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Tortilis Camp
Tortilis Camp
Tortilis Camp
Tortilis Camp

Reviews of Tortilis Camp

Wildlife sightings and reviews

27 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Tortilis Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Aug-2018, 20 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Tortilis Camp.
Lion

86% success

Leopard

7% success

Cheetah

47% success

Wild dog

20% success

Buffalo

100% success

Elephant

100% success

Hippo

100% success

Wildebeest

100% success

Zebra

100% success

Giraffe

95% success

Spotted Hyena

89% success

Eland

44% success

Oryx

41% success

Striped Hyena

31% success

Gerenuk

24% success

Aardvark

13% success

Pangolin

12% success

Showing 21-27 of 27
Duration
Arrival date
Mrs P
Horsham

"Tortillas camp in Amboseli Conservancy "

3 nights Arrived 27 Aug 2018
"Loved this place, unfortunately we never got a very good view of Kilimanjaro which I really wanted to see as Peter had climbed this 10 years ago. However wonderful wildlife - and birds - flamingoes were stunning.

Lions, cheetahs, hippos buffalo, elephants giraffe wildebeest, hyena gazelles, Secretary bird.

Brilliant guide, good hosts, great service from all the staff.

Visited local village, felt slightly pressured as on my own with one of the chief's sons as we were shown all the handicrafts" See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

3 sightings

Cheetah

3 sightings

Eland

2 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

2 sightings

Lion

4 sightings

Oryx

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Striped Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

4 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mrs Jane C
USA

"Respite in the dust"

2 nights Arrived 15 Oct 2017
"Exciting location on the edge of the national park. Beautiful tents. Great guide, Boni. Staff friendly and helpful.

Breakfast in the bush was a great treat.

Food otherwise just OK. Barbecue meat tough. Mixed drinks weak." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Average
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs C
Bristol

"Tortillas Camp – Excellent Base for Amboseli"

2 nights Arrived 10 Oct 2017
"Tortilis Camp has an excellent location on a hillside facing Kilimanjaro and overlooking a small waterhole, just outside the Amboseli park boundary – although this is something of a technicality as there is no noticeable boundary, other than at the entrance to the camp itself. It is a fenced camp, so there are no restrictions on walking around, during daylight or evening hours.

The accommodation, as is fairly typical for tented camps in our experience, comprises a spacious tent pitched on a solid base with a thatched outer roof, incorporating a bathroom at the back, behind the (very comfortable) double bed, and opening onto an outdoor sitting area at the front. There is a good degree of separation and vegetation between tents to provide privacy. From our tent we had views of Kilimanjaro – when it wasn't shrouded in cloud – but we were not able to see the waterhole or anything much of the wildlife that came to visit it. However, up at the main lounge / bar / restaurant area there was a better view and we were able to watch various animals come to drink, including some elephants while we were having lunch, one day!

The food was excellent, with a good range of options. Buffet for breakfast and lunch; à la carte in the evening. One morning's game drive included a bush breakfast, which was very pleasant out on the plane in the shade of a tree, looking at Kilimanjaro before the clouds rolled in. This was also outside of the park boundary, which again was something of a technicality and it certainly did not deter the family of 3 cheetahs that we saw immediately afterwards. (Maybe they fancied one of the cooked-to-order omelettes?)

The activities provided by the camp were morning and evening game drives, which were in an open-sided safari vehicle with a canvas roof for shade. At this time of year most of the park is a dustbowl except for the areas around the lake and marshes, which are what makes Amboseli such a magnet for wildlife – and tourists, although we were not overly aware of too many of those at the various sightings where we stopped to view the wildlife. There were lots of elephants, hippos, buffalo, wildebeest, various antelopes and giraffes, and loads of birds, both waterfowl and other species. We are not mad-keen bird watchers but easily spotted at least 40 different species without trying particularly hard.

