Reviews of Sayari Camp
(98%) From 58 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Most Amazing Trip We Have Ever Had!
Our stay at Sayari Camp was the best trip / holiday we have EVER had.
The team at Sayari led by Goodluck, including Baraka, Chris, Daudi, Samson, and Sidiki are among the best hosts we have ever had! They tailored everything to our needs and planned amazing camp meals for us. Goodluck went out of his way to connect with us on a personal level and we exchanged many experiences over dinner and drinks. The food was fantastic and we had a really nice "traditional" meal one evening.
The camp itself is excellent and has everything you could ask for. The location is perfectly located near the Mara River and has access to an amazing portion of Serengeti National Park. Our guide, Baraka, was highly skilled and took time not only to answer our questions on the wildlife but extended those discussions to the flora, insects, and environment. This man has a true passion for the outdoors and nature.
We would definitely do this again. Thank you so much for a great memory.
Steve & Steph
Sayari Camp review
Wonderful camp in an amazing setting. There was a lot of resident game in February, and being the quiet season it felt you had the entire area to yourself.
Ebenezer was an excellent guide with great knowledge and great feeling what your interests are.
The camp is very well run and the staff was very helpful and welcoming.
Great food with a lot of salads and vegetables.
Maybe the (beautiful) tents are in need of some refreshments...
Sayari
All of our trips usually just had the two of us in a land cruiser. But occasionally we had another couple with whom we formed a great friendship. Here the managers ate at the tables with us and made us feel like welcome friends rather than hotel guests. (Here I forgot to mention that at Manyara Tree Lodge we ate at separate tables; we much preferred the group settings elsewhere.)
We saw the famous Mara river crossing here, with the loss of one Wildebeest to the crocks--a gruesome sight as it took the wildebeest some long to succumb. Again the food was great as were the drinks around the firepit.
Wonderfully organised fantastic guide food OK
This is a brilliantly organised operation which runs like a smoothly oiled machine.
Our guide, Elia, was phenomenal and hugely enhanced the whole experience.
The food is so so, but they catered wonderfully for my gluten/dairy free diet, when my special foods were often better than the regular offerings!
Best Camp, best food
This camp was exceptional. Superb, room, pool, and the most delicious food, with excellent salads and vegetables which are often missed when travelling.
Safaris were great, huge variation each day, our guide was superb. We loved our breakfasts in the wilderness.
Saw lots of game, Cheetahs, Lions, elephants etc.
Finished with a romantic dinner on our deck.
Perfect safari experience
We couldn't fault Sayari. The accommodation, the staff, the guide and the food were of the highest level. We would be happy to return there tomorrow!
Read more about the whole safariSuperb Sayari
Our last camp was Sayari where we spent five nights and were delighted to have the nearest tent to the spacious communal area (some are so far away that you need a ride). The tents are large, comfortable and very private with a welcome shady verandah with table, chairs and bean bags and a good view over the bush. Staff were very friendly and attentive and the food for vegetarians was the best we have eaten on any safari.
The wildlife viewing was extremely varied because of the nearby Mara river and the different habitats of surrounding countryside including very rocky areas, dense bush, open plains and rolling hills. Highlights for us were three separate close-quarters leopard sightings plus a couple of breakfasts on the spectacularly lovely border watching the Kenyan rangers watching us. An amusing moment was being with two splendid male lions who were totally relaxed until they suddenly became aware of several rangers on foot in the distance!
We really didn't expect to see so much and in such quantity (in many cases) at this time of the year. Special thanks to manager Jen, Freddie the chef and our guide Godson for his infectious enthusiasm.
Stupendous Sayari!!
After the huge let downs at SOPA and KUSINI, I was praying for salvation at Sayari and found it!
Jen and Richard lead and run a superb world class camp -- engaged smiling staff eager to please, a family atmosphere, a soul, a vibrancy, a joy, a confidence that was refreshing to say the least. Food, service, tent all exceeded expectations in quality, presentation, comfort, and design. The game viewing was also terrific: leopard, hippo pools, lions...amazing! When I departed for the airstrip, the entire staff whom I had got to know on a first name basis, came out to wish me farewell. I was choked up, it was beautiful. My Sayari guide, Lenard was great. Knowledgable of the area in great detail -- unlike Albert who did not know Kusini district as well as Lenard knew Sayari. Lenard was eager to please, very accommodating and pleasant -- he was mine exclusively which was terrific.
Amazing wildlife and luxurious ammenties
Sayari camp is beautiful with outstanding amenities. Due to some weirdness with the rains, this was also the best wild life viewing on our trip (in late December).
Our game drives were outstanding - we saw all of the big 5 and a river crossing! Everywhere we looked there were herds of animals. It was truly breathtaking. Watching herds of zebra frolick in the rain was so neat. My favorite moment was watching a giant herd of elephants cross around us, including several very small babies, as we shared sundowners and watched the sunset.
I only wish we could have cloned ourselves in order to spend more time enjoying the amenities at the hotel. We visited the pool on our last morning but wish we had more time. The rooms were lovely as well.
All our meals were delicious and the staff were so kind responding to individual requests from various guests. The New Years Eve party was a lot of fun - it was nice to have some time to get to know our guides and the other staff. We particularly enjoyed chatting with Jennifer and Richard. Elizabeth and David were so kind in teaching us Swahili and about the culture in Tanzania.
Great Camp and Great Game Viewing
Sayari camp in the northern Serengeti was a fourth and final camp on our northern Tanzania safari, organised by Expert Africa. Our 3 nights here was a fantastic finale to an amazing trip.
We arrived at Kogatende airstrip after a short flight from Seronera in the central Serengeti. We were met at the airstrip by our guide Lucas. On the drive to the camp as well as seeing elephant and giraffe we witnessed our first wildebeest crossing of the Mara River. The wildebeest were returning south to the Serengeti from the Maasai Mara, unfortunately one became lunch for a waiting crocodile.
On arrival at the camp we were warmly welcomed by Jen, the manager. Sayari camp has 15 ‘tents’ but is in fact run as two separate entities one of nine tents and the second with six tents. We stayed in the larger camp which was managed by Jen and her husband Richard assisted by Germana. Each camp has its own dining facility and lounge but a pool is shared by both camps. Service at the camp was impeccable and both management and staff were extremely friendly and accommodating, nothing was too much trouble.
The tents are luxuriously appointed with sliding glass doors leading to a large verandah with views towards the Mara River and Kenya. They are well spread out in the camp and hence very private but quite a long way from the camp facilities. This is not a problem as the guide will pick you up from the tent in the morning and there is a ‘taxi service’ in the evening to take you to and from the dining room.
The food at all the meals was excellent with a good choice and was always served with a smile.
Our guide, Lucas, was brilliant; it was very enjoyable spending the day with him. We did four game drives with Lucas and had some wonderful sightings including three more wildebeest crossings. On one game drive we crossed the Mara River and drove to the Kenyan border and stood one foot in Tanzania and one in Kenya. Although we did not find the elusive rhino we saw plenty of all three of the big cats, including one pride of 17 lions, plus buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, elephant, warthog, hyaena, jackal, topi, hartebeest, eland, klipspringer, impala, oribi, dik dik, baboon, mongoose, steinbok, gazelle, hyrax, Nile monitor lizard, crocodile and hippo.
The northern Serengeti is a fantastic place to see lots of different wildlife, although it is busy (many other vehicles) at the migration crossing places it is much quieter away from the river. A great luxurious camp set in a wonderful location.
