simbakubwa

Has anyone ever stayed at Amboseli Porini Tented Camp (just outside Amboseli Park)?

Has anyone been there recently? How did you like it? Any comments?

simbakubwa

Maybe no one's ever been there! I wonder if that says something about the place!

Patty

I don't think a lack of comments on this or any other board is necessarily an indicator of the quality of the camp. I couldn't locate any first hand comments for 4 of the places where we stayed in Kenya last time and they all turned out to be wonderful. Sometimes you just have to follow your instincts and take a chance. When you have a very small camp, the odds are it's going to be harder to find others who have stayed there.

We met a couple at Kicheche camp in November who had also stayed at Shompole and Porini on the same trip, and they only had positive things to say about Porini. I wish I had their email to pass on to you, but I didn't even think to ask. Good luck with your decision. Hope you come across something.

JanGoss

simbakubwa:

Porini Camp is outside Amboseli. It will necessitate daily game drives to get into the park to the swamp area where most of the animals are. I have never stayed there so I can't comment on the camp itself.

Since you will be most likely going to see the wildlife, why not stay at Ol Tukai Lodge which over looks the swamps, then your travel to them for game drives will be much shorter. It is an extremely nice lodge closest to the action in Amboseli.

Jan

Richard_Smith

Simbakubwa

Stayed there and had clients stay there but don't read the board 24/7!!

Jan is right that to get to the Park necessitates a longish drive. However the Porini area often has excellent wildlife and the fact you can walk and night drive since you are outside the Park makes their own area generally very worthwhile.

They tend to operate a 48 hour programme from arrival to departure; with an afternoon/evening drive in their own area on the first afternoon. The next day is then a full day into the Park with a packed lunch. The final morning is a drive or walk in their area.

If like some clients of mine you get unlucky don't get good wildlife in the Porini area and then good wildlife in the Park, you may wonder what on earth you were doing in that area. If on the other hand you get good wildlife in the Porini are and enjoy the small, well run camp, away from the hurly burly of the Park and the big lodges, you will be delighted.

Tents are well set up. Dining area and other public bits, are a bit spartan, and more like a mobile camp than a permanent camp. The owner running it in partnership with the local community, Jake Grieves-Cook, has a long history of good safari in Kenya.

IMO - Good small alternative to other bigger places in the area.

Richard

Patty

Richard,
Do you know if clients also have the option of going on walks/game drives in the Selenkay conservancy area the entire time (vs driving into Amboseli) and if you can arrive with your own vehicle/guide or are you required to use Porini's vehicle/guide for game drives? Thanks.

sandi

You can definitely arrive with your own guide/driver and vehicle. You can also do your game drives/walks on the Porini lands only. There is a supplemental Park Fee for entering Amboseli, which most visitors want to see.

Patty

Thanks, sandi!