Reviews of Tena Tena
Wildlife sightings and reviews
160 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Tena Tena and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
80% success
88% success
47% success
100% success
100% success
100% success
93% success
93% success
88% success
27% success
7% success
5% success
3% success
0% success
0% success
"Tena Tena review"
Food and service were both excellent, and we really enjoyed the company of the other guests at this camp. Bertram is an excellent and convivial host. We had 2 guides, Nyambey for most of our drives and a lovely morning walk, and John for one drive. Both were good but John in particular was an excellent guide who was really passionate about his work. Highlight for me at this camp was seeing the huge carmine bee eater colony. We went to it multiple times including on our morning walk.
Only caveat is that the driving area for this camp seemed pretty small and we covered the same ground and saw the same animals on multiple days. It is probably most suited for a shorter stay." See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia; 2n in Namibia
"Tena Tena review"
Guides are very knowledgable and friendly with great sense of humour and happy to accommodate (as much as possible, within everyone’s needs) your wishes to see particular animals.
Our second visit and would very happily return tomorrow." See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia
"Tena Tena review"
Accommodation disappointing. Room small and cramped and only two shelves for storage. Plug sockets behind the bed were so loose we had to hold the sole plate in place when removing a plug as the fitment was coming away from the wall. The bathroom was accessed by zip up tent fastening from the bedroom, and it was invaded by flies and insects whenever lights were on. Darkness is almost 6pm to 6 am. The bathroom was so open to the elements fly spray was ineffective. Swarms of bees surrounded the light adjacent to the toilet. Bertram was apologetic and arranged spraying of a nest (?), this helped for a day but then the bees returned.
The shower did not work properly. The hot water cut in and out at random, there was no consistency of temperature, and at times it was dangerously hot. Other guests had the same problem. There was no storage in the bathroom at all, so to safeguard toiletries from the baboons, these had to be carried to and from the bedroom every time. As this involved zipping and unzipping the door, which had to be kept closed because of the flies, it was highly inconvenient.
Overall great wildlife sightings, excellent guides and good food were seriously let down by the standard of the accommodation, and for that reason we would not recommend Tena Tena.
Addendum: Robin Pope have responded positively to our feedback and with dealing with the issues. They are to be commended for their response and we are impressed with their attitude. We would recommend Robin Pope. Also, praise for Expert Africa for taking comments seriously." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia
"Tena Tena review"
As always he made the drives interesting and fascinating" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia; 4n in Malawi
"Tena Tena review"
Tents were very comfortable and well equipped. Food was really excellent.
We had great wildlife viewing." See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia
"Breakfast in the bush"
Our lovely host Kate went out of her way to make our stay as comfortable as possible and our guides Bertram and John made sure we saw so many wonderful things.
The food was first class throughout but special mention must be made of the excellent bush breakfast that they surprised us all with one morning. Eating a full English out in the bush overlooking the river was very memorable.
We would recommend doing the bush walk from Tena Tena to Nsefu if staying at both camps, Bertam was really knows his stuff and explained everything we came across in great detail." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia
"Tena Tena review"
The tent had everything we needed including cotton kikois which were essential to drape over us wet in the afternoon when it was at least 38°C
Unfortunately it also had a large array of midges, mosquitos and big spiders in the tent on our first night. We discovered the insect spray wasn't working so guess it hadn't been used for a while!. I got a lot of bites here." See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia; 5n in Malawi
"Tena Tena review"
Inspired design around the tent incorporating trees & tent canopies! Loved the bathroom area outside! I’ve never brushed my teeth whilst watching a hippo slowly walk past in front of me!
Felt so safe with the night watchmen patrolling the camp through the night. Im not good with frogs but the night watchman checked the outside bathroom area for me every night!
Again, great guides, great company, great food, great jeep rides …had 4 nights there & again didn’t want to leave!" See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia
"Return to Tena Tena"
Tena Tena has a a fine location with a small number of excellent tents well spaced apart from the central area. I spent 4 nights there and the wildlife experiences were superb - a pack of about 30 wild dogs were denning close by, and we saw them on a daily basis.
Hyena pups were also seen regularly. I saw leopards every day. My guide Nyambe was excellent.
Kate was very friendly and efficient in running the camp.
The food, wine and general ambience combined to make my stay so memorable." See all these reviews: 15n in Zambia
"Tena Tena review"
we had an excellent time but were too tired to do much walking but had some wonderful sightings of baby hyenas and wild dogs" See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia
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