Chada Katavi

The 6 Chada Katavi Safari Tents are large and spacious, offering guests a private haven where they can enjoy watching the passing herds of buffalo and impala. The tents are light and airy, with open fronts and mesh windows, giving panoramic views of the seeping plains while keeping the insects out.

Guests can choose between a large double bed or two twins, all of which are fitted with soft and breathable linen. The en-suite bathrooms consist of elegant basins, an eco-flush toilet which uses 90% less water than a standard toilet, and a safari-style bucket shower. This helps guests to reduce their water consumption in an area with very little water.

The neutral colour scheme and impermanent style of the safari tents mean that minimal disruption is caused to the landscape and no lasting impact will be left by the camp. The tents’ position among the tamarind trees keeps them tucked out of the way, and also allows guests to get close to the monkeys that inhabit the trees, as well as the elephants who come scavenging for their fruit. Guests can also enjoy sitting out on the private verandah and watching as wildlife wanders across the horizon.

Spend a night away from the camp and rest under a canopy of stars while surrounded by the abundant wildlife that dwells within the bush. Fly camping allows guests to get as close to nature as possible, without forgoing a comfortable night’s sleep.

The tents are made of heavy-duty netting, allowing constant views of the stunning night sky and keeping the bugs at bay. A bucket shower and safari toilet will be provided nearby and the camp is lit by paraffin lamps, creating an idyllic scene for your night in the wilderness.

Enjoy the gentle sounds of snorting hippos and chirping crickets as you huddle up in a bedroll with sheets, soft blankets and plush pillows. In the morning, you can choose to dine in the bush or return to camp for breakfast.

Guests can enjoy 3 mouth-watering meals each day, starting with a breakfast buffet that offers a wide variety of options including cereal, fruit and hot food. Alternatively, if you are planning to start your day with an exciting game drive, you can choose to take a breakfast picnic into the bush and enjoy a meal on the go.

Lunch may also be taken into the bush as a picnic option, or eaten at the camp. In the evenings, guests can all enjoy a drink together around the campfire before being served a delicious three-course dinner, consisting of simple and comforting meals and concluding with an indulgent dessert.

Explore Katavi National Park from the comfort of a specially designed safari vehicle. Venture out in a 4×4 with the camp’s knowledgeable guides and discover fun and interesting facts about the incredible creatures that live in Western Tanzania. Game drives take place early in the morning, when predators are most active, and again in the afternoon when guests can look for game against the backdrop of the setting sun.

Guests can also book a privately guided safari and tailor their experience to focus on the animals they most want to see. Follow herds of buffalo, elephants and wildebeest across the plains, and look out for predators such as lions and leopards.

Take a stroll along Katavi’s endless plains and immerse yourself in the natural world that surrounds the camp. Your guide will teach you how to recognise tracks and follow them to game viewing opportunities. Wander down to the river and watch the abundant hippos that lounge in the water.

View the exotic birds, without the sound of an engine scaring them away, and watch the candid animals as they behave naturally and undisturbed. guided walks also focus on the smaller species that often get overlooked during a game drive. Find colourful insects and reptiles who form a valuable part of the overall ecosystem.

Spend a night under the dazzling stars of the Southern Hemisphere at Chada Katavi’s fly camp. Allow the sounds of nearby wildlife and insects to lull you to sleep, while you rest on a soft mattress, surrounded by nature. Fly camping enables guests to immerse themselves in the landscape without any distractions and discover what goes on in the wilderness once the sun goes down.

The tents are equipped with mosquito netting, a bedroll and soft pillows, and guests can savour a wonderful bush meal before heading to sleep. Enjoy a three-course dinner and glass of wine, lit with the warm glow of candles, and spend your evening away from the rest of the world in the tranquillity of the fly camp.

Chada Katavi is a Nomad Tanzania camp. Nomad utilises planes, cars, camps and their teams in order to offer aid to the more remote and isolated regions of Tanzania and provide educational support. Nomad donates safari to auctions in order to raise money for these projects.

Nomad’s educational support includes investing in nursery centres and meal programmes to provide children with an education as early as possible, and the nutrition to get them through the school day. Nomad also funds scholarships for gifted children and provides internships within their camps.

This gives youth a chance to learn about the tourism industry and how they could forge a career here. Additionally, Nomad works with partners who support education programmes that centre around sustainability and conservation.

The Nomad Tanzania Trust also provides support to medical facilities so that they can reach remote people in need. Nomad has partnered with The Plaster House in Arusha, a facility that offers corrective, orthopaedic, plastic surgery, neurosurgery and post-op care to children with disfigurements.

This means that children can get the care they need and prevents them from being hidden by their families. Nomad also provides medicines, vaccinations, and mosquito nets for village clinics so that they can support the local communities. Additionally, they run health education and awareness campaigns and projects so that communities can learn basic health protocols and protect themselves from common and preventable illnesses. This includes teaching the community about sanitation, safe water, and pregnancy and child care.

Nomad Tanzania sources local ingredients and materials and employs local people to invest in the communities in which they operate. This supports the local economy and provides an income for the families that live alongside Nomad’s camps.

‘Biashara means ‘business’ in Swahili and how we conduct our business in Tanzania is a huge part of what makes Nomad the company it is today. From inception, our founders have always believed in investing in local communities and providing opportunities for both our staff, and the wider community.

From the way our camps are built and where we source and purchase our interiors, to our micro-finance model that is unique within our industry, we wholeheartedly commit to making sure that the impact Nomad has on the lives of people is transformative.’

Nomad Tanzania works to protect the wildlife and environment from harm. Nomad tackles the threat posed by poachers and illegal bushmeat traders by supporting conservation organisations that monitor wildlife populations and protect these creatures from humans.

Many communities face conflict with wildlife, especially when livestock are attacked, threatening the livelihood of local people. Nomad runs campaigns to persuade people to live harmoniously with wildlife and offer training for alternative sources of income to livestock agriculture, such as beekeeping and composting projects which both benefit the environment.

Nomad Tanzania runs a number of village clean-up projects in the villages that lie close to their camps and border the National Parks, gathering large groups of volunteers including football teams, schoolchildren and fishermen to help pick up rubbish and keep the villages clean.

After this, rubbish is sorted and appropriately disposed of. Nomad also runs village film nights that display documentaries focusing on the challenge of waste disposal and the issues posed by waste plastic. These films educate the local communities and help to persuade people to keep the villages and surrounding areas clean and plastic-free. Nomad limits the amount of plastic used in their camps as much as possible to reduce the amount of waste plastic produced.