Far from the crowds, “Safari” in heart of the bush

Chada Katavi was the last of our 3 stops in camps run by Nomad in Southern Tanzania. We will go back to all of them. Katavi is really remote and rustic, just what we wanted. A bush camp with accommodation in comfortable tents, and a huge distance to the nearest significant town (nearly 200km). The camp is open only a few months each year, as the rest of the time the rains would render it largely untravellable. But in September it was perfect. 3 leopard sightings and many lions, elephants, giraffe, buffalo, hippo, crocodiles and smaller mammals kept us entertained throughout, and it was an easy journey in and out on a Safari Link plane. Like all other Nomad camps, the staff were excellent and the service was too. Very informal but very professional. From our room we could enjoy watching giraffe, impala, warthogs and monkeys for as long as we wanted. And taking an outside bucket shower whilst the monkeys waited for some free water was amusing! All round, a great stay and we intend to go back. PS. Katavi gets less than 5,000 visitors a year in the whole park, with only 3 bush camps each hosting around 10-15 people at any time. This compares to circa 200,000 in the Serengeti, or 500,000 in the Ngorogoro Crater. Go to those if you want the easy sightings and are happy with a lot of traffic, but pick Katavi if you want something that feels more remote and unique.