Reviews of Namiri Plains Camp
(97%) From 23 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Namiri Plains Camp review
Great food. Excellent staff. Really like the campfire sitting and watching the sunset.
The communal dining was fun. Enjoyed talking with other guets. Liked the lunch right next to the tent, and out by a tree overlooking the plains. Fantastic location away from it all.
One of the highpoints was the parade of elephants going through the camp while we were eating lunch. Beautiful sunsets. Fun drive from the park entrance to the camp.
Amos really ran a well organized camp.
Home of the Big Cats
Namiri Plains is located in a remote southeastern section of the Serengeti, and the camp itself is far from any other camp. This provides for excellent game viewing opportunities early and late in the day when other vehicles must leave the area to head back to their respective lodges. The camp is lovely, with each tent separated from others providing privacy. The common area is simple and inviting. It appears that the camp will be relocated next year, and new tents and commons will be constructed. Camp Manager Diana and Asst. Mgr. Amos made us feel at home. Staff was very friendly and attentive and food was excellent. Out guide, Walter, did a great job finding game and putting us in the right spot for viewing it.
Cheetah were not as easy to spot as we had hoped, although we were fortunate to see a mother and 2 cubs. Lions however were everywhere! Two large prides are nearby, and each pride has several males in a coalition. In back to back game drives we saw a total of 46 lions!
The open plains are spectacular, and the vistas go on forever. The wildebeast migration had moved north, but there were still thousands of gazelle around, as well as zebra, hartebeast, topi, eland, and other antelope.
If you want to experience the Serengeti without the crowds, Namiri Plains is the place to go!
Namiri Plains Camp review
Namiri Plains is a quite peculiar place to go on safari, it can be the best place ever or a "meh". It all depends upon what you are looking for - to me it's THE place to be for my safaris, and this was my 3rd visit but please read further.
Honestly speaking, I would not advise this camp for travellers on their first safari trip ever, because the area does not offer the whole variety of wildlife you can encounter in central Serengeti. So if you visit Serengeti and you go straight to Namiri Plains, you might be disappointed because you see very little or sometimes even totally zero elephants and giraffes, and absolutely no hippos, and in general smaller numbers of all the common African wildlife that you expect to see and to photograph on your first safari trip, for which on the contrary the Seronera area is highly recommended, where the same company Asilia runs a very very comfy camp called Dunia, famous for being the one and only completely run by women (btw I had the big luck of having one of their lady guides driving me up to Namiri and SHE ROCKS!!). That said, you will wonder why go to Namiri Plains? Because Namiri is where the big cats roam. So if you are fond of (or like me slightly obsessed with) big cats, and you only want to see cats, and to hear cats all night and dream of cats and breathe cats and end up with all your memory cards only full of cats striking any kind of pose .. then a stay at Namiri is something you cannot miss.
Many highlights of my recent stay. First of all cheetahs, cheetahs and more cheetahs, all beautiful, looking healthy and well fed, literally thriving, was what made my heart sing. among the many, a cheetah mother appearing out of the blue that we followed to the den discovering that she had newborn cubs...Then, we have been under a real cuteness-overload attack with the local lion pride displaying repeatedly the 14 cubs of different ages very very near the camp (and there will be more coming in the next months, because I have seen at least 4 different couples of honeymooners mating). And furthermore, spending quality time with two leopard cubs was a super treat.
One remarkable thing, this year, was the weather. The green season is always a dare, because April and May are the months of the Long Rains, but this year I think I have seen 4 seasons in the same day. After the terrible drought of the past 2 years, April 2018 has been overly generous with water... so Serengeti was all lush green and in bloom, but also super muddy. Please keep that in mind if you thiink the chance of getting bogged somewhere is part of the fun and adventure; but if you don't want to deal with mud skip the green season and go for the dry one. The rains have visited us also during my stay (half may), with usual 30-minutes downpours in the hottest hours except one day, when we had like in 2 hours the amount of rain they usually have in one week .. The camp staff however handled the unexpected situation with the usual, lovely all-Tanzanian hakuna-matata attitude. Please notice anyway that every tent is provided with rainboots and umbrellas, so you don't have to worry about packing those things .. travel as light as possible: a safari is a good chance to practise a bit of declustering.
The rain season however has ist perks, and the main one is the Great Migration. More than a million wildebeests on the move, wandering around in pursuit of the rainbs and the best grass to graze. When the Migration comes, the plains are covered in black dots up to the horizon and it's not rare to have herds in the camp. One day I even had the fun of watching thousands of wildebeest running in front of me while I was sitting in my tent. Another morning I enjoyed my wakeup-call cup of tea sitting outside in the good company of a family of elephants (unique event) who were grazing the tender leaves of the thorny acacia in front of my tent. Not to mention the honor of hearing lions roaring every night while I was in bed: the coming of the Migration is a sort of Big Cats Xmas Time, that is well described as "feeding frenzy" ending up in very happy, very full-bellied cats.
