Reviews of Severin Safari Camp

"An upper market camp that was a marvellous final night for our tour.

Facilities and staff top-notch, super-well organised, but large and a tad impersonal for our taste.

Nevertheless, a marvellous lodge set in a top-rate and remote wildlife area." See all these reviews: 9n in Kenya

"Camp organisation was poor, understaffed - whilst they tried hard individually, attention to detail was lacking eg poor slow service for drinks & food, no morning coffee, didn’t bother lighting camp fire in evening.

Lovely tents, great pool and massage. Nice waterhole overlooked by restaurant - 2 lions came to drink.

Guide was adequate but didn’t find any predators - no communication with other drivers / camps . Game drive STRICTLY 2.5 hours. Had wrong time for departure flight so we had to pay extra for game drive on last afternoon." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya

"We loved our time at Severin and they were most friendly and accommodating in every way.
Lovely meals in a lovely setting ...

We were also able to stay in our rooms on the day of our departure ( at 3pm) which made it feel like a whole extra days holiday !
The attention to detail was much appreciated, our Masai game guide on our bush walk, also called Dickson, exceptional .. And the ranger Robert also ...

However three things need mentioning ..

1.The proximity of the tented rooms to each other meant that you could hear your neighbours use the lavatory and flush afterwards. Our children in a separate tent complained of the same plus their neighbors snoring and coughing during the night. A bit disappointing out in the vast African bush.

2.Secondly again the Wi Fi it did not work well everywhere as one had been led to believe.. Not normally a problem for us as a family but my son was trying to arrange interviews and address business issues.

3. Severin advertises itself as an environmentally friendly lodge but they refused to serve us "tap" water. This is really disappointing as in their in house information they are proud to say that their water source from a nearby spring meets WHO standards .. That is quite contrary to the Eco tourism ethic and the number of plastic bottles they must use each day ..." See all these reviews: 5n in Kenya

"When we arrived at Severin Safari Camp we were greeted with the slightly ominous comment that they were very full with tour groups of visitors (oh dear, has there been a booking error?), so we had been upgraded to their tented suite! (That's OK, then, no complaints there!) The tented suite was right at the end of the row of standard tented rooms, which meant that we had a good 5 minutes walk to and from the lounge / restaurant area, but as one of the reasons we elected to stay at Severin was that they provide the opportunity to do bush walks, this was not a problem. We like walking.

The tented suite was similar to accommodation in other tented safari camps – canvas walls, solid floor, thatched roof, bathroom at the back – but with the addition of a second closely adjacent tent, which we did not use, providing a further 2 beds. Also, the outside seating area had an extra upper level with sun loungers, which provided good views of two small waterholes. One of these seemed to be quite busy, with a steady stream of zebras, wildebeest, antelopes and giraffes visiting it, and also, apparently, the occasional leopard. This was reported by the night watchman, and is significant because Severin Safari Camp is not fenced; wildlife is free to roam through it and so after dark guests need to be escorted.

As part of our package we had an hour's evening bush walk around the camp, escorted by a Masai guide called Dickson (or maybe Dixon; not sure how it was spelt). He was also on the night watch rota and so was well acquainted with the recent comings and goings of wildlife in the area, pointing out to us the tell-tale signs that various animals had left, and how to interpret them. He was very engaging and knowledgable, and we were delighted that he was also going to be our guide for the full morning's walk we had planned for the following day.

Before that, we had a full-body massage. This was a non-negotiable item included in our package (it seems that everywhere is a spa, these days) and although it was a pleasant experience to have one's muscles rubbed and kneaded, it is not really the sort of thing that we would pay to do otherwise.

We also had to eat. The restaurant operated a buffet at breakfast and a set menu with 2 or 3 choices for lunch and dinner. This was slightly strange to us in that dessert choices were requested at the same time as the starters and mains, but that wasn't a problem, really. The reason was to facilitate serving large numbers of guests efficiently, and it seemed to work reasonably well. The consequence was that the menu tended to comprise food that was amenable to being prepared and served quickly, so it was perhaps not the culinary highlight of the holiday, but on the other hand we were in the middle of the bush, not in some cosmopolitan city centre!

