Reviews of Olakira
(96%) From 45 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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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.
Olakira Mara - Ndutu Camp review
The staff were extremely friendly and made me feel comfortable and welcome as a single traveller. The food was very good and because it was Valentine's day while I was there we were given champagne. We all ate together under canvas at one long table which is especially good if you are travelling alone.
My tent was comfortable and very clean and spacious. It was a lovely surprise to find a hot bottle in my bed after dinner. I had not brought any warm clothes with me and so it was a nice touch that the camp supplied blankets in the jeeps to keep warm. It was chilly in the mornings and evenings.
The camp tried very hard to meet the needs of each individual traveller, not always easy when people have different interests and levels of stamina.
Such a memorable stay at Olakira Mara
Olakira was a personal favourite!
The staff here are wonderful, the food is great and the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. The tented camps are extremely authentic and a hot water bottle in the bed is a lovely touch!
Plus a fantastic view of the sunrise. We had a brilliant time.
Great staff and animals at Olakira.
Simple vibrant camp with super welcoming and friendly staff. Wonderful animal sightings including 3 crossings, female leopard with week old cubs, cheetah and lion cubs. Nathan was very informative about animal behaviour and excellent at finding animals.
For a temporary camp it had everything you could expect from a permanent camp. The food was very good although as a temporary camp lighting in the tent was not very good. Hot water for wahing could have been provided in thermos flasks as we had at Rekaro camp, another Asilea camp but in Kenya.
We have never had hot water bottles in bed before when on safari!
Enjoyable stay at Olakira Mara-Ndutu
A camp with a superb location overlooking the Mara river. Again the service was excellent, the food extremely good and again they tried to feed me too much. The staff were excellent and tried to ensure we enjoyed our stay.
Olee the guide was particularly good and also had a wide knowledge of the game. I was sorry to leave the place. My only adverse comment is that the tent lighting was a bit inadequate compared with the other camps.
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
