Reviews of Dunia Camp
(92%) From 17 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Wonderful location ,poor facilities
A wonderful location with an extensive vista across the surrounding countryside which teemed with a wide variety of animals and birds.
The crowds and traffic jams of the central Serengeti were left behind enabling us to enjoy the solitude of the wilderness with the help of a knowledgeable and helpful guide.
Unfortunately the experience was marred by poor bathroom facilities and a camp vehicle which was unsuited to comfortable game viewing
A camp with no boundaries
The service, food and standard of the tents was excellent.
The camp manager was very good in ensuring that he knew everything you wanted to do and then made sure that you could do everything.
The Dunia Camp safari guide, Thompson, was good on birds but not experienced enough (as had been our Asilia driver guifde, Vincent Matari) to ensure that we had a fulfilling day in terms of the animals we saw.
Dunia Camp review
We booked our holiday very close within a couple of weeks of leaving so stayed here knowing that the sister camp Olakira, which was fully booked, would have been a better bet for seeing the migration, which was in the Ndutu area. The manager of the camp kindly suggested that we do a whole day's game drive to Ndutu with other guests that were transferring to Olakira.
This meant that we managed to see a herd of about 1,000 wildebeest in the NCA. This drive was not for the faint hearted however because it took about 2.5 hours each way and, because Dunia uses open sided vehicles, we got wet when it rained and dusty when other vehicles sped past.
We got a great sense at Dunia of the vastness of the southern plains but were also relatively surprised by the lack of resident game in the area around the camp itself. Game drives seemed to go north to the Seronera area and whilst sightings in this area seem to be good (we saw lion, a leopard a long way away, hippo, elephant, giraffe, ostrich) they are balanced by the fact that probably 6 other vehicles will be looking at the same animal and the guides have to stay on the roads. This also meant that the guiding here seemed to be rather reactive and at times it felt like we were rather aimlessly driving around lots of road waiting for animals to happen to appear at the side of them or waiting to see a cluster of vehicles pulled up at the edge.
The tents at Dunia camp were large with a front seating area, a bedroom, a sink area, flushing toilet and warm bucket shower. The food here was very good. As everyone sat at individual tables and many people were travelling with their own guides, it was not a very sociable camp. We think that 2 nights here was a good length of time for us to stay here and we greatly appreciated the way in which the managers worked hard in order to get us down to the Ndutu area.
Dunia Camp review
Thank you Brad for all your help .The granite outcrops were very intresting but for us the game viewing around seronera was to crowded
Read more about the whole safariDunia Camp review
We really enjoyed Dunia. It is a fantastically run camp, Jose was an excellent host and the food was excellent.
Its location (certainly at the time of the year we were there) could not be bettered.
The tents were luxurious and the ability to have a long hot shower was very welcome.
Sensational game at Sayari South tented lodge
our first real luxury tented lodge camp, so we were full of expectations.... and yes they were in the bush huge khaki tents
looking rather less luxurious than in my mind, as 1. it was evening, 2. it was raining seriously , and that can take away the best first impression.
Again we were given the lovely drink, towel welcome by the whole of the staff it seemed, and were shown around. The drawing room tent was super with all the details you would find in regular house, african bush safari style of course. i had visions of lazing there evey afternoon with a good book and the occasional eye to the passing animal traffic. That didnt quite happen as we seemed to spend all day out in the bush seeing far more animals and that was fantastic..
the staff here were again delightful , so courteous, friendly and quite discreet and one was made to feel that you were a special guest, not one of the many passing through. the first night there was only one other couple who did not speak english well he did a bit but she did not, and they were clearly not willing to get social. Shame. the next night a very friendly Hawaian Japanese couple were very chatty.
THe food here was excellent, the dining area was rather sombre and very little lighting, is that usual in tented camps? having experienced Suyan camp later on there was real difference in the feel and the luxury. Sayari felt like smart camping, Suyan was real luxury camping. My feeling was the situation of the Sayari camp did not show it to its best advantage, however we did not have great weather there and that must affect its feel and appearance.
The hot water bottles were most welcome, i was aghast to think that i had hot water bottle, in Africa. I generally love a really cold bed, but here it was damp and chilly for 2 nights.
Overall we were well looked after, a superb experience, but it is camping.
On the second day out the driver got stuck in the black cotton mud without a clue as to how to retrieve the situation. When other vehicles came along we discovered that there was no working eqiupment to pull the jeep out of the mud. we were at one stage very concerned as to the problem of how to get back to the camp. Even the radio that they carry could not work in that area.
The one other item that requires a mention is the drive from this camp to Suyan camp. We were transported in an open jeep along difficult roads for almost seven hours in fairly hot weather. It was totally inadequate. It should have been a covered vehicle with more comfort. I know they could do nothing about the state of the roads or the length of the journey but because of that there should have been a vehicle that was more suitable.
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
