Palm Shade Camp | Established Campground

September 6th, 2023 by marc.saperavi

This place is hell on earth. I dont know why people are still giving good reviews for it.
For 1000 pp you get to sleep in the middle of a bar/restaurant. After parking, our car got quickly surrounded by 20 dudes, staring at us from those shady table bars all around us (and it was not a weekend non sense kinda thing, just a tuesday night). Absolutly no privacy. With all those guys hanging around til late, it was very VERY noisy until 10:30pm and i dont talk about the generator... At 7am the staff and the guys hanging around will wake you up cause they are incapable of communicating without yelling at each other.

It was also sooooo hot at night and humid, temperatures didn't drop down below 27. At 7am, it was already 31°C in our car.

This is not a camp, it's just a gigantic bar and restaurant with bungalows around overcharging meals and drinks (by the way, our beers were not even fresh). The staff was very friendly but the manager wasn't. Very disappointing place.

Don't waste your money here, go sleep at the desert museum on shore. At least you have a view there, there is wind to help you cool down and it's peaceful, as its not situated in the middle of a noisy town...

August 5th, 2023 by b.coffee2018

Great place to land and explore the area for a few days and walk through the village. Camping is NOT 10000 per person! 1000. We opted for a room (7000 ksh) because of the high winds and dust.

The camp holds a number of NGO workshops so UN, WFP, and more will spend days there. Staff from the wind farm will come in for an evening beer. Great community. The manager, Robert, is also very helpful.

July 20th, 2023 by mistersteve

This camp has shady camping spots, cold beer, a restaurant, clean showers and clean squat toilets. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Camping was 10,000 shillings pp. the town is a friendly street. There is fuel from a pump.

May 17th, 2023 by cos

Very nice lodge and campsite. Camping still 500,-pppn. A lot of shade, good food, very welcoming and helpful people. Western toilet, good shower. Everything very clean.

October 12th, 2021 by dtavenier

Nice place. Very helpful and friendly people. Great service. Good food in restaurant. Stayed 2 nights. Second night big group from Nairobi. No noise problem. Electricity during day from solar. Good for phone or laptop. At night a generator. Perfect stopover going to or coming from Siliboi or Chabi dessert. Highly recommended. Ksh 500 pppn. Diner ksh 500 pp.

February 3rd, 2021 by Onwheels

Nothing more to write, just want to upload a picture. And there is place for more than one Big Rig!

February 3rd, 2021 by Onwheels

Beautiful places under palm trees. For experienced truck drivers, the maneuvere is no problem. But for 3-axle vehicles definitely too tight. The water for reinstalling comes from a warm source. Good choice in combination with the Desert Museum (there a sea view, not here).

July 20th, 2020 by eriknjenga

Small campsite that’s hard to maneuver especially for larger vehicles. Camping costs 500ksh pppn There are rooms available from 1000ksh. The bar is close and can get fairly loud at times. Electricity is from a generator and only available at night. Decent food. Water is available at the campsite.

March 8th, 2019 by Beep Beep Africa

This place is okay, at 3.7m tall we couldn't fit in the grassy area so stayed in the car park. Considering the town this place is nice.

Beers are 250, water is 100. Both are cold though. Camping 500 ksh pppn.

The huge drawback about this place is the lack of view, you see nothing here. Villagers are really friendly but you probably drove hundreds of km and risked your tyres on the sharp volcanic rock to see the 'jade sea' so if you are self sufficient, better to stay at the desert museum north of town which has an incredible view. The road north is better than the road south.

February 11th, 2019 by alexpeaudeau

busy little camp with efficient and friendly staff. various spaces between trees also for roof top tent. 500kspp and 500kspp for tasty dinner (rice and nile perch). windy. secure.

December 9th, 2018 by rene.bauer

Beautiful site to relax and enjoy the surroundings. Friendly, helpful staff.

December 3rd, 2018 by Crocodileriver

Everything has been said. Great warm welcome after driving two long days from Ethiopia.

November 21st, 2018 by mantoco.com

Benedict and his team created a real little oasis. It's like a paradies between all the stones and wind around. Enjoy! Still KES 500 ppn.

September 5th, 2018 by angie.colston63

Situated in centre of small village of Loiyangalani. Spacious compound with good facilities for camping. Shade from numerous large palms and other trees. Very laid back, friendly atmosphere

August 25th, 2018 by Warthog&PenguinOnSafari

Everything as described by ‘christianmr2’. Eric did a fantastic job looking after us, even took us to the next door hotel where we could use the pool.
We were less impressed by the tours arranged through the camp though. Very disorganised and we’re quite sure the money Nicholas promised us would go to the local community following our village walk went into his pocket! He also assured us repeatedly that he could arrange a boat trip to Central Island NP (something offered on the camp website too), but it turned out this is not possible at all.
Enjoy the camp and the food, be wary of the ‘tours’!

June 1st, 2018 by chasingborders.com

As others have stated, this is a little oasis after a long day of riding. Camping still 500 KES pppn, and the fish dinner course for 500 pp is huge great tasting meal. Ice cold sodas and beer available.

We also had a great breakfast for 400 pp, as many eggs as you'd like served with beans, chapatis and juice.

Friendly and service minded staff!
Safaricom signal strong, but not 3G. Worked ok for email and WhatsApp.

December 7th, 2017 by Chris Ratay

nice shady camp area after a long drive. Friendly staff. safaricom is slow, but works. 500kes pppn. Considering where you are, it's pretty nice! The wind was welcome in early Dec.

June 2nd, 2017 by dbates1514

Nice campsite for 500Ksh. The Palm trees provide shade and a bit of shelter from the incredible nighttime wind. Helpful staff. Dinner cost 500 and was a massive feast of decent quality.

May 12th, 2017 by Rens Koster

Very good camping in the shade of the trees. Great hospitality. The owner Mr. Benedict answers all your questions. Food and drinks are all good.

May 8th, 2017 by twopermobile.wordpress.com

Warmish semi clean showers and toilets. Food is good. They charged 500 pppn. Strong winds. Did Not go onto the island, since boat ride is 200 USD plus entrance. This was too much for us.

February 24th, 2017 by judith_wilfred

Plenty of shade from the palm trees. Ablutions are clean. Water for shower is off cold, but not warm. Price was 500kes pppn when we checked in, but increased to 700kes pppn the next morning??? Obviously we did not pay the 700kes!!

Also checked out rooms at desert museum. Now open and costs 1500kes per room. Heavy wind when we were there. Views are very nice! Because of wind we choose not to stay there.

December 23rd, 2016 by slowbru.com

Nice grassy site under palm trees. 2km from the lake shore. So windy in Dec that we opted to stay in a room for KSh20,000 excl breakfast. Tour guides are around to arrange village/cultural tours or activities such as fishing. We actually wanted to stay at the Museums chalets, which are at the lake shore and have amazing views but they were under construction in Dec 2016. Perhaps you will have more luck (2km North of town you will see the sign for the Desert Museum)

December 7th, 2016 by Cruisecanary

Excellent place to camp. Clean facilities. 500 ksh. Warm-ish showers. Pretty quiet, except for generator in the evening.

March 7th, 2016 by onoffroads.com

Perfect oasis after long drive without aircon.. Camping for 500 shillings.

November 9th, 2015 by facebook

Just checked in paid ksh 500 pp. Are going on a city,cultaral,rock engraving,island tour 4 hrs total 20 usd.

March 14th, 2014 by 4ever2wherever (Margriet & Jan)

Beautiful, closed terrain under palm trees. Well maintained.

August 1st, 2012 by ourafricanfootprint.com

Nice recovery spot, first taste of Tusker