk to get there...). The food was excellent, but not quite on a par with Tortillis Camp. Meals were served to individual tables, which again meant that meal times were flexible."

"Our favourite part of the trip! It was so nice to be somewhere so green after the dust of our first two parks. The sightings were excellent and our guide worked really hard so that we had good positions at them. It was clear that they had extensive photographic experience. Some sightings had lots of vehicles, but they were well organised and respectful. Another first here, a hyena kill.

Tents are well appointed and spaced. I have never been provided with wellington boots on safari before - they were used every night, along with the umbrella....

One of the reasons that I like safaris is that there is usually no internet or cell phone reception. However, every camp we went to in Kenya had wifi. So with that in mind, it was inconvenient, bordering on annoying, that this was only available in the communal areas, as we spent so little time in them! It meant that any internet activity had to be at lunch/pre-dinner time, which, when the meals are communal, was tricky. Now that they have three more tents, communal dining is an issue as there are really too many guests to sit at one table. The food was varied and good, but we had been spoilt by our previous two camps.

It was very clear that the ethos is for game viewing first and foremost, everything else fits around this. So sundowners were taken in the vehicle, rather than as the whole African experience, which I wholeheartedly agreed with. This was due to an excellent cheetah sighting on the first night, but the weather on the next two....

Game drives were action packed, as were the photographic opportunities. Lions were everywhere. We will return."

"I was surprised at how different the terrain was from Kicheche Mara, given that they are relatively close together. There was lots of predator activity and we could pretty much choose which type we wanted to see on any given drive (usually multiple types). There were fewer vehicles around sightings in this conservancy compared to that of Mara North and again, were well-behaved. The guides are acutely aware of positioning the vehicle in terms of photography. Virtually every game drive was epic. There was so much action, we had no time to look at our photos, or do anything else for that matter.

More firsts here - our first serval, lioness moving small cubs to a new den, cheetah kill, leopard jumping up a tree (multiple times) and a jackal cub.

The nicest tented camp that we have ever stayed in. As the camp only has 6 tents, it was a more intimate experience where communal dining works well. The camp was well organised, with the exception of the wake up calls one day, which seemed to have been mixed up for everyone, leaving us in a huge rush.

The only issue we had was with our pairing with two other guests into "their" vehicle. The atmosphere was odd and the camp managers seemed to know that it would be an issue, so after the morning drive the following day, the other couple were moved into a different vehicle. Our guide relaxed and became much more personable after this.

We will definitely return, like most of their guests."

"A very pleasant place to start or end a trip.

The gardens are basically part of the forest and had many birds, as well as monkeys. there was a pool, which again, we failed to use.

The food was excellent and the staff were very helpful and accommodating."

"We shared a vehicle with a honeymoon couple on their first safari and after almost every drive I had to reassure them that this was not a normal game drive. So many extraordinary things happened.

Our guide Lewis was excellent, very keen to find things and enthusiastic. When he told us that we would walk up to 4 young cheetah, I think that the honeymoon couple thought that they had misheard him!

A lion kill outside camp, failed lion stalks, eles galore and lots of birds to boot. A fabulous start to the trip."

"A lovely camp in a quiet park. Our guide was young and so needs to gain in confidence, but was willing to learn about positioning for photography.

There was a film crew in camp for the start of the trip, which made things more interesting. A great stop for birders as the park offers lots of bird life, but also in camp, they have controllable sprinklers in your “garden” which attract all manner of birds, a great photographic experience.

The food was fabulous and the camp had a great atmosphere. The infinity pool overlooking the lake is lovely. Honourable mention for the lesser Bush babies who also call the lodge home."

"There was an issue with the guiding which has now been addressed by Expert Africa with African Bush Camps"

"From the hustle and bustle of the main part of the park, it was nice to end the trip in a concession to avoid all of the other traffic.

Game viewing is entirely depend upon the time of year and for us the game drives were quiet, but plenty of game came to drink at the pan, including a leopard every night. Lots of birds in and around the area.

A relaxing end to the trip, made extra special by being given the honeymoon tent, which was fabulous, including an outdoor bath!"

"Lovely position, friendly staff, well organised.

Activities were very productive and the pontoon allows access to the park without using the main gate (although the water levels were so low - we drove across). Amazing leopard sightings. As the lodge was not full, we had several private game drives, which was a bonus."

"Lovely camp in an isolated location. Less game around, but lovely for birds and hippos.

Camp host/management left a little to be desired though. There was a known problem with the hot water, which was not explained until we complained about it. They are apparently "waiting for parts". This means that there is an initial few minutes of hot water until the boiler overheats. It then has to be switched off for at least a minute, whereupon a further minute or so of hot water is available and the whole process has to be repeated - not very convenient.

Our room fan broke and not fixed. We lost some clothing in the laundry and were told it was not in camp and if it had been left at Nkwali, then it would have been forwarded. No further attempt was made to track it down. There was little atmosphere in camp, perhaps because the hostess was entertaining her brother."

"Fabulous position, beautiful isolated camp.

Managed several private activities as camp was not full, which was an added bonus."

"Beautiful position on the river, just outside the national park. Unfortunately, as it is such a dry season, the nearest portion of the park was very dry and only sparsely populated with game. Consequently, it would be about 2 hours of driving to get to the productive area of the park, which meant that afternoon game drives were not possible. The resident game in the GMA was also limited to some impala, waterbuck and elephant in camp and a night drive revealed a solitary genet!

However, being on the river, the birds were prolific and the access to the river by boat made up for the afternoon drives. A lot of customers were there for the fishing and therefore I don't think the management are as wholly focussed on game viewing as those within the park. We had to ask to leave camp earlier in the mornings as we were missing the light because of this and somehow we ended up with a private vehicle from that point onwards - an excellent bonus.

