A Perfect Pairing - Greystoke Mahale & Chada Katavi

Exciting encounters at two of our favourite Lodges in Tanzania. From chimps in the bedrooms of Greystoke Mahale to elephants drinking from the shower buckets at Chada Katavi. We always knew these places were special but the last few weeks have seen things get a whole lot wilder! The forest water-berry and figs have been fruiting in Greystoke Mahale for the last few weeks and where there is fruit, there are often chimps…lots of them. The Greystoke team, not to mention some astonished guests, have been enjoying quite a show as certain members of the M Group camped out (and sometimes in).

We can currently offer clients a wild week split between Greystoke Mahale & Chada Katavi on a stay 7 pay 5 nights basis. Offering guests a unique opportunity to enjoy one of the remotest regions in Africa, access is by the properties own shared flights from & back to Arusha, via the Serengeti on request, and can be taken in either of the two itineraries below:

Monday dept – 3nts Chada Katavi & 4nts Greystoke Mahale
Thursday dept – 4nts Chada Katavi & 3nts Greystoke Mahale

These safaris include walking safaris, game drives, flycamping, boating and, as the highlight, chimp trekking in the forests of Mahale Mountains

Read on to discover more about these two breathtakingly unique properties.

Chada Katavi is small and intimate with just six East African safari tents.  Each of them is spacious and comfortable with wide-open fronts giving you panoramic views of the plain and animal life that constantly comes and goes. From the air you have to be looking carefully to spot the tents (The lodge have made sure of this) and they blend totally into their surroundings. So much so in fact, that you often don’t have to leave your tent veranda to see game of all kinds.  Elephant are frequent visitors, attracted to the same shady fruit trees as us, and vast herds of buffalo graze on the flood plain.

Chada Katavi is designed to be a stylishly simple bushcamp and since both man and beast share all the resources here Chada Katavi ensured that their footprint remains light.  Avoiding unnecessary fripperies but you’ll still find all your needs taken care of.

Chada Katavi’s tents, just 6 of them, rest beneath shady trees on the edge of the Chada Plain. They have wide-open fronts and lots of shade net windows to let in the passing breeze.  The en-suite bathrooms are reached via zipped flaps and all have eco-flush loos and an urn of cool water to refresh yourself.  Safari style bucket showers are the best thing here, tried and tested and we can think of no better way to wash off the Katavi dust under one of these. Water is a valuable resource here, especially during the dryer months, and guests share it with a great many other animals – it is taken very seriously here and “bucket showers” help to do that.

In a clearing you’ll find the dining tent and a library, both are comfortable little spaces to while away the hours when you’re not out in the midst of a safari adventure.  An evening drink around the campfire is the essence of safari, helping to round off a day of excitement out in the wild.

Greystoke Mahale sits on a pristine, white sandy beach overlooking the turquoise water of Lake Tanganyika, with the forested slopes of the 8000 ft Mahale Mountains rising behind. For many years the camp in Mahale was simple tents.  So when Greystoke Mahale was built, it was important to be as unique as its setting, it was important that it didn’t dominate its sensational natural surroundings. That’s why the rooms are tucked back into the forest line, so that your only view is of beach, and the lake beyond.  It’s also why it was decided to make the rooms almost entirely from sustainable materials sourced on Lake Tanganyika. All the wood was reclaimed from wrecked or retired dhows bought (after much haggling) from villages along the lakeshore.  Old fisherman’s canoes we used as ladders and thatch from palm trees gathered outside the national park for the roofs. The main mess is the only structure on the beach and it’s the focal point of camp.  Here is where you can look out over the lake to the mountains of the Congo in the haze beyond. Your days can start there, eating breakfast whilst waiting to hear news of the chimps and deciding what to do with your day. Evenings end with sundowners on the rocks of the headland, where drinks are served around the lamp-lit bar whilst the mountains,  rising behind  camp, disappear into the darkness.

Greystoke affects all those that visit in a way that no other place does; in their words ‘We think it’s because of its remoteness, and because of the mountains rising from the beach at our backs, the wide lake with its many different moods and the feeling that we are the only ones here’

Greystoke Mahale has just 6 wood and thatch bandas set on the edge of the forest line at the base of the mountains. Each one has an en-suite bathroom – accessible by a short boardwalk – with hot and cold running water, strong showers and flush toilets. Dressing room and upstairs chill-out deck. Dine in the main mess banda on the beach and enjoy sundowners in the bar on the rocks at the end of the beach.

For more information or to take advantage of this rarely available offer, please contact us.