As our airplane approached the Kichwa Airstrip, we could see a myriad of animals from the window of the plane. This would set the stage for the next 48 hours of our trip.

Me, my husband, and 5 other friends went to Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp for several days - Nov 23-26. When we landed, we were immediately met by Daniel, who would be our guide for our entire stay. He had set out a lovely welcoming table with tea, coffee, hot chocolate, cookies, and other light snacks. We happily munched and ate while Daniel introduced himself (and John, the Masai guide for the camp) and told us about our upcoming stay. What a warm and wonderful welcome.

As we drove to the camp, Daniel immediately started his guide duties, as there were tons of animals to be seen. I think the drive would ordinarily take only 15 minutes or so, but we were so enthralled already, that Daniel thoroughly and patiently explained what we were seeing. And it wasn't even really our first "official" game drive - just the ride to the camp.

We were met at the camp gate by John (with cool, scented towels) and Esther (she was a staff manager) and we began our stay. Esther took our necessary information, explained where everything was, outlined our itinerary, introduced us to our room steward(Jackson) and dining butler (Kosen) and we were off to our tent.

Wow. Oh wow. That's what we said when we stepped into Tent #6 with Jackson. The lower number tents are DEFINITELY the best, as they overlook the Masai Mara plains. Incredible. The tent is unbelieveably comfortable, with a deliciously comfortable bed, and the rain shower was fabulous. Actually, in our 16 days in Kenya, it was the best shower we ever had. As a "basic" tent, I wondered if we would miss not having electrical outlets to plug chargers/devices in.....and we didn't. There is an area in the lounge/bar where you plug your things in, and it was not inconvenient at all. And actually, they have blow dryers in the lounge bathroom too. I discovered those on the last day, and still didnt' use them - it shows you how comfortable I was without outlets.

We headed out for our first afternoon game drive. BRING A JACKET. It was quite warm when we left the camp at 4pm, and as the sun began to set it got very chilly. So much so that we were very grateful that we had brought a fleece jacket and windbreaker jacket. Daniel was unbelievable. Simply the best. He took us straight to a pair of brother cheetah's eating a fresh kill. Amazing. Daniel's depth of knowledge, fun personality, friendly banter, and ability to take us to see something astonishing was absolutely fantastic. Note.....apparently there are 2 Daniel's. He is the "smaller" one, as I guess there is a Big Daniel.

The food at the restaurant is fabulous. Our dining butler - Kosen- could not have been more delightful. One of the couples with us was celebrating their 21st Anniversary, and he did extremely thoughtful things for them throughout the weekend - such as setting up a surprise lunch in the vegetable gardens, complete with personal chef on the grill, beautiful rose-petal-strewn table, and music. At dinner we were serenaded by the staff with a musical production complete with singing, instruments. dancing, cake and candles. Wonderful. And Kosen along with Esther oversaw every aspect of our weekend. Esther knew our names from the first moment, and greeted us personally whenever she saw us. It was wonderful.

The first morning, we elected to meet Daniel at 6:30am and do an early game drive, and have breakfast in the bush. Daniel packed us a fantastic breakfast,and we headed out for about 5 hours. It was an awesome decision, as it allowed us to go much farther into the Mara. We stopped at about 9:30am, at a bluff overlooking the river. The river had 21 hippos lounging on the banks of the river. Daniel set up our breakfast which consisted of: cheese/crackers, sausages, fried potatoes, eggs, rolls w/butter & jam, bananas, oranges, yogurt, apple juice, coffee, tea and hot chocolate. It was a feast.

We arrived back at camp at about 11:30am, cleaned up, rested, and had lunch. Our group spent a few hours in the pool, reading, napping, or on the internet telling the folks back home what a wonderful time we were having. The afternoon game drives start at 4pm and end around 6:30pm.

Every game drive was amazing. We saw the big 5, thanks to our wonderful Daniel. Our tent was meticulously taken care of by Jackson. Every meal was fun and delicious thanks to Kosen. We were well taken care of by Esther.

