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vacation to Kenya & Tanzania
Collin Leon, 3rd February 2025Our trip overall was amazing. Specifically, the &Beyond camp guides and our stay at Giraffe Manor were spectacular.
Accommodation Visited
Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi Airport
“We weren't here for more than 4 hours but it was very nice. Breakfast was amazing!”
Giraffe Manor
“Amazing! The staff were extremely friendly and outgoing, food was beyond expectations, accommodation was very nice and the experience with the giraffes was a truly special experience we will never forget. We highly recommend going to the Giraffe Centre while there, as it was great to learn about what the manor and conservatory do to educate the public and help the giraffe population. We would come back here in a heartbeat!”
Bateleur Camp
“This camp in our opinion was the gold standard of our trip. The staff were extremely hospitable, friendly and welcoming. The food was excellent (especially the soups!) as were the wait staff and butlers. Everyone went over the top to make sure we felt welcome and comfortable. Our guide Puya was amazing and did a really nice job showing us around the Mara where we saw almost every animal we could have wished to see multiple times in different settings. Our dinner at the tent with a surprise bubble bath with champagne setup when we got back from our last evening drive was really special. Both our morning and evening drives were amazing, we're going to have to come back when the migration goes to the Mara! Our hike with the Maasai guide Emmanuel was a lot of fun as well as educational about the area, the tribes and animals.”
Serengeti Under Canvas
“Overall Serengeti Under Canvas left us wanting a bit more out of the camp from a hospitality and cuisine point of view. The accommodation was very nice, clean and welcoming. Our issues here (which we talked about on our last full day with the camp manager, Mo), was that the food service was extremely slow (over 1.5hours for lunch) and the food was subpar (low end ingredients - tilapia, lack of flavor/variety, very similar meals day after day). Coming from the other &Beyond Bateleur Camp, our expectations from a hospitality and food perspective were very high and we felt that some training was necessary to bring up the level of this camp on the hospitality and cuisine side of things.
However, our guide Temu was absolutely phenomenal. We couldn't wait to get back out with him every day because his passion for his job was clearly evident in how he took us around. He was an amazing guide and a better human. We couldn't have been more thankful to have him show us the Serengeti and felt we could have stayed for longer with how much more there was to see and do. For our last dinner, it seemed that Mo made sure to talk with the staff and we had a very nice dinner with Temu, which was the best meal at the camp.”
Little Chem Chem
“The camp itself is absolutely stunning and relaxing, it's an oasis in itself. The food was amazing, accommodation was spectacular and hospitality was 5/5. Relaxing by the pool was a very nice way to end the trip coupled with evening game drives.
Although everyone was extremely nice and hospitable, the staff were not outgoing or friendly, almost like they were told not to interact with the guests at all. We have a feeling that this was part of the staff training to give the guests privacy, but it was a turn off for us as it made us feel a bit unwelcome.
We were excited for the night game drives at Little Chem Chem as we weren't able to do them at the Mara and Serengeti Parks. We saw amazing birds, chameleons, owls, monkeys, elephants and giraffes at night and during the day. Our guide was a bit impersonal (it was clearly just a job for him, not a passion) and because this was a concession, we felt the drives were a bit "tailored" rather than the adventure of what we had at our last two camps.
Overall we had an amazing time at the camp but likely wouldn't return to the concession because of the above reasons. I think this camp is suited for older or less adventurous couples, or for a shorter period of time.”
Staff Review
“Caroline was great to work with and our trip was spectacular. Her recommendations were excellent and we were very happy to have worked with her to plan an unforgettable honeymoon!”
