Reviews of Chada Camp

"Katavi is simply a specular location for viewing wildlife - We had our best sightings of Lion, Leopard, Hippo, Crocodile and buffalo ever of all our safaris to date.

You also realise immediately how incredibly remote you are - over the three days we didn't see more than half a dozen other vehicles (and these were mostly from our camp)

Chada camp is different to other camps we have stayed in. It's very simple and perhaps rustic in look and feel (authentic?). You could argue that some refreshing of the accommodation would be desirable, however this is not a distraction from staying here (it was just something noticeable when coming from Kwihala camp in Ruaha)

Service was really good, food good and tasty and the guiding from Bismas fantastic. We also had a great night drive and saw so much more than you would ordinarily see during the day.

Worth noting that there are Tetse flies at Katavi. Not an issue when the guides know where they are but we did have one evening drive (wrong turn) where we got caught big time with the little sods. A small price to pay given the magic that is Katavi (just have strong insect repellent)" See all these reviews: 17n in Tanzania

"Chada Camp is just about the ideal tented camp. Though just a short walk to the common area of the camp, our very comfortable tent felt completely isolated, providing a wonderful sense of being on our own in the bush. It had a sweeping view of the adjacent floodplain and its animals. From our tent's "porch," we watched a pair of male giraffes battling each other for over an hour out on the plain. The resident vervet monkeys scampering across the roof of our tent and drinking from the birdbath in front of it provided much entertainment..

Another highlight of the camp was the flush toilet in the common area. Enclosed in its own tent which opens out onto a view of the floodplain, it was a very popular destination before and after game drives and provided the best view of a herd of elephants that passed by camp one afternoon.

While Chada Camp was the only place where we encountered mosquitoes during our trip because we were there fairly early in the dry season, our beds were well protected with expansive mosquito netting even though we didn't spot any mosquitoes inside our tent.

The service at the camp was excellent without being too intrusive. Shortly after we mentioned to the camp manager that the zipper for the entrance to our tent had become balky, we returned to our tent to find a staff member replacing the entire zipper with a new one. As for the food (which was delicious) we really appreciated that Chada Camp served a dinner consisting entirely of local cuisine. Ugali!" See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"It was a long flight down to Katavi and this remote location is really for the 'experienced' safari visitors. We really appreciated the wilderness aspects of our visit - rarely do you see another vehicle. Chada is a well appointed camp and we had a very comfortable tent. A resident (!) elephant herd could be a bit bothersome: they were right outside our tent once delaying our morning game viewing departure, and on another occasion pushing down a corner of the tent. More congenial were evening sights of the common bushbaby in the camp. The Nomad camp staff and manager (as everywhere) were excellent - extremely friendly and attentive.

We had some real 'quality' game viewing including witnessing the stalking and kill by a pride of lions; the numerous densely crowded hippo pools (Katavi has the highest concentration of hippo anywhere), a herd of roan antelope; and the rarely seen white-tailed mongoose. However, what we missed were the concentrations of animals on the Chada Plain, where there were not the density of species for which Katavi is renowned, perhaps because there had been some early rain and the controlled burning carried out by the Park authorities elsewhere had dispersed the animals. To this extent, the stay at Katavi did not meet our expectations. Access to some potential viewing environments was restricted by the lack of road/track access.

Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our experiences in Katavi and really appreciated John our driver/guide who did all he could to enhance our trip and provided valuable and knowledgeable information on all the animals and birdlife." See all these reviews: 14n in Tanzania

"Having been to Selous and Ruaha and had a wonderful time, enjoying the varied features and wildlife of both places, Katavi had a lot to live up to ... but it triumphed. It was both me and my wife's favourite of the three. Admittedly, it is not the place to go for a first-time safari go-er with a checklist of animals to see, but this place is more wild and therefore more rewarding as a result.