One other note about the game drives: the vehicles used by the camp were the best. We quickly saw how the "pop up" type of vans used by other camps, or the enclosed jeeps would be difficult. The land rovers were wide open, with raised seating, and gave every single person unobstructed views in all directions. They were covered with a canopy so we were not in the sun, and the ride was comfortable. We didn't realize the value of such a well-designed vehicle, until we saw what lots of other people were riding in.

My husband and I are very well traveled. We've been to all the 5 major continents, and stayed at many wonderful hotels and resorts. WE CAN SAY WITH ABSOLUTELY NO HESITATION THAT THIS WAS THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE WE HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED. Truly, our stay was THAT incredible.

As an example....as our plane was taxiing down the runway, about to go airborne as we left, Daniel had driven down near the end of the runway, and was standing on TOP of the Landrover with both arms over his head waving goodbye. It was the personal attention and service that made our stay fantastic. Needless to say, WHEN we go back, we will never, ever stay anywhere else but Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp.

My wife and I enjoyed our third visit to Kichwa Tembo (KT) in June and as usual everything was perfect. The tents are comfortable and the grounds are beautiful. The staff is efficient and had positive attitudes; a sure sign of good training and a good working environment. Chef George was quite an upbeat personality that we really enjoyed chatting with (and a great cook as well!). One of the key reasons that we continue to choose KT is our guide, Mr. Benedict Kalului. He is very knowledgeable, cheerful and a great spotter. Benedict’s positive attitude and spotting skills stand out in comparison to the other guides that we have had on our five prior safaris in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

His skills have yielded us some great sightings of rhino and leopards for which we are truly grateful. Additionally, he does a great job teaching us about the animals, their behavior and how they interact with each other and local residents. We look forward to staying at Kichwa Tembo when we return to Kenya next year.

Came across this place by accident, we hadn't booked accomodation for the Masai Mara and we just turned up at this place. Everything was excellent, the food, location, service and the tents. They serve three buffet meals everyday which are included in the price and plentiful. The tents are clean, comfortable and have good views. Animals such as Warthog, Monky and Impala wander around the compound and appear quite safe. The staff are polite, friendly and helpful. My only minor complaint is that for me it's a bit pricey.

A beautiful spot in the Maasai Mara, Kichwa Tembo is more than just a place to stay -it is an experience! The positives are: fantastic friendly, helpful and professional staff- nothing was too much trouble. Great location and fantastic wildlife. We stayed five nights and did and saw new things everyday. Words do not do the wildlife sightings justice but my highlights were the cats! In particular the cheetahs. We saw a male and female resting together, a solitary cheetah who had just brought down an impala and two brothers who were chased by a solitary female lion. We saw lions mating, a large pride of females with young cubs and on other occasions solitary males, two females chasing a warthog and many other sightings where the lions were just moving from a to b or resting. Lots of giraffe, elephants, hippos, jackles, hyena, black rhino (3 sightings) zebra, Wilde beast, water buck, bush buck, impala, wart hogs, birds and so much more. But back to Kichwa Tembo! I can totally recommend this camp. Stay at least 3 nights more if you can. Hot air balloon flight was awesome and although expensive is well worth it for a memorable morning. If you have time Esther gives fantastic massages and managed to get rid of a sore neck that had been bothering me for days. Our guide each day was Wilson and he was excellent. Each morning and afternoon he asked us what we wanted to see but we decided to give him full control and just asked him to take us to wherever the best animal sightings were to be had- this was a great idea and every trip out was a new adventure. The staff went out of their way to think of special little surprises for us most days but I am not going to tell you those! The only negative would be that the Internet is very slow and only available in the bar and restaurant but hey, it is in the middle of the African bush and we were grateful to have it! Kichwa Tembo is situated within easy walking distance of Bateleur Camp which we also walked around and it looked far more exclusive and upmarket for sure but as I sit here on the verandah of our deluxe tent watching 3 giraffe walk past I would not change a thing!