Reviews of Rekero

"Coming from the Olkiombo Airstrip, it was a short drive by Chirchir (our driver) to the Rekero Camp. Upon arrival, the staff and guides sang and danced as they welcomed us to their camp.

First order of business was showing us our tent for our stay. Our tent was next to the lodge, so stopping off and showing us around was easy. We were given a family tent that had two bedrooms connected by the entrance / living room. The tent had everything you needed. Off the ground level patio, we had about a short twenty-foot overlook down to the Talek River. Looking down at the river from the embankment outside our tent, we saw our first neighbor, a five-foot crocodile! A quick unpack and then headed off to the lodge for lunch. There we met Maggie (GM) and Phoebe (Asst GM). The big rule at every lodge is don’t go out at night without an escort.

The dining is communal which is very enjoyable as you meet new people and exchange stories of the day. Lunch food is served buffet style which for us is good because you take what you want instead of having a lot of food brought to you that you won’t be able to finish. Dinner is a plated affair. It was very enjoyable to talk to other guests along with Maggie or Phoebe, and to listen to their stories. The food is excellent!

Livingstone took us on safari drives, that included three migration crossings on the Mara River (two where wildebeests and zebras crossed and one where we watched for a couple of hours, and no one crossed). We thought the crossing might be a violent affair with the twelve foot plus crocodiles looking on, but it was a civilized event where the wildebeests just disappeared, under the water, as they were crossing the river. It was a little surreal to see this happening while there were over a dozen hippos watching the event like a show from down river. On other drives, we saw lions, a leopard, and the only cheetahs we saw on our entire trip.

The lodge overlooks the Talek River, and we saw two migration crossings from the lodge deck. We called these ‘safety crossings’ as the Talek River is not very big at this time of year and cannot support the larger crocodiles, so no animals were injured here. One animal experience did not include a drive. On the first night there in our tent, around midnight, we were woken up by this loud (to us since it was very quiet at night) noise: it sounded like a grunt or a chuff (jokingly we said is sounded like Jabba the Hutt!). It was a hippo right outside the tent off the patio! We heard the grunt, then followed the sound of grass being ripped up and chewed on. We even heard it walking around. Luckily the tent flaps were closed as Maggie had previously said that any light tended to attract animals. We also think it helps not seeing a hippo eating its dinner ten feet from your bed with you in it!

We really enjoyed our time at Rekero and would definitely recommend and return again. The management and staff were wonderful, very accommodating and helpful; the location was amazing, and the facilities themselves were great." See all these reviews: 15n in Kenya; 9n in Tanzania

"We arrived to a staff welcome of singing and dancing including manager Timothy and deputy Maggie who both greeted us on arrival. As at our previous camp the staff were very quick to learn guests names and Timothy and Maggie were very sociable and excellent hosts. They regularly both chatted and dined with guests.

The camp is in a lovely position, next to the river. Our tent was very comfortable and had everything we needed including an outdoor washing line and pegs. (This was useful for drying underwear as other laundry was included). Meals were excellent and it was nice to be able to take both breakfast and lunch as picnics and thus have some longer drives. We enjoyed meeting up around the camp fire for pre dinner drinks and chats with other guests.

Our guide was Jackson, (not Looseyia). We were very spoilt and fortunate not to have to share our guide/vehicle with anyone else during our 4 night stay. Each day Jackson tried to give us a variety of experiences in different areas of the Mara and although not everything worked out as planned/hoped for this was not his fault ... e.g. elephants not crossing where they should/normally do! (clients the next day had a good sighting ...) He worked very hard one day for us to be able to see a sizeable number of wilderbeest and zebra at a river crossing (successfully).

We did have a number of good lion sightings, including both attempted and successful kills. We were impressed with his driving skills, particularly at river crossings." See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya

"The location is one which provides a spectacular river setting - a top spot.

My wife requires a wheelchair to get around the camp and Expert Africa arranged for one to be provided.

The were always plenty of staff available to assist her up steps and to walk in the restaurant area and to wheel her to and from the tent.

