Elewana Tortilis Camp

Sitting in Nairobi Airport waiting for my flight home, I feel I must right about the six days I just spent at Tortilis Camp Elewana. Being a professional photographer, I have now visited 8 Safari lodges across SA, Tanzania and Kenya. Tortilis stands out as the one of my best experiences in Africa. It was simply magical. From the amazing vibe you get as soon as you are welcomed by Graham and Candy, to all the friendly and accommodating staff that cater to your every need. The lodge itself is perfectly located allowing game drives in both the national park and the conservancy (where the dry lake bed is located). The game drives are the best I’ve experienced led by our guide and driver John. An absolute terrific guy who has the eyes of an eagle. During our stay he was able to find us unbelievable photography opportunities each and every drive. From ostrich eggs hatching before our eyes, to cheetahs with cubs, Lions with cubs, flamingos and of course the many elephant herds. We even had the chance to meet the famous Craig! I recommend going during the dry season in order to see more wildlife. An overall spectacular experience with many great surprises I couldn’t even imagine.

No review will do this magical place justice but I will try Me and my wife spent the first stop of our honeymoon here during our first trip to Africa. What was evident immediately was that this would be no ordinary holiday destination We were met at the airstrip by our guide for our stay Martin, who had tea/coffee and snacks for us. He briefed us on the safari element of our stay before taking us on our first game drive on the way to check in. If this had been our only game drive it would have been special, Martins intimate knowledge of the environment, flora and fauna made every drive unique and engaging. He was so kind and knowledgeable; and we are blessed to have shared his company. On arrival at camp we were greeted by Graeme (Tortilis Manager) and his wife and a variety of other staff who welcomed us so warmly while also going an extra mile to provide us complimentary fizz and couples massage for our honeymoon. The staff are consistently excellent; providing everything and anything needed for our stay. In particular our assigned waiter for our stay Sam was incredible; always on hand to make sure every little detail of our dinner or drinks were perfect. The camp also outwith game drives arranged all sorts of special activities including Bush breakfast (complete with fresh omelettes), hilltop sundowner (with full bar) and a wonderful walking safari to see our surroundings from a new angle. All I can say is, this place will stay with us forever and we hope we are lucky enough to visit again one day. If you are new to safari/Africa like we were then I cannot reccomend Tortilis and Amboselli enough!

We visited in mid May, a few days after the recent exceptional Kenyan rains, at the height of their 'low' season when there were very few of us guests, but the quality and friendliness of the staff, from the managers - Graeme and Candy - down were just perfect. The journey from and to the Amboseli entrance gate to the camp was a great safari drive in itself, and the three days we spent on similar morning and afternoon safari drives were full of incident, birds and animals, both land and water lovers. There were many highlights, the most memorable being an afternoon drive when we came upon two or three families of elephants, totalling over 30, just a couple of kilometres from the camp, calmly waking towards us just 10 feet from the road. Our guide simply switched off the engine and for the next 30 minutes, we watched amazed as this wonderful group of mature, young adult and baby elephants, slowly and peacefully walked around and past us, just feet away. The camp food was excellent, as were the packed breakfast picnics we took with us on two of the mornings. On the last full day the animals started returning to the small lake immediately below the camp and (Philip's) lions were heard if not seen. It is our dream to return.....watch this space!