Satao Camp offers its guests the classical ‘Out of Africa’ experience. Spacious tented accommodation is complemented by first-class cuisine and genuine hospitality. Your time at Satao is yours to do as much or as little as you please, and our attentive team will ensure you are always well cared for. Every guest is warmly welcomed into our Satao family.

Spread out among tamarind and acacia trees near the seasonal Voi River, Satao Camp is the only camp in this area of Tsavo East National Park. Fairly large by safari standards, it is owned and managed by one of Kenya’s most respected safari companies, and is regularly visited by baboons, impalas, giraffe and hippo, while the central area is an oasis for birdlife and various nocturnal creatures, including genets: in the bar, one regular genet drapes himself on an overhead rafter.

The main activities at Satao Camp revolve around early-morning and late-afternoon game drives in well set-up 4WD vehicles. As Satao is the only camp in this part of Tsavo East – a vast expanse of the park covering more than 1,000km² stretches between the camp and the Mombasa highway – in most of this area you can drive for miles without encountering another vehicle. Tsavo’s famous red elephants, coloured by the iron oxide in the earth, are the most iconic of the park’s animals, which include good numbers of cheetahs and lions, and less common grazers such as gerenuk, lesser kudu and Grevy’s zebra. An hour’s drive to the north of the camp is the Galana River, which flows for nearly 100km through the park and can be closely followed for much of its course. There are several riverside viewpoints including Lugard’s Fall, and Crocodile Point (sometimes described as nature trails, but they’re basically just short footpaths), where you can get out and stretch your legs.

The camp boasts 20 luxurious en-suite tents, each with private verandahs, nestled among the tamarind trees surrounding the camp’s very own watering hole. The tents are carefully positioned to allow uninterrupted views of the visiting wildlife whilst ensuring total privacy.

There are 16 tents and 4 suits. The tents interiors are simply exquisite. All are attractively furnished to a unique African design. The suites are larger and positioned closest to the water hole. Satao Camp tents are suitably designed & adapted to cater for guests with disabilities.

When it comes to wining and dining, you would never believe you are in the African bush. Satao Camp’s chefs prepare a tasty range of dishes all prepared with the freshest ingredients. After your early morning game drive, enjoy breakfast with eggs cooked to order. Lunch is served ‘al-fresco’ under a 200-year old Tamarind tree where you can enjoy watching the elephants at the watering hole. And dinner is served in the restaurant area, usually followed by nightcaps around the campfire. Private dining and bush dinners can also be arranged.

Tsavo East covers an immense 11,750 square kilometres and yet is home to a few tourism properties which ensures a unique and exclusive experience. The Park is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions: bushy grassland and open plains alternate with semi-arid acacia scrub and woodlands and the Galana River gives rise to lush vegetation.

There is an incredible variety of wildlife and birdlife to be seen in the Park: lion, leopard, cheetah, zebras, giraffes, serval cats, genet cats, antelopes, kongoni, lesser kudu, oryx, klipspringer, impala, striped hyena, gazelles, buffalos and elephants. Some 500 bird species have been recorded in the area, including ostrich and migratory kestrels, while buzzards stop by during their long flight South.

Of course, Tsavo is world-famous for its vast herds of elephants, which often glow red after a dust bath, and Satao’s watering hole can attract up to 1,000 elephants a day. Large prides of lion are also sighted regularly. Satao Camp’s contributions to wildlife habitat is to ensure that our waterhole never dries up.

• Satao Camp offers morning and afternoon game drives within the Park. If you’re looking for the legendary Big Five, you won’t be disappointed.
• Sunset over the Tsavo plains is a sight to behold and the ‘sundowner’ experience is a must for all our guests at Satao
• Photography: For aspiring photographers, the hour before the sun goes down is blessed with what the professionals call ‘magic light’ – a time of soft golden light that displays the Kenyan wilderness to optimum advantage.
• Birding: Satao Camp’s oasis is a favourite habitat for a great variety of birds: over 300 different species have been identified. Birders can safely walk around the Camp’s grounds and watch the many beautiful birds coming to nest or take a bath in the waterhole.
• The Mudanda Rock is a 1.6 km inselberg of stratified rock that acts as a water catchment that supplies a natural dam below. It offers an excellent vantage point for the hundreds of elephants and other wildlife that come to drink during the dry season.
• On the Galana River, Lugard Falls is a series of white water rapids running between some remarkable rock formations. On request, clients can book a full day game drive with a picnic lunch to see both the falls and also Yatta Plateau, the world’s longest lava flow. Its incredible 290 km length was formed by lava from Ol Doinyo Sabuk Mountain.