Travel reviews by Mr P & Ms T from Ottawa

"Beautiful location - outside the hustle and bustle of Arusha, peaceful relaxing setting, excellent food and service. It was the perfect location for starting the trip (went from the airport to Rivertrees, then set off the next day for safari).

The only annoyance was having to pay extra for drinks (food was covered in the reservation, but we had to pay extra for bottles of coke and water). Seemed a bit silly."

"Amazing location, with views out onto a river valley. Elephants and giraffes visible in the distance while having morning coffee, occasionally game wandering through camp (saw hyena, dik-dik, and lots of birds), running water inside the tents, plenty of hot water from the solar heater, excellent comfortable beds.

Food was tasty and plentiful, wonderful campfire and drinks every night before dinner, small number of guests and relaxing atmosphere was really nice. Short drive to excellent game viewing.

Common dining table was a nice way to chat with other guests and share the day's experiences. Staff seemed genuinely friendly and helpful and were very pleasant to deal with."

"Even though this was very simple camping it still put my normal personal camping methods to shame!

Small tent but very comfy bed, excellent food around the campfire, very intimate setting (a few staff and just us- they limit the fly camping participants to those that are on safari together). Simple bucket shower and drop toilet.

Wonderful experience, watching the sunrise with a hot coffee in hand sitting in the middle of the long grasses and seeing game wander by a short distance away.

Walking safari to the fly camp and back to the main camp the next morning was part of the thrill and enjoyment. Seeing the small details, plants, tracks, animals, really gave a feeling of being up close and personal with the area. Felt totally safe with the guide and ranger."

"same as previous [Ed: see their entry below]"

"Peaceful location in a rural setting. Excellent service and food.

A short drive to the gates to Ngorongoro."

"Beautiful rooms set up in the trees. Baboons and monkeys wandering around camp. Elephants came by chomping on the trees just in front of our room. Hot and cold running water, with electricity up until late (off overnight to safe generator). Excellent location deep in Lake Manyara park.

Overall, a but too 'luxury with animal viewing' as opposed to 'animal viewing with luxury' for our taste. It was all very nice but felt like a place for wealthy/elite people to stay (which is not us!).

Used lodge guide for local game drives - lots of great knowledge and information, but sometimes felt like a time-share salesman telling us about the other &Beyond camps and opportunities (you can get a membership! with discounts!). Game was a bit disappointing compared to Tarangire (and northern Serengeti). Enjoyable, but animals were seen occasionally, and in ones and twos (compared to large and plentiful herds).

Camp staff were a bit over the top - a butler eager to cater to our every whim at the drop of a hat as long is it included maximum quantities. When we asked for a small lunch (like soup and a bit of toast) we were still pressured into eating the 3 course meal. A gin and tonic before dinner included about 5x the amount of gin that we were expecting. Having all the staff turn out to sing to us when we arrived made us feel a bit uncomfortable.

Dinner was at private tables so there was no need to talk to other guests.

None of it was bad, it just wasn't to our taste."

"Northern Serengeti was amazing and Olakira and staff made it even more memorable and fantastic.

Accommodation was wonderful - plenty of water for the basics (sink and toilet) and bucket showers inside the tent were more than adequate. An intimate setting (only 10 guest tents) in the middle of great game viewing (including regular lions roaring, hyenas calling, elephants, giraffe, impala and zebras feeding all within sight and hearing of the tent and event sometimes right in the camp).

Food was plentiful and consistently delicious - excellent variety, fresh, tasty and great service. Common dining table for all guests meant that every evening was a chance to talk to fellow travellers and share the day's experiences. You'd be hard pressed to find higher quality meals in any restaurant anywhere in the world, and the fact that it was all prepared in a temporary camp in the middle of the bush was truly amazing.

Hot coffee, tea and biscuits delivered to the tent at wake-up call, hot water bottles in the bed at bed-time, highly experienced and skilled guides, lots of game (we saw many lions, cheetah, leopard, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, elephant, crocodile, hippo, and even rhino, plus tons of others too numerous to list). Saw a couple of wildebeest river crossings (one right down the road from the camp!).

An amazing experience, great friendly genuine staff, and something that we'll remember for the rest of our lives. Four nights felt very comfortable, we saw a little bit of everything in terms of game. Any less though and you'd probably miss out on something."