Little has changed at Chada Katavi since we arrived 20 years ago. from the air you have to look carefully to spot it, you'll find your eyes are immediately drawn to such wide open spaces. That's the promise of Katavi, total absorption into the natural world.

We’ve kept Chada Katavi the way it began - 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 (we’ve 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 we share all the resources here with Katavi's animals and so we’ve ensured that our footprint remains light.  We've avoided 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. 

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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.

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Water is a valuable resource here, especially during the dryer months, and we share it with a great many other animals - we take this very seriously here and "bucket showers" help us 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.

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we walk out across the plains appreciating the total lack of crowds and vehicles. it's not only having our feet on the ground at the same level as the wildlife, but the feeling that we are the only other people doing so. we take  bedrolls and sling them under a borassus palm. these are the best things to do at katavi and we'd love to share them with you. 

There's walking and then there's real walking; bush walking in a good pair of boots where you want to keep going on and on. Katavi makes you feel like this, it might be something to do with the endless plains around you and vast open skies. Not to mention what you might see whilst you're out there.

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With your guide, and an armed scout, along for the ride, you could find yourself watching elephants from up close marveling at how, despite their size, they can move so quietly; or be meandering along the river line seeing all the different birds around the pools, and crocs and hippos who are a big feature of Katavi life. Animals who would often take flight at the sound of a vehicle, won't even know you're there and that's what makes walking out here such an incredible experience.

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Walk out to your flycamp where you can spend a night out under the stars. You'll sleep in a mosquito netted tent, small but with enough room for a bedroll kitted out with soft mattress, sheets and a feather pillow. We don't scrimp on the dining either; you'll sit down to a three-course candlelit meal and a glass of chilled wine. But we think these are only the peripheral things, the backdrop to the main event. The whole point about flycamping is being out there at night, lying on your back looking up at the night sky through the roof of your netted tent; listening to the animal sounds, so different from those you hear during the day.

We don't want to sound too dramatic, but we can't imagine your life not being changed in even the smallest of ways after something like this.

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