I had read in one write-up of Katavi that you could end up seeing more lion than people and I took that with a pinch of salt ... but we did in fact see more lion than other travelers. The Chada pride were spread but out in force and to see the male lion roar right next to us on a night drive was memorable. We watched elephant families play, a bull elephant shove a tamarind tree so that the fruit showered down and male giraffe mock neck-fighting. The hippos and crocs combination were always entertaining and we saw leopard on both day and night drives.

As for the camp, this is run by the cheerful Julian who was an excellent host entertaining guests with his stories. This camp was no doubt at the higher-end than our two in Selous and Ruaha but it maintains that rustic and wild feel. Again, elephant families were frequent visitors to camp, giraffe wandered by, a banded mongoose family foraged around our tent and bushbucks and vervet monkeys were also frequent visitors. The food at the camp was excellent and service impeccable.

We loved the varied activities on offer here. Yes, the game-drives were shared unlike in our previous camps, but the quality of guiding by Dismas was very high and we enjoyed the walking safari which was a decent length allowing us some much-needed exercise. The fly-camping (under a separate review) is a must-do." See all these reviews: 17n in Tanzania

"A remote camp but the flight transfer went well and we benefitted from seeing almost no other landrovers on any drive (typically only one other and that was often the other vehicle from the camp). Game sightings were good and the walking safari, fly camping and night drives were excellent. Our early morning coffee was a highlight - which sounds daft but it really was that good! The food was also excellent and well judged.
Unusually, in our experience, the afternoon drive ended before dark so the night drive was a separate trip but well worth doing once.
The staff were all quite excellent and it was a joy to be able to speak to so many, so easily. It was only on leaving that we found that Nomad employed an English teacher who rotated around camps for three months at a time but it was clearly an initiative which was hugely successful, helping both staff and guests!
Our one negative (which we knew all about before our trip) was the tsetse flies which were typically persistent and irritating. Knowing in advance allowed us to prepare mentally so they did not ruin an otherwise excellent camp!
One unexpected bonus was that rain a week before we arrived had kicked off spring and trees were beginning to blossom. As a result we were able to smell some wonderful scents we had not experienced before - who knew that the mahogany trees smelt like honeysuckle? We didn't and were quite unprepared for the impact as you walked or drove through the bush!" See all these reviews: 14n in Tanzania

"Wonderful accommodations, great food and staff, great animal sightings!" See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"We went to Katavi to see the large herds of buffalo that the park is famous for, and were not disappointed. We saw several herds of up to 500 animals! Elephant encounters were quite common as well. Safari camps in the park are few, and Chada Camp is by far the best option available. The camp is well designed and managed. Food and service were excellent. Guiding was good, but our guide had to be encouraged to visit the more remote parts of the park. A rough drive to the area called Paradise was a real highlight and is a must if visiting this park.

Although Chada Camp itself was excellent, we were a bit disappointed in the park itself. It is promoted as a real wilderness experience because of its size and remote location. But the network of roads is very limited, and quite often one is crossing a major gravel road that has a fair amount of local traffic, including buses, on it. That was a surprise in a park touted as a real wilderness!

Game viewing was very good, although diversity was limited. This was likely due to the fact that it was an extremely wet year and water was still plentiful in many inaccessible areas so the game could stay dispersed." See all these reviews: 18n in Tanzania

"This is an excellent 'camp' - perfectly remote and feels like an authentic safari!" See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania

"Chada is not a luxury camp, it is under canvas in the bush, small, comfortable, with eco loos and bucket showers but that is what we wanted and expected. Katavi is one of the less visited national parks but we found it delightful, uncrowded but with great game viewing.........especially if you want to see Hippo !

Our hosts, Barbara and Fabio, were delightful and our guide, Joe, excellent with great knowledge and a sense of fun.

Food was good despite being "in the middle of nowwhere ". We came back from the whole trip with great admiration for the Tanzanian chefs." See all these reviews: 20n in Tanzania

"Overall, I would give it 4.5 stars" See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania