Kiki Paris Buffalo Luxury Camp Trip Report, September, 2013

October 2, 2012 - 6 minutes read

Nestled high on a hill in Loliondo, Tanzania, Buffalo Luxury Camp overlooks the northeastern Serengeti and Lobo Valley and offers stunning, panoramic views to its guests.

This permanent tented camp consists of 15 Suite Tents, 5 Chalet Tents, a lodge divided into library, lounge and dining areas, 2 outdoor terraces, reception office, and gift shop.  Ruben, the Tanzanian manager, has been managing bush properties for 25 years and brings his considerable talents and experience to the camp along with the energetic and friendly staff of Tanzanians.

The larger Suite Tents combine a sitting area reflecting classic safari décor and a raised sleeping area with an unexpected, contemporary design and luxurious bathroom.  The slightly smaller Chalet Tents maintain the safari feel throughout and all tents are en-suite with private verandahs, chairs and side table.  Linens are sumptuous, pillows soft, and towels over-sized to ensure maximum comfort.  Of course hot water bottles are slipped into beds during turn-down service so that guests crawl into a warm and welcoming bed at the end of an event filled day.

Food is abundant, good and accommodating to vegetarians and others with dietary requirements.  Instead of the typical box lunch, our food was packed in containers in a beautiful wicker picnic basket with cloth napkins.  (Please note if you are not returning to Buffalo Luxury Camp, your lunch will, of course, be packed in the ubiquitous safari brown box!)  A new and larger generator is being installed this month to ensure longer hours of electricity in the tents.

Buffalo Luxury Camp is a 45-minute drive from Lobo airstrip and only 4 kilometers from Klein’s Gate, yet that short distance from the Serengeti border allows your clients to experience activities that inside-the-park camps cannot.

As you sit at the top of the hill for your sundowner with raging bonfire, drinks, and hors d’oeuvres you can’t help but marvel at the setting sun and magnificent vistas.  Afterwards you may either be escorted over to your boma dinner or to a night drive in an open vehicle with driver/guide and Maasai spotter.  After an animal is spotted, an infrared lens is put over the spotlight so that the night predator is not disturbed.  While I was there, we were able to see hyenas, a serval cat, genet cat, and the very shy aardwolf.  With the infrared light, they sat and stared back at us for quite some time instead of running away.  An earlier group that evening spotted the resident leopard up close, as well as the aardwolf and the night before, a pride of lions with a fresh kill was spotted.  There’s something eerie yet wonderful about being out in the bush in the dark of night and you can’t help but wonder at all the wildlife behaviors that usually go unseen.

Other benefits of the Loliondo location are off-road game drives, walking safaris, hiking and the opportunity to visit a real, working Maasai village without feeling like a tourist (no money changes hands for photos and there is no pressure to buy crafts).

It’s only a 2-hour drive to the Mara River but it took us close to 4 hours due to the spectacular game viewing along the way.  The wildebeest and zebra migration was a little early this year, so there many stops to view the herds along with several lion sightings, many giraffe, eland, topi, Coke’s hartebeest, gazelles, elephants, birds galore and baboons.  We did wait at one of the river crossings for 2 ½ hours while the dithering wildebeest paced back and forth…and then 1 either courageous or bored wildebeest finally jumped in.  It was worth the wait as watching the approximate 500 wildebeest jump, swim and bleat their way across the river was quite an amazing sight!  (video link)

On the Loliondo game drive, in addition to the normal array of wildlife mentioned earlier, we were privileged to see a journey of over 30 giraffe in addition to a herd of over 100 elephants, both of which were quite spectacular.  Game viewing is essentially the same in Loliondo as the Serengeti.  The national park boundary is an arbitrary man-made border that is meaningless to wildlife free to roam wherever they want.

Buffalo Luxury Camp is a stylish, well-managed, moderately priced tented camp that provides a great value.  Your clients will enjoy this less-trafficked area of the Serengeti / Loliondo area, and be excited about the wildlife viewing and extra curricular activities.  Your tour operator of choice can book directly with the camp at info@buffaloluxurycamp.com or through the website: www.buffaloluxurycamp.com.  Please keep in mind that birding, both resident and migratory species, is abundant year around.  (kiki paris / september, 2012)

 

 

 

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