I had just turned 18 when my parents took me and my brother on safari with them. It was a once in a lifetime treat for my mum's 50th and I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to go with them to such a brilliant place. It is so well hidden within the trees, it is a fantastic setting which I'll never forget. First we went to nsefu camp, which was also exceptional, then onto Tena Tena. I've never seen anything like it. I loved the tents and the night drives were especially good! Seeing a hyaena consume a puku, and a group of lions eat a warthog was amazing. and I had been hoping to see a leopard all week, and on the very last night we found one!
The best aspect about this safari was how quiet it was, it was literally maybe our truck and one other truck in the same vicinity at any time, not 10 trucks following one lion as is often found in Kenya. The guides are also lovely people. One name will always stick in my head - Kiki. Such a funny guy, scared my dad half to death taking us within 5 or so metres of elephants and lions. I love the open air bathrooms at Tena Tena too. You can stand showering as well as pop your head over the wall to watch the impala/elephants/warthogs pass by. The visit to a school is also of valuable experience. We then flew to Club Makokola in Malawi afterwards, but in all honesty, it was nothing compared to Tena Tena. I will certainly be returning here in future, on a honeymoon would be perfect.

We had an extremely enjoyable stay at Tena Tena and were looked after very well by Emma and the rest of the staff. Lovely tents with nice views over the lagoon. We watched warthogs, baboons and water birds from our porch between game drives. Enjoyable game drives with Nyambe, our excellent guide, although very quiet on the preditor front (but that's the ups & downs of safari). We had a very pleasant & informative walking safari one morning. Other highlights were the visit by boat to see the Carmine bee eater colony, a brilliant night view of a honey badger catching an eel and finally getting to see a Pel's fishing owl!

Tena Tena is one of the best experiences ever!! If you love the bush and would like to have a fantastic safari, this place is a must. The tents are great, food is incredible (it can compete with any restaurant in Cape Town) and the park is as safari should be, as unspoiled as possible.

I was born in Malawi and my parents always talked about Zambia and Malawi and esspecially Luangwa. For my honeymoon this was a must.

I would go to Tena Tena (and the other Robin Pope facilities) anytime if I could afford it!!!

We had heard about the Robin Pope Camps as we toured Botswana one year, and then Namibia the next . . . people would pause, and then say "Ahh, then there is Tena Tena . . . " We could hardly wait, seeing their faces when they said 'Tena Tena'. The first time we booked with RPS, we went to Nkwali, then Nsefu, and then Tena Tena - and Tena Tena, indeed, made my little heart sing.

First, I love the tents - stand up and walk around bungalows, but still tents, with tent flap windows, and an entire front area that is cinched up during the day to watch the elephants as they come through. I love the kelim bed coverings, and the hardwood night stands, and the hand-crafted ladders for the towels in the open air bath suite we shared with tiny little frogs and occasional other critters. I loved having our own deck area where we could sit during the down time between lunch and tea and the afternoon drive, hubby snoozing a little, maybe watching elephant, maybe birds . . . You are surrounded by loving attention to detail when you are staying at Tena Tena.

I love the waking to the smell of the woodfire heating up the water, and the cool morning air as we down our porriage and fruit and head out on a hike or game drive.

For some reason, the night sky, out watching the lions massing for a hunt always seems clearer and more sparkly than anywhere else. One night, sleeping soundly from the adventure packed days, my husband heard a crunching sound and opened the tent window flap quietly to see - and just 3 feet away was a hippo! We watched, spellbound. The next night, yes, there he was back again, and we watched a few minutes, but headed back to bed. The third night it was "oh! The hippo is back!" and we rolled over and went right back to sleep.

We visited Tena Tena again, after a walking safari with Robin Pope, (which, if you ever have the opportunity, is a trip of a lifetime, walking with a living legend, he doesn't even know how much he knows. I had asked about how the Zambian cheese-makers were doing; we had a selection of Zambian cheeses our first trip, and to my delight, the Zambian cheeses showed up on the walking-safari menu the very next day. WOW.) Again, it was one thrill after another; this time a mother cheetah and her sweet baby. The cooing of the emerald spotted dove, and the thrill of mating leopards.

This last trip, our third trip to the RPS camps, we had our son and his wife with us. We had just arrived in camp, when we heard the sound of elephant coming - the breaking branches, the swish swish swish as they brush by the leaves . . . the four of us gathered in our tent, silently watching the magic of the elephant family crossing the meadow in front of us, oblivious to our wonder. It was a moment I will never forget, my daughter-n-law smiling and saying "we've caught the RPS virus, too!"

Tena Tena is a kaleidoscopic experience, glimpses of cheetah here, elephant there, the plunging kingfisher and the Pel's owl, and the delightful evening conversations at table, a cold beer, a surprise cook out, a special event at sunset - Tena Tena weaves a magic spell, compelling you to return, again and again, for another taste of the magic.