wonderful holidays wildlife safaris the beast retreat : tanzania

overview

chada katavi

Chada Katavi is situated in the core of Katavi National Park, in western Tanzania, and is reputed to be one of the wildest places on earth. From its elevated vantage point on a peninsula that rises out of the miombo woodland, the camp is perfectly positioned for panoramic views over the Chada plain. Filling the floor of the Rukwa Valley - a minor fault of the western rift - Katavi National Park spans over a million acres. From the escarpments, rivers run down through Tamarind and Albida forests to feed vast floodplains. Across these plains run the last great herds of buffalo in east Africa.

Massed on the plains are the last great herds of buffalo in East Africa, up to 1000 head. Almost everywhere you look there's something grazing, bellowing, fighting, mating, hunting. Days on the hoof in Katavi can be wild beyond belief. (surely there are some dinosaurs out there somewhere). You can take your pick from game drives in open 4 wheel drive vehicles, walking with a guide, flying camping for a night under the stars, or simply soaking it all up from your tent veranda.

At night the mess tent and library is the place to be, with silverware and glasses shining in the lamplight. From its elevated vantage point on a peninsula that rises out of miombo woodland, the camp is perfectly placed for amazing views out over the wide Chada Plain. The canopy of tall trees are a great source of shade and food for the abundant animal and bird life. This means seeing great game often without even having to leave the camp.

This is the place for the wildlife connoisseur, and the traveller who thinks the African bush can offer up no more surprises. Happily indulged, watching the elephants head out to water as dusk falls, you feel like one of the last great pioneers; binoculars in your hand, Africa filling your head.

Although supremely comfortable, the camp neither intrudes upon nor detracts from the majesty of the place itself. Wickedly indulged, watching the elephants head out to water as dusk falls, you feel like one of the last great pioneers; with binoculars in your hand, and Africa filling your head.

greystoke mahale 

On a far-flung beach along the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika , below a huge story-book tropical forest, is the tiny sanctuary of Greystoke Mahale. The water is as clear as gin, the air scented and the living is very easy indeed. The forested slopes of the Mahale Mountains rise behind camp, home to the world’s largest known population of chimpanzees, with approximately 1000 individuals inhabiting the national park. Each day you can venture out into the forest, to observe and commune with these, our closest relatives, as they groom , wrestle and forage across the leafy floor.

Your home at Greystoke Mahale is in wildly exotic wooden bandas looking out across the soft sand beach, with interiors fashioned from dhow timber. The six bandas are open fronted, with dressing rooms, adjoining bathrooms accessible via a short boardwalk with flush toilets and
powerful showers, and upstairs chill-out decks; designed with flair, generosity and passion for the most demanding castaway.

The forest itself is special, with eight other species of primate, shyer forest mammals, birds, butterflies, giant vines and waterfalls. And if a day’s ‘chimping’ wasn’t enough, you can snorkel or swim in the clear waters (there are over 250 species of cichlid in the lake), fish or kayak along the lake shore.
You can have private barefoot dinners on the beach, or get friendly in the wildly thatched mess, complete with library and upstairs viewing decks.. For some evening pizazz, there’s the bar of all bars on the rocks of the headland, with fresh sashimi and iced vodka, and a view out west across the mighty waters of the lake. It is a physical place, but strangely undemanding. Perhaps because it seems to have been  created for Great Apes: figs, flowers, sun, shade, and water. 

As you make the approach to Greystoke Mahale by dhow, the outline of the camp is visible against a backdrop of deep green forest and pale beach. The focal point of Greystoke is the bar and dining area rising up from the sand and loosely modelled on traditional Tongwe architecture.