Despite the restriction whereby vehicles are not permitted to "off road" in the public areas of the Mara we found there were many more roads and tracks available to enable us to obtain good sightings than we have experienced in the Serengeti so in that respect we felt our chances of quality sightings were improved.

When you do find a significant sighting there is quite a fight to "gain position", but this, sadly, is a well known downside of animal watching in this part of the world and is not in any way controlled. For the record we had 40 vehicles at one leopard sighting and 20 at an earlier cheetah kill sighting." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya

"Rekero has a wonderful location - definitely a bush camp, secluded and quiet (particularly when compared with other areas of the National Reserve), with good accommodation, food and service and above all, excellent guiding." See all these reviews: 8n in Kenya

"We loved Rekero! The staff was friendly, efficient, and professional in granting the wishes of its guests. Sarah, the assistant camp manager, was lovely and demonstrated wonderful hospitality.

Our safari guide Karia was amazing! He was so knowledgeable and eager to show us the marvels of the Mara - the best day of game drives in our entire 11-day safari was because of his enthusiasm and incredible spotting skills. He is a photographer, as I am, and he always knew the right angles and light to enhance our shots. We couldn't have asked for more.

The tent was lovely and comfortable; every meal was delicious and beautifully served; the camp is nicely located with great views.

We look forward to staying here again!" See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya

"The camp manager Lewis picked us up at the airstrip and this was a real treat as he is extremely knowledgeable and as we saw already so many animals while driving us to the camp.

The location of the camp is great along the river with a fabulous view from the dining deck. Tents are also amazing along the river. Our tent was next to the hippo pod which was fabulous (shame though about the fencing), very spacious and comfortable.

As I am gluten free and diary free I was a little bit worried but it was great how they catered and took care of me, the food was delicious and the desserts were amazing.

Our guide Francis was great, extremely friendly and managed to make us see a lot without having crowds around us. Very knowledgeable and a bird specialist as well." See all these reviews: 8n in Kenya

"Rekero was perhaps the highlight of our trip. Beautiful simple camp, immersed in the bush. Lovely staff, particularly the extremely friendly and knowledge managers Lewis and Becca.

Our guide Nick was absolutely one of the best guides we have ever had. What sets the Rekero guides apart is that they focus on using their skills and experience to find the wildlife themselves, rather than following other vehicles and ending up with the crowds around sightings. We were so lucky to have lion cubs just a few minutes from camp, all to ourselves!

The food was outstanding, and it really felt like nothing was too much trouble - just ask. We loved the bush breakfasts - one day we stopped on the open plains and ate under a lone acacia tree, while watching topi and wildebeest in the distance.

We also particularly enjoyed the fact that the wifi tent was set apart from the main dining area, which really makes sure everyone relaxes. The little tiny souvenir tent is was very reasonably priced.

In short, we can't recommend Rekero enough!" See all these reviews: 15n in Kenya

"My experience here couldn't have been more different to Encounter. Despite the covid imposed separate dining, the managers Becca and Lewis still managed to create a relaxed, inclusive, friendly atmosphere.

They engaged with all the guests and encouraged conversation and mingling at the camp fire and tea time, and Becca and/or Lewis ate with me at meals and were interesting and entertaining company. Both of them have an obvious passion for safari and love to share it with their guests. They clearly can't wait to get back to communal dining and I'm sure this would make Rekero an even more enjoyable place to stay.

My guide, Francis, was excellent, clearly very experienced with great birding skills. It was good to see that he was keen to avoid some of the worse "circus like" sightings that you get in this part of the reserve, and to leave sightings when we felt the animal was being harrassed.

Not mentioned in your wildlife list so I will mention it here - we had some lovely sightings of serval with kittens." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia; 10n in Kenya

"Very good setting.

I enjoyed being on the river and we saw the Wilderbeest crossing during lunch! Excellent guide." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya

"Well appointed tent next to the river.
Staff all very helpful and attentive.
Good food (not as good as Kicheche Bush Camp)
Excellent viewing platform overlooking Talek River
Usual camp managers were not in camp during our stay which may be the cause for late early morning calls and wrong drinks being delivered. This was not a major problem
Excellent guide (Francis)" See all these reviews: 9n in Kenya