Reviews of Olakira
(96%) From 49 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Excellent
Wonderful location to view the migration. Rainy season was a challenge with some of the driving but our driver and guide were excellent.
He was quite knowledgeable and shared many stories and information about what we’re were seeing with us.
Some very heavy rains postponed one of our drives and he took the time to show us videos and review the map and other information about the area.
Great safaris
A mobile camp with a very impressive tent. All one could want, hot showers, lounge, comfortable bed.
Also surprise cooked breakfast in the savannah. Surprise sundowner around a fire by a lake.
First lunch served under a tree with view of lake.
Asilia camps are so well run, thoughtful, excellent staff and food.
All day safari, with visit to Hidden valley a truly magical place.
Wildebeest and more cats.
This was our last port of call and our third Asilia camp. This one, a mobile camp had tents that were slightly less equipped than Olivers and Namiri Plains. 'Bucket showers' sounded a bit basic but proved to be nothing of the sort. We'd been told by people that this was their favourite camp and looking out at the River in the evenings you could see why.
Goodluck and his team continued to impress, and Asilia's training is clearly top notch. Even a powercut did not stop them sorting out an al fresco breakfast with zero fuss. John the chef is a little genius.
Trips out over our two day stay revealed all the big cats, a 500+ wildebeest crossing and at last a Black rhino. Simply magical. Kevin simply continued to deliver
This camp threw up the only small criticism we could think of. For obvious reasons the bulbs are all light saving, and in main part of tent thats fine, but it would be better to have slightly brighter bulbs in the 'bathroom' area as the mirror lighting was poor especially for make up / hair manipulation in the evening when flaps and sides were down.
Olakira review
We had a great 4-night stay at Olakira, the camp staff could not have been more welcoming and attentive. Special mentions to Max, Elijah, Michael and top singer Phillipo! The northern Serengeti location of the camp, which they have retained for a few years, is right next to the Mara river and so therefore ideal for watching river crossings right in front of camp. Elisant was an excellent and intuitive guide and managed to get us a very large river crossing all to ourselves a bit further upstream. Our only problem at Olakira was that there seemed to be a problem with our plumbing in tent 9 which necessitated repairs at 3.00 am! And thereafter a not so nice smell used to waft over us sometimes in the afternoons. Hopefully it’s all been sorted now. Food was good but same comment regarding portions of dessert applies as with Rekero in Kenya.
Read more about the whole safariExpert Africa comments
We have heard back from the camp and they were very happy to hear these clients had enjoyed their stay so much and how good their wildebeest crossings experience was. However, they were very sorry to hear about the disturbance at night. The manager was not aware of any repairs going on at 3am, which is certainly not their normal practice! These guests did mention to the manager that the water smelled a little odd, and he attended to it and they advised it was better.
Olakira review
Staff was excellent, very pleasurable to be with. Game drives were great, though quite honestly, the game viewing, aside from the wildebeests and zebras, was a bit underwhelming (in comparison to a previous trip to Botswana).
The staff and attentiveness at this camp was spectacular. The "mobile," somewhat "rustic" aspects of this camp were definitely enjoyable.
The staff neglected to give us an Asilia game drive diary book, an omission that we missed.
A real safari with all the comforts of home
Olakira was more rugged than the permanent camps we visited, but still very comfortable. The staff at Olakira were so incredibly nice and fun - we really enjoyed spending time with them and learning from them! We spent three full days at Olakira and felt like we were on a real safari. The Southern Serengeti was very dusty when we visited (the rains were a month late!), but we saw the most amazing wildlife and beautiful views. This camp is what we pictured Tanzania to look like before we arrived (although we have learned that the landscape varies quite broadly!).
All of our meals were delicious and we loved the communal dining style - we met many interesting people. Christmas dinner with a traditional roast turkey and Christmas pudding and carols was particularly nice :).
We spend a lot of time chatting with Pascal. He was a great host - very nice, incredibly knowledgeable, and easy to talk to. We loved hearing the stories of the various wildlife encounters around the camp! All of the staff were great - they were so patient with our attempts to learn Swahili.
Wonderful stay at Olakira Camp
We stayed at Olakira Camp in its northern location nearer the Mara River. The location is perfect with a great view over the river and hills behind. It is right in the heart of the wildlife area - animals are always visible and frequently visit the camp (including a thrilling night visitation by a pride of lions). The staff were charming and the service of the highest standards.
The food John the chef produces from his tent kitchen is amazing - healthy, delicious and plentiful. Staff members always joined us at dinner, which was a wonderful way to learn more about local life and really added to our experience. The beds are extremely comfortable, the bucket showers work really well, giving lots of hot water on 10 minutes notice. Our guide Emmanuel was very knowledgeable and interesting, and just brilliant at finding amazing sightings. It seemed we only had to say we'd like to see something and he found it - we saw leopards and rhino close up most days and a river crossing on the way to the camp from the airport.
We stayed at Sayari Camp last year which is also fantastic. Olakira is much smaller and, being a mobile camp, has simpler facilities (eg no pool) but we loved it for that. We really can't recommend it highly enough and would love to go back to it in its southern location.
Great Safari at Olakira
Olakira is located at where all the animals are this time of the year and we were able to see incredible river crossings of the wildebeests. Phenomenal safari! Our guide at Olakira, Nathan, is very nice too.
Service and Food and Olakira is not as good as Kicheche Bush Camp.
A wonderful camp
Olakira was exceptionally well positioned. We saw four wildebeest river crossings and just about every animal you could name. Our guide, Elysante was fantastic - very kind, knowledgeable and a great communicator.
The camp was exceptionally well run and the food John turned out each day was outstanding.