We also did an all day drive, which meant we had both AM and PM activities. I think it is worth the extra money to stay at a lodge within the park, but we booked too late for this.

The albida suite was fabulous - I could get used to having a butler!"

"Good stop over instead of Windhoek - not sure what you'd do for longer stays though"

"Not sure how much lea way Bruno gives to those who are less fit or used to the heat than he is! Just about managed to keep up, but certainly not for the faint-hearted.

Bruno is an extremely knowledgeable guide and we had a lovely 3 days here (even though the animals were all hiding!). Would defiinitely return, but maybe after some training or at the end of the trip when we had acclimatised to the heat"

"Not so much a bush camp, but more a luxury lodge. Good position to get into the park, but still at least 30 mins once you've paid the fees etc.

Service not quite what I would expect, but perhaps I am drawing unfair comparisons with South Africa"

"Was pleasantly surprised at our first NWR stop. The rooms are definitely better than expected and would not be out of place in a privately owned lodge. Unfortunately the food/restaurant service is very busy and takes a long time. Once you've come to terms with this, it is actually a very nice place.

The waterhole is much more intimate than Okaukuejo and less like a circus...

The scenery and waterholes around this camp are the best in the park (in our opinion)"

"A busier rest stop than Halali given its proximity to the gate. The waterhole in particular was very busy (with game and people). Some guests did not respect the wildlife/or other guests.

Lots of busy waterholes nearby

Restaurant insists on reservations for dinner which helped, but lunch service was very slow"

"A beautiful location and experience. Amazing to get so close to mountain zebra and we were even lucky enough to see a black rhino (the first our guide had seen in 5 months. there...)

Very cold on the second night - made the bucket showers interesting

The road there and in particular the Grootberg pass was very slippery - a bit scary when trying to make the 4pm deadline and it wasn't clear on the map that the last 121km is gravel...."

"Overnight stop instead of Windhoek. In that respect obviously better than a B+B. However, I am not convinced about the conservation aspect of this endeavour. It seemed very much a make money from tourists scheme.

Wouldn't have wanted to stay more than one night

The most annoying part was that we were placed with others for dinner with no warning (and when there were tables for two). We expect this on safari, especially when groups will be sharing vehicles and need to get to know each other, but on our last night, we were looking for a bit of alone time and it would have been nice if someone had asked if we minded"

"The camp felt a bit disorganised (although there was a large bush fire nearby). We did not have a welcome talk so subsequently they did not know when to provide hot water for the bucket shower.

The camp manager/host (I'm not sure what her job title was as she didn't tell us) seemed more interested in entertaining/reminiscing with the (almost) resident wild dog researcher than her paying guests. She was certainly very responsive to demanding Americans, but for us laid back Brits, she did not do much. In fact, whilst broken in a Land Cruiser down at the side of the road, she continued transporting her guests back to camp, without so much as a hint of concern about our situation."

"Fabulous camp and wonderful hosting by Steve. Upgraded to the honeymoon suite due to camp being empty.

Lovely game viewing by boat and land rover.

Nice to be by the water after dusty Hwange!"

"Excellent location and guiding. Amazing to walk up to lions, wild dogs and very large elephants.

A very different safari experience with the guides also doing the hosting in camp, this enabled us to find out more about how the country is doing.

Also managed to get to Mana Pools just before it started getting really hot!"

"Back to the land of luxury after "roughing it" in the bush. So nice to have a bath!! Couldn't beat the location.

Slightly shocked at the American food prices though..."

"This is a fabulous camp.

However, the remote location which is a plus point in terms of isolation from other visitors, meant the game drives were a bit repetitive and we did not get to see the plains (and their cheetahs). If we had realised this in advance, we would have booked two separate camps in Ruaha."

"This camp has a great location. However, I have serious concerns about how it is run. Customers are not given a personal water supply on game drives. This means that to have a drink, the truck has to stop, the driver pours out a cupful of water, which you have to drink on the spot and then return it to the driver, in order to set off again. This actively discourages you from drinking as it delays the drive and leaves you dehydrated. Unfortunately, the water supply in the rooms were not adequte to make up for this - we ran out one day and had to ask for the water to be filled up twice a day.

I also got the impression that they were actively discouraging customers from going on game drives:

1) after our first full day we were asked what we wanted to do the next day (two game drives) to which the reply was "not a river cruise?"
2) when wanting to go out at 6.30am "not at 8am?"
3) and on our last day (short transfer to another camp) "would you like a lie-in, late breakfast and enjoy the use of the pool?". We had to argue for a game drive, which they then cut short by an hour - depositing us at our next camp an hour prior to what they had expected.

I do not pay the amount per night that these camps charge to be palmed off onto cheaper and easier activities. If I am staying 3 nights, I expect 6 game drives at my convenience.

The atmosphere was not as welcoming as the other camps.

According to the guide book, this camp is only fractionally cheaper than selous safari camp - if this is the case, then safari camp is infinitely better value for money"

"Fabulous in every respect"

"Room not available on arrival but otherwise excellent.

Despite catering for travellers to the airport, breakfast service only available from 6am which is too late for UK flights"

"friendly knowledgable staff, beautiful location, care and attention, fabulous room

would have been nice to have airconditioning in the vehicle which collected us from the airport"

"friendly knowledgable staff, beautiful location, great care and attention paid"

"friendly knowledgable staff, beautiful location, care and attention"

"friendly knowledgable staff, beautiful location, care and attention, fabulous room"

"friendly knowledgable staff, beautiful location, care and attention"