To put things into perspective, we’re not safari experts. This was only our second experience. Having previously done Kruger at the same time of year. So I’ll make comparisons where I can, it might help if you are undecided. We were here for three nights (Feb 1-4, 2020).
First thing to say is the tiny plane journey is not scary (as I’d been lead to believe) so don’t listen to people’s stories. I actually enjoyed it. Especially when I was sat directly behind the pilots on the way back. What an amazing experience! Landing in a muddy field... and then taking off... and then landing again in another muddy field! Most camps have their own airstrip so it’s likely you’ll also do this.
When we landed at Kichwa Tembo airstrip it became apparent very quickly that it had been raining. A lot. My white trainers were instantly ruined. Everything was flooded! When we went to Kruger they were in the middle of a serious drought, so it was very different.
We were greeted and taken to the camp, we were told this would take 8-10 mins. It actually took about 40 mins, but I think this was down the the terrible driving conditions. The safari effectively starts the moment you leave the airstrip. We had sightings of giraffes, zebra, warthog, Thomson’s Gazelles, baboons and water buffaloes even before we got to camp.
We arrived to a song from a big group of staff which was a lovely touch and we instantly felt welcome. Then we went to the bar area for a drink, a refreshing towel and check-in. Shortly after we were taken to our tent by our room steward Dancan.
We had number 33 which was one of the furthest from the guest area. It was on the other side of the river, probably about a quarter of a mile away. This didn’t bother us at all. The tent was fantastic! It was very luxurious and we had everything we needed. We were advised not to leave any food in the tent otherwise monkeys could break in. There’s no way to lock it from the outside so I think this would be pretty easy for them. We had no problems though.
I was worried about the absense of a mosquito net around the bed before we arrived but it turns out the whole tent is actually one big mosquito net with all the windows having a fine mesh on them, it’s pretty well sealed up and we didn’t see any mozzies. We used deet and I didn’t get bitten once. My girlfriend got one bite but says that happened when we were out on Safari.
We didn’t realise our drinks were included in the rate, we were told it was full board by Trailfinders but it was actually all inclusive! Which was a nice little bonus as we liked to sit in the bar (and enjoy a Tusker beer or two) before dinner and discuss the sightings of the day and just have a good chat. On a couple of evenings local Masai people came into camp to entertain us with traditional dance and then sell some of their things.
There were six of us on our jeep. We were so lucky as everyone got on so well. We had Tracy and Garth from Canada and Nikki and Lorraine from the UK. All lovely people and we shared such an amazing experience together and had a real laugh along the way. Benedict was our driver, he had been at the camp for 15 years and was clearly one of the most experienced. He was absolutely fantastic! If you can get him you are in for a real treat! That’s all I’m saying. He made our trip!
One major difference between our two safari’s was in Kruger we had a tracker and a driver. Here the driver is the tracker. There is no off-roading in the Mara (although what constitutes roads is a very blurry line because there aren’t any) but evenso you are relying more on the wildlife being near a track, which was frustrating at times when you could see animals at distance but couldn’t get close to it.
Kichwa Tembo is just outside the park gates, which closed quite early so there was no opportunity for sundowners, which was a shame. This was one of our highlights in South Africa. Although we did get out for drinks by a river on one of the days, but it wasn’t quite the same.
Oddly there didn’t seem to be any viewing platforms either, these would have been handy to see things like lions in the long grass, which was everywhere. I felt drivers had to work harder to find the animals here.
In Kruger all you had to do was find a watering hole, but then again it was during severe drought. The Mara is such a vast area and feels much more of a wilderness experience, the terrain is absolutely stunning! It is also much flatter than Kruger so sometimes you can’t see any animals, even in the distance. This means drives between sightings were much longer and required some patience. But it felt more of an event when we saw something. Having said that, we saw a lot, in fact the only animals we didn’t see were leopards and cheetahs. But there’s always next time.
Back to the camp and I have to say all the staff are fantastic! So friendly and welcoming. Literally everyone had a “Jambo” for us. The lovely Edward looked after us in the restaurant, although other staff do come and serve you too. The food was fabulous, there’s a cooking station where at breakfast they do eggs and for lunch and dinner they cook up different types meat or fish, there’s always a couple of other dishes like curry, pasta or stir fry and some very nice salad options. It was all of a very high standard and was delicious.
At dinner you are asked if you want a wake up call and then you order drinks for the morning. I don’t know how they do it but they are always exactly on time to the minute with morning drinks. Impressive.
The camp is secured with an electric fence around the perimeter to stop larger animals coming in but this doesn’t stop the smaller ones like monkeys. We didn’t really see much else within the camp, so again nothing to worry about. There is a family of warthogs but I believe they live on site and just mind their own business.
In Kruger our lodge was completely unfenced, which added an element of danger, especially when baboons and elephants came into camp. Even though you don’t get this at Kichwa Tembo it’s still very dark getting back to the room at night. We always found a man waiting between the pool and the restaurant who had a powerful torch he was more than happy to show us back to our tent. I always gave him KSH200 ($2) as a tip which he seemed happy with.
While I’m on the subject of tipping, nobody expects tips but they’re greatfully received. We tipped our driver KSH500 pp per safari drive. I always gave that to him at the end of the day. Everyone else tipped at the end of the stay. So it’s completely up you you how you do it. We tipped both our room steward and restaurant guy KSH2000 (US$20) each at the end of our stay. I also tipped the guys in the bar KSH100 (US$1)?each time they bought us drinks, which doesn’t sound much but added up over three nights. I didn’t see anyone else tipping in the bar.
Overall I’m quite happy we did Kruger first and then experienced The Mara Triangle, it seems like a natural progression to me. Not that you won’t enjoy Kichwa Tembo and their fabulous Safari drives if this is your first one. It’s just that this one might be a little frustrating with the distance between sightings. At Kruger they seemed to know more or less where the animals were in what felt like a much smaller area, we quite frequently saw the edge of the park, electricity pylons, other lodges and even homes, which ruined the illusion a bit. it definitely didn’t feel as remote as The Mara, where you really will feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.
Anyway, I’ve gone on long enough now, I just wanted to cover some of the things I myself wanted to know before I went, so I hope it helps some of you out. You really won’t go wrong coming to Kichwa Tembo, this really is an awesome camp! The staff, Safari drives, the food, the tents, the pool, the bar with its stunning view are all out of this world. It was an amazing experience! This is certainly one of the nicest places we’ve ever stayed at. We will definitely be looking at other AndBeyond camps after this!
Ian, London
