The Feedback Blog
What our guests say about us.
Wed, Apr 13, 2011
Greystoke - as special as we’d hoped
From the moment we arrived at the airport I knew that Greystoke would be as special as we had hoped.
We were collected by Lazaro and Hamza two of the guides and taken by boat to camp. The colour of the lake was the first thing that hit me! It's so turquoise blue. Its quite a long trip by boat to camp but we were served an absolutely delicious lunch and drinks and were quite happy to lie back and enjoy.
When we finally arrived, we were given a warm welcome by the managers Steve and Kerry and the rest of the staff. Steve, Kerry and the rest of the staff could not have been more helpful or friendly. I should also say that Steve and Kerry had the whole place working like clockwork; it was very well managed.
Our banda was delightful; so different from a standard hotel room. It had everything you could possibly need but also had so much character.
The food at Greystoke was the best we had. Every meal was delicious and different. But it all felt quite healthy! Lots of salads and fruit. It was hard to imagine we were so far from the closest market!.
And now to the stars of the show at Greystoke-the chimps. On the first day, the group could not be found. As the morning drew on, a few of the guests including us went for a walk into the forest with one of the guides while the trackers kept looking. We did eventually see a few individual chimps including a mother and very small baby, as well as some colobus and other monkeys. While we were a bit disappointed not to have seen the group, we were glad to have seen the forest and to have had our first chimp sightings. On the second day, the whole group of chimps were found just behind the beach along from the camp and so, with very little effort, we were able to see them. It was fabulous to see so many and catch a glimpse of them interacting with each other (and us!).. The only downsides were the heat and shortness of time to see the chimps. It was very, very hot and quite enclosed amongst the thick undergrowth. With the addition of face masks it was a bit uncomfortable. We w ere allowed one hour with the chimps. While I understand why, and objectively I can see why it is thought necessary to have such restrictions, it felt very short particularly as we had not seen the group the day before.
Apart from chimp searching, we loved just enjoying the views and relaxing in our banda or in the main camp buildings, reading all the fascinating material they have on the chimps. But we also tried kayaking and fishing, and I spent a lot of time in the lake swimming. So there was certainly no shortage of things to do; just not enough time in our brief stay to do them!.
Each evening drinks were served up in the bar overlooking the lake, with dinner either in the main buildings or on the beach. It was very special to be sitting out on the beach in the middle of nowhere, but in such comfort and luxury!
There were a number of guides at Greystoke. Our main guide was Lazaro. He was a great guy, friendly, helpful, very well informed about the chimps and full of enthusiasm. Hamza had arrived just a short time before we arrived and was still learning about the chimps. However he was a very knowledgeable guide and as his english was near perfect, we were able to have more in depth discussions with him about Tanzania and its wildlife etc.
We know he had previously managed one of the other Nomad camps. So I am not sure where he would go next; whether as a guide or manager. But we were really impressed by him and he is definitely an asset to Nomad who they should hold on to if they can! Paul was the other guide. While he never guided our group and so we did not get to know him quite as well as the others, he was also clearly knowledgeable with a great sense of humour.
If I was recommending Greystoke to others-which of course I would do-I would highly recommend that they tried to go for the 4 nights rather than the 3. Having only two opportunities to see the chimps made it quite pressurised. Also you just want to stay at Greystoke as long as possible-it is so beautiful-and it is such a long way to get there!
GK - October 2010
Mon, Feb 14, 2011
Chada & Greystoke - fantastic
We are back and had a fantastic time. Those camps were all really great - we had Chada to ourselves which was really fantastic! That was actually our favorite camp although Mahale was wonderful as well and a great place to unwind. We have never seen during the wet season so that was incredible as well - how green it got. I just re read one of your initial e mails and had not even paid attention to the fact we had one night of fly camping included - (where you do a deeper trek and they set up a mobile camp) so will need to do that the next time as we did not do that. We generally go every ten years but have been discussing the need to go more often,
WM - Feb 2011 
Fri, Jan 7, 2011
Chada & Greystoke - an amazing experience
I cannot say enough good things about our experiences at Chada and Greystoke. The staff at both camps were amazing and our guides (Phillip at Chada and Kakae at Greystoke) were some of the very best we have ever had in Africa. Many, many thanks to everyone at Nomad for such an amazing experience!!
Gretchen - African Safari Consultants - December 2010 
Tue, Dec 21, 2010
Greystoke Mahale - Chada Katavi - the most amazing trip
Hope all is well and that you are looking forward to xmas. Just back from the most amazing trip around Western Tanzania (probably one of the best trips I have ever done) and would just like to thank you for arranging a stay at Greystoke. It was every bit as amazing as I expected- we had some wonderful chimp sightings and we were looked after superbly by Kiri and Steve. Please pass on our thanks as we had so much fun at Greystoke and this was so much down to the atmosphere they generated. Sat round with them in the evenings it really felt like sitting with friends rather than the normal client, lodge manager interaction. We also had a quick look at Chada which we also liked and the upgrade of camp seemed to be going well and I think the changes that are being made will certainly improve the client experience.
James - Audley Travel UK
Mon, Nov 29, 2010
Serengeti, Chada and Greystoke - an unbelievably good time
We had an unbelievably good time with you in the Serengeti, Katavi and Mahale. It was outstanding in no small part due to the great managers, guides and staff at all your camps.It was magical and unforgettable in so many ways and and we've been round the block a few times !!
J&S C - November 2010
Mon, Nov 22, 2010
Chada & Greystoke - phenomenal
Just spoken to Mrs W who's just back from their amazing trip to Western Tanzania with you guys. They had a really amazing time, just spent the last half hour telling me how wonderful absolutely every aspect of the trip was.
They loved Katavi, teeming with wildlife and the sense of immensity and remoteness was amazing. They said the managers there, Mark and Kristin were really superb and are doing a fantastic job of looking after the camp, the guests and the staff - apparently it's really clear that the staff love them, and the whole place has a feel of a very happy ship, which really rubs off on clients. The atmosphere at Chada was wonderful and felt like a big house party!
Guides at both Chada and Greystoke were really superb, always friendly and very efficient.
They loved Greystoke, "phenomenal" they called it and loved the chimps. They were lucky not to have to trek too far to find them, and endeared to find a family of warthogs nesting at the front of their banda taking advantage of the water that's put out to rinse your feet! 
Their questionnaire says this trip was their best to date!
Audley Travel - November 2010