Although the water provided by the lake and marshes makes for great wildlife densities at this time of year, there was not a huge variety and predators, in particular, seemed to be difficult to find. We were fortunate to see the cheetahs after our bush breakfast, and the same 3 the following morning as well, as it happened, as they had not moved that far away. We also had two hyena sightings, including a cub which had popped up from its den. However, the variety of birds was extensive and perhaps the one area where our guide could improve his knowledge. We are not expert ornithologists by any means but our experience on previous safaris elsewhere has been that the guides have a pretty good eye and knowledge of what they are looking at – that is why they are safari guides! They may not know everything (who does?) but usually have a good initial idea, with the relevant well-thumbed guidebooks on-hand for confirmation. It was slightly disconcerting, therefore, to have occasions when we would see a bird and appear to have more of an idea about it than our guide. For example: asking what type of bee-eater we were looking at, to be told it was a fly-catcher because the single page quick ID guide said so, was not really very good. (For the record, when we persuaded our guide to look the bird up properly in his guidebook, it was confirmed as a cinnamon chested bee-eater.) In conversation we understood from our guide that he had been working in Amboseli for 20 years; we would expect a slightly better grasp of the local birdlife after all that time.

This last point aside, our guide's general abilities in terms of driving us around safely, knowing the geography of the park and surrounding areas, and looking for and finding animals, were absolutely fine. He also drove us safely all the way to our rendezvous at the Tsavo West gate as part of our transfer at the end of our stay." See all these reviews: 4n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mrs Muriel B
USA

"Fantastic Management and Staff!"

2 nights Arrived 1 Sep 2017
"We absolutely loved Graeme and Candy, the camp managers. They were so warm and hospitable, with a fabulous sense of humor as well.

Our guide, Alex, provided us with exceptional experiences from the moment we arrived at the humble little airport. I am confident that Alex's love of elephants allowed us to get closer to and feel the elephants at much greater depth than we would have under different circumstances.

This was a great camp to start at, with the local watering hole providing an ever changing vista of wildlife. Our tent was so nice. Our room attendant charming. All I can do is sigh and wish I were there right now.

The trip we made to the local Maasai village and school was educational and life-changing." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya; 2n in Zambia; 1n in South Africa
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr Jim
Medford, OR

"Tortillis Camp"

2 nights Arrived 18 Sep 2016
"As our program guide indicated, Tortilis is a luxury safari camp, well-located on a small rise with views of the savanna and the mountains beyond.

Excellent restaurant, highly-qualified and friendly staff, and pleasant tented accommodations.

Game drives, focused on elephants, were exceptionally well done.

An added benefit here was an opportunity to visit a Maasai village. Just ask, otherwise not scheduled.
Most interesting, heart-warming and very informative Contrasting the village itself with the nearby schools for boys and girls was a bit disturbing but that is life in Africa, so I understand." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs P
Hockley

"Superb place, excellent staff, great managers"

3 nights Arrived 12 Jan 2015
"Tortilis Camp was fantastic in all respects and is in a stunning location with a stunning view of Kilimanjaro. Superb accommodation, lovely food, and very welcoming helpful staff.

The managers, Andrea and Manuela were wonderful, so friendly and helpful. On our last night we were the only people staying there and Andrea and Manuela made our stay really special with a candle lit dinner, set on the hillside over looking Kilimanjaro.

On our game drives the animal sightings were superb and our guide, Eric, was extremely knowledgeable. We saw elephants, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, lions, lots of birds to name a but a few.We had some of the best game drives we've ever been on.

We would love to return there." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs K
Maidstone

"Tortilis Camp review"

4 nights Arrived 28 Jan 2014
"We have been to numerous camps in southern Africa over a period of 25 years and if ever there was an outlook from the bar/dining area (accompanied by a glass of chilled white wine) better than Tortilis we have not met it. A wonderful location.

Game viewing is fine, helped by the fact that they can off-road in the concessionary area. Elephants predominate and we were fortunate to see one with quite the largest tusks we have ever seen.

Tortilis are designing their vehicles for no more than two persons on a row so those guests with lots of camera equipment can be accommodated well. Our vehicle had adjustable support platforms for cameras.

Extremely attentive service from the staff." See all these reviews: 5n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Showing 21-27 of 27
96%
27 reviews of Tortilis Camp by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
22
4
1
0
0
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