The 4 hour morning bush walk was definitely one of the trip highlights for us. In addition to Dickson the Masai we were joined by an armed KWS ranger, Robert, but no other guests. The outline plan was to walk down to the river, cross it, then do a loop around to a hill overlooking the camp before wending our way back again. This started well enough, and we did manage to find a suitable river crossing away from any hippos or crocs, but unfortunately there were elephants with young on the other side which were best avoided. So, we walked beside the river instead, spotting some terrapins, young crocodiles and a pair of adult crocs courting noisily and with great amounts of splashing. On land we had glimpses of various antelopes and other wildlife, with Dickson's informative commentary on the tracks and droppings that we passed along the way. When we reached the top of the hill he provided some drinks and snacks while we looked out over the plane at the small groups of animals either resting in the shade of the scattered trees or making their way along the well worn trails to or from water. In terms of wildlife viewing we may not have had the thrill of being just feet away from a lion or some other big beast, that the security of a vehicle provides, but that is not why we do it; being out on the ground on foot, able to hear and smell the bush without a diesel engine getting in the way, and to look at all the little details – that is always very satisfying, and the walk was over all too soon.

We also had a game drive while at Severin, with a driver who was also called Dickson. We wanted to visit Mzima Springs, which we did, and then it was fairly typical drive, meandering around and stopping to look at whatever we happened to spot. Towards the end of the drive, as the light was starting to fade and we were heading back to base, Dickson heard a great commotion from some baboons, leading him to suspect that a leopard was in the area. He followed his hunch and sure enough he found it, by this time just a silhouette on a branch of a tree, on the opposite side of a gully from where the baboons had been trying to settle for the night.

So to summarise: our stay at Severin Safari Camp was pretty busy, with a range of activities which we enjoyed very much. Both Dicksons (Masai guide and driver) were very good, although for us the highlights were the walks." See all these reviews: 4n in Kenya

"Severin was my son's second favourite camp of the trip and we all loved it. Driving through Tsavo West with Jurgen on our arrival was wonderful. The landscape and animals are quite magical.
We knew the camp was bigger than the others we had booked and quite frankly did not expect the fantastic personal attention we received here. The hosts - Jurgen and his amazing wife Manja are unbeatable. From beginning to end Manja has a golden touch with the guests. She is genuine, interested and works out very quickly what kind of stay you want and tries (and succeeds) to make that happen.
We upgraded to the Kibo suite which was available and we were offered at a fantastic price. If you can then it is seriously worth it! Wonderful lying on your own personal viewing platform with two waterholes in view. We were told a leopard sometimes visited the nearby water hole and amazingly a leopard did indeed come on each of the three nights of our stay!! On the second night we awoke to noises and looking out of the tent gauze windows we found we were surrounded by giraffes - beautiful, otherworldly beings gently strolling round the tent eating away. On the third night a big herd of buffalo came through just after dark which was quite an experience. Otherwise even though Severin has several tents and a permanent area you do feel you are very much in the bush. Zebras, giraffe, antelope and even a couple of crocodiles wander around. Despite it's size and restaurant and pool the animals and nature around have been completely respected and so you feel very much as if you are still in the wild. The imprint beyond the buildings and tents is very little.
We rested here and only left the camp to have a 4 hours pre arranged walk with the wonderful Dickson and a ranger. Such and varied and beautiful walk through the palm forest and along the river and finishing up on Dickson Hill. Great experience with an amazing guide.
We also had a nature walk with Dickson ending with a bush lunch - one of the best meals we've ever had ! All the food here is great.
The pool is gorgeous though obviously cold and luckily we had massages in the spas room which were really excellent.
All in all - an absolutely wonderful stay, a real treat. Huge congratulations to Manja and her team." See all these reviews: 14n in Kenya; 6n in Tanzania

"Before I went, I researched this camp and concluded it was the best for West Tsavo, and it did not disappoint. My room faced a watering hole that was alive each morning. You don't have to go on a game drive to see game. The room was clean and well furnished. There was plenty of hot water and electricity. The food was especially good. Some of the best food I have had in my life was on safari, and the food at Severin was in that class. The operator is a German, who I believe probably has a hotel or chef background. (There is no clean like German clean.)" See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya