Travel reviews by Tom & Lisa from Plymouth

"The Emakoko was an excellent place to start a Kenyan safari. We arrived after a game drive through Nairobi Nat. Park, greeted by a troop of baboons along the road. Anton and his staff greeted us on arrival, pointing out the python just below the entrance bridge.

Our room was extremely comfortable, open, attractive with a very nice deck. The food, with new menus being introduced by a visiting chef, was terrific and the service was warm, friendly and fun.

Every one on the staff was excellent, particularly June, who took care of our room and really helped out when a group of monkeys invaded our room, stealing my medicine and scattering all kinds of things.

Our guide, Peter, was responsive and well-informed but a little too soft-spoken and at times hard to understand."

"Kicheche Laikipia is a first rate tented camp, at a lovely setting on the edge of a pond that attracts plenty of elephants to its opposite shore, well within view.

Our guide, Dickson, was fun, responsive, well-informed, helpful in arranging good photo opportunities, and knowledgable about birds, a particular interest of one of our group. The staff was excellent, especially Vivienne in her native dress and her eagerness to become a guide in the future.

Besides the main animals, listed below, we also saw a couple bat-eared foxes, along with jackals and rabbits. And our experience with a cheetah was right after a kill of an eland, so we spent almost an hour watching her devour her dinner and roll over on her enlarged belly"

"Kicheche Bush offered spectacular hospitality under the management of Anne and Dido. We liked how the different meal arrangements allowed us to mingle with other guests at time while enjoying dinner at our table. We appreciated that the managers joined the group for shared meals.

There was a real attention to detail and everyone did a very good job coping with the unexpected rain, including flooding that limited some travel and required the camp to host people temporarily who were unable to get to their own destinations. They were excellent in responding to guest needs, managing water bottle, dealing with dietary needs, and arranging for terrific bush breakfasts and sundowners in addition to the regular buffet lunch and sitdown dinners at camp.

Our guide Benja was first rate, somewhat reserved but extremely capable, easy to understand, responsive to our interests, an excellent driver who had to cope with some pretty bad conditions, including becoming stuck in the mud at one point and having to arrange a tow from another vehicle sent out from the camp.

Benja was creative in finding ways to follow a family of cheetah that were having trouble finding a prey, finally succeeding on our last day. Thanks to Benja, we also had several encounters with a large group of lions, with a number of playful cubs. We saw a very wide variety of birds, a couple spring hares, and several different kinds of antelopes."

"Loldia House was a great place to relax at the end of our safari. It's not in as exciting a location as the tented camps, and the rooms were a little smaller and less inviting. But what we really appreciated was the chance to slow down, skip game drives at times, and just enjoy a less scheduled experience.

We went out on a boat in the lake twice, both times very enjoyable. We took two night drives, which were both eye-opening and enjoyable in part because they were shorter (at two hours) than a standard game drive. After several days spending long hours in vehicles, it was great to be able to walk the grounds, to swim, to sit in chairs on the lawn.

Our server, Constant, was a constant (and welcome) presence, eager to help in any way, especially for me, since by this point my swollen foot limited my ability to walk very far. We had lovely breakfast and lunches on the lawn, surrounded by a garden, and enjoying the frequent presense of monkeys in the trees and hippos in the lake and grazing on the grass just outside the fence. Dinner was a little more formal and the food, while good, was not at the quality level of our other lodges/camps.

Some of our group had a day trip to nearby Crescent island, which they enjoyed and highly recommended for the chance to walk among animals in their habitat and view a large number and variety of birds.

Despite my caveats, I would highly recommend this place for a two (perhaps three) night stop at the end of any safari.

Unlike our previous locations, the manager was not much of a presence. By contrast, Anne, Lisa's masseuse and on the staff elsewhere, was warm and welcoming."