Namiri Plains Camp — Hotel in Simiyu

That dream you keep having about Africa takes place at Namiri Planins.

Food Everything we ate here was excellent! You don’t need to worry about good food while here. Good chefs with imaginative food that is friendly to the western palate.

Management The luxurious accommodations at Namiri are of course are spectacular. The best part is the friendly, attentive staff. The morning wake up call consisted of a friendly, light spoken host quietly standing outside our tent speaking softly, “Good Morning” with the best hot coffee ever made, tea, OJ and a biscuit. When you would come back from a game drive the camp staff was eager to greet you with clean, wet, hand towels to wipe off the trail and ask how the drive went. The service in the restaurant was five stars with friendly and attentive staff and good food.

Location Namiri feels like it’s a million miles from nowhere and the abundant animals feel this too. This is the most rustic and isolated camp that we visited on our trip and it was more than luxurious. In the evenings you can clearly hear lions roaring in the distance. The first time it startled me a little bit but after asking around I found out that they were some distance away and they don’t want to bother you anyway. As I understand it the next closest camp is well over an hour away so all other trucks must be out long before dusk where you are left with the Cheetahs and the setting sun. You’ve got to stay here. That dream you keep having about Africa takes place at Namiri Planins.

Tent The floor of our beautiful tent was not a hard floor like in our other camps but just a canvas tent on the ground. We did not see any bugs in our tent so I wouldn’t worry about it. There is a full size king bed with hot showers(indoor and outdoor), running water and flush toilets. It’s also a dream to have electricity so far from the world. Having lights by your bed is very nice. The outdoor shower is something that will live with me for the rest of my life. You can’t put a price tag on taking a hot shower while watching a giraffe walk by just yards away. Amazing. Yes, I have a video to prove it.

Water Clean, filtered water is provided both on your bedside table and in the bathroom. Do not allow the tap water to get in your eyes or mouth. Do not drink the water or use it for brushing your teeth.

Game Drives This camp has its own guides which know the area rather well. The drives cut to the chase and you see endless, happy wild animals in a short time frame. I really wish I could have captured a video of that happy elephant. He was so happy trotting past our truck. This location is very special.

Magical If there is one camp that I would do anything to come back to it would be Namiri Plains. I have no problem with the four days of travel time it will take to get here. The beauty, the serenity and the people were the best we experienced in our three week stay in Tanzania. We were lucky enough to see multiple cheetahs, cheetah cubs, lions, elephants, giraffes, hyenas and more. It was pure magic.

Night Game Drive One of the many highlights of our trip was going on a game drive after dark to spot nocturnal animals. We saw bush babies, several cats, including two Cheetah brothers playing in the dark, and a Chameleon in a bush. This was on a moonless night and I don’t know how our guides did it but it was totally worth the extra cost. Do a night drive. I would imagine it’s truly magical if there was a moon!

Safety At night you cannot leave your tent unaccompanied. A quick call on the CB radio from your tent and an escort will happily appear at your door to escort you to your destination. DO NOT go outside after dark or you may get eaten. I'm not kidding.

Travel Time As a side note, when building your vacation make sure you fully understand how far it is from one camp to the next, including stopping for giraffes, bathroom breaks and lions along the way. Stayed: September 2016 with my girlfriend and five...

My wife and I spent four nights here on our honeymoon and we had the best time. It was above and beyond our highest expectations. Words don’t do this wonderful place and fantastic team justice but I will do my best. ||To start, the staff at this camp are incredible. Every single person went out of their way to make us feel welcome and cared for. They take hospitality and professionalism seriously here and it shows. ||I have to sincerely thank Innocent and Loshiro who took such good care of us at every single meal. When we mentioned that our malaria meds had upset our stomachs, Innocent made us a custom mocktail with lots of ginger to help us feel better. Loshiro was so attentive, kind, and a genuine joy to talk to. He even took time out of his day to teach me some Swahili. The food at this camp is seriously delicious and the talented chef, Fred, graciously came out to talk to us multiple times. ||You are likely here to see animals and that was another epic highlight of the experience. Every game drive with Daniel and Joshua was a magical and memorable one. We saw tons of lions and cheetahs and their cubs, saw a cheetah eating a gazelle, and even witnessed an elusive leopard climbing up a tree. In addition to the truly astounding number of big cats around camp, we also saw giraffes, elephants, hyenas, ostriches, gazelles, and tons of beautiful birds. Daniel was a super knowledgeable guide who kept us safe and taught us so much about the amazing ecosystem that is the Serengeti. He knows a ton about big cats, which means every drive was super educational. ||The hospitality and attention to detail at Namiri plains is second to none. They were so kind and generous to us and did so many big and small things to make us feel taken care of. One day they set up a breakfast buffet under an acacia tree to enjoy after a drive and another evening they set up a mobile bar in the bush so we could have some cocktails and enjoy the sunset over the Serengeti. Huge thanks to Mousa who set up a bubble bath and decorated our room with rose petals for us to come home to after our last game drive. Mousas generosity was truly moving. ||The tents are super luxurious and cozy and have great views, with elephants and lions regularly roaming by. The pool is divine and we loved our excellent massages from Esther and Susan. ||I cannot recommend staying here enough. Our visit to Namiri plains was not just the highlight of our honeymoon, but one of the highlights of my life. ||Thank you so much to everyone who made this happen!!!||If you’re considering visiting for your honeymoon, anniversary, or just a special adventure, my...

Exceptional camp - knowledgeable guides, incredible access to wildlife, luxe facilities, ecologically mindful practices, warm & responsive staff.

Wildlife: The game drives were incredible with our guide Ngiimba. He was patient and knowledgeable, ensuring we saw a wide variety of experiences - a herd of elephants drinking & a playful baby elephant, 10 lion cubs playing on a termite mound, cheetahs in search of a meal, a pride of lions hunting a wildebeest, a male lion devouring a kill, lions mating, a leopard resting in a tree, and many more. I have been to the Serengeti before & was worried it would feel much of the same. On the contrary this experience was so much more incredible - we were able to get closer up to the animals, experience them in action, and all without competing with 15 other jeeps trying to see the same thing. Ngiimba knew many of the individual animals’ histories and details about the species that answered every obscure question we asked.

Staff: Queen & Dickson - the camp managers - were always attentive, welcoming and ensuring we had everything we could dream of. Their sense of humor and warmth made us feel like part of the family. Jackson took care of us at every meal. All the staff were kind, responsive and ensured we had everything we needed and more.

Camp: beautifully decorated, felt like staying at a luxury hotel but with many great eco friendly elements that helped minimize the impact on the environment (no plastic, reusable water bottles, solar power). Beds were comfortable, showers were hot with great views out into the bush. Small touches like blankets at dinner and hot water bottles in beds showed how much the staff anticipated our needs. The setting was fabulous, at most meals we would be looking out over the bush and watching multiple elephants drift through across the water, or see a group of baboons playing in a tree from our back deck. You feel both close to the nature you came to experience but with all the modern comforts of home.

Food: we were never hungry or thirsty - every meal was well cooked, wonderful variety. The sundowners overlooking elephants and breakfast in the bush were meals I’ll never forget. Great bar and cocktails you can take down to the fire to hang with other guests and watch the “bush tv”.

Can’t recommend this camp enough! Thank you to the amazing staff that cared for us - Ngiimba, Jackson, Queen, Dickson & everyone at Namiri - you gave us unforgettable memories and I can’t wait to...