No need to say, I absolutely want to go back and stay again at Namiri.
Authentic bush experience with cats galore
Numerous cheetah sightings, lions and a leopard with cubs was the icing on the cake.
We were lucky enough for the migration to pass through and saw cheetahs attempting to hunt on several occasions. Our guide was excellent and went out of his way to make sure we found what we were looking for.
Namiri Plains Camp review
We came back to Namiri after a night at Dunia.
Please see my previous review of Namiri as it holds for the return visit as well. [Ed: see below]
Namiri Plains Camp review
We had no idea what to expect at the "luxury tents" of Namiri Plains Camp. It did not disappoint.
Not only were our rooms spacious and comfortable, the staff was so gracious, the food excellent, and the company of other travelers a delight. Cocktails in front of a roaring fire at night (lovingly called "bush TV" by the staff), 3 daily meals under a tent or under the stars, the company of other travelers from all over the globe made Namiri Plains Camp an unforgettable experience for our family.
Big Cat paradise
We were promised cats and this camp did not disappoint. A great setting, and as we were already familiar with camp protocols it came as no surprise to find Dickson and his team were every bit as welcoming and efficient as Jennifers had been at Olivers.
Food and drink was universally great and they were keen to ensure I was 'tomato' free throughout.
Early starts with breakfast and sunrise were becoming part of our DNA and kevin proved to be phenomenal at finding the photo shoots. Cheetahs, Leopard and Lions galore.
Two days flew past, and we left with a slightly heavy heart, but we had more to see 'up North'
Namiri Plains Camp review
Namiri is a special place, we saw more big cats here in 3 days than we have seen anywhere else in Africa over the past thirty years of safaris. Not just that but the closeness to the action was extraordinary. Two lionesses with 7 one-month old cubs just outside their den next to our vehicle was one of many highlights. George was a great, fun guide. We got some great video and pictures. Our only regret was not to witness the coalition of 7 male lions in the pride closest to camp - a reason to return! The camp itself is situated on a marsh with permanent water so you can watch the game from your tent, lions roaring at night. The camp staff, headed by Dickson during our visit, were great and very attentive. Food was good but Asilia needs to take a look at its menus to ensure that guests staying at more than one of their camps will not eat the same meal two days running, This happened to us twice at lunchtime when changing camps.
Read more about the whole safariExpert Africa comments
The camp was delighted to hear how much these guests enjoyed Namiri’s remarkable big cats during their stay, and were very pleased to hear how much they appreciated the attentive staff. However, they were really disappointed to hear that their food had been rather hit and miss. They explained that they work on a 7-day menu across their sister camps, so that guests should not repeat their courses from one camp to the next when moving, and this system appears to have lapsed on this occasion. They apologised to these clients and are addressing this urgently.
We will be back
What can I say ? I had a tear in my eye when we left Namiri and the three of us all said that on balance it was our favourite camp of the trip. The Serengeti is a mind-blowing experience and the lions, cheetahs and leopards are the stars of the show. Our guide George was wonderful. We were lucky enough to share the truck on occasions with a couple from Chicago and together we all became the cheetah team - running off a gang of hyenas from three cheetah cubs. It was an unforgettable experience, much more emotional than you can imagine.
The whole team at namer are like a family - Dickson ! Diana, Wilfred, Hassan, various, Chuma and of course Goerge. The food is amazing and the tents gorgeous - all at the edge of the best adventure you will have. Sit by the campfire and listen to the lions calling each other in the night....
Thanks to Dickson and all the team - we miss you!
Cats cats cats - and an aardwolf - at Namiri
We booked for six nights at Namiri as we wanted to have as much time with cheetahs as possible - and were so glad we did. We saw them every day, including 12 during one morning game drive. A pride of lions was also in residence - and hunting buffalo - near the camp and we saw others on every drive, plus a caracal, African wild cat and an aardwolf (twice)! And fortunately for us - and a huge unexpected bonus - was that the great migration was very late and still passing though the area so on every drive there were enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra.
Staff at Namiri were uniformally excellent and the food good. The spacious tents look down to the river and the camp has a feel of quiet isolation. Although we saw a few other jeeps from other camps, they were on the limit of their range and many sightings were exclusive. It gets windy on the Serengeti so when it's dry the dust whips up. Be prepared. Special mention to manager Epimark for looking after us and to guide Kivuyo whose eyes are like binoculars and we later found out was Asilia's Guide of the Year 2016.
