Travel reviews by The W family from Surrey

"Ras Kutani is a great place to stay after a long plane flight, its only a short flight away from Dar es Salam.

The cottages were lovely with fantastic views overlooking the lake and sea. We loved relaxing in the hammocks on the veranda, surrounded by our neighbours, the mischievous Vervet Monkeys.

At night you could see all the stars whilst outside dining. The food was of a very high standard with great flavours, and the buffet lunch is a great idea. My daughter has a peanut allergy which was catered for. In the morning we had a refreshing cup of tea with cookies which was brought to our cottage.

The attention to detail is fantastic with very high standard of service from all the staff.

We would definitely return"

"Wow we loved being here, you are very close to the animals. We stayed for 4 nights, and enjoyed every minute.

The tents were large, and overlooked the lake. We loved sitting outside watching the local wildlife go by!

There were plenty of options, and flexibility with regards to what trips you wanted to do which was great.

We had some very unforgettable safaris including a fantastic boat safari on the first day where we saw lots of wildlife, including a huge herd of giraffes walking across the lake as the sun was setting. The all day safari was excellent with lunch out in the bush, and a visit to the Hot Springs, very refreshing! We managed to see 4 different pride of lions during our stay.

Our guide was was incredibly knowledgeable and the driver was great at knowing when to stop for a photo opportunity They both worked so hard to make sure we saw lots of different animals.

The communal evening meals out in the open and being able to chat with other guests about their adventures is a great idea. The quality of food was great, and they were able to cater for our daughter's peanut allergy no problem.

We awoke one morning to see elephants walking past the front of our tent, what an experience! On the last morning as we ate breakfast, a large group appeared all around the lounge area almost as if to say goodbye to us!!!"

"Pole Pole is set in beautiful gardens right on the beach.

Our Bungalow had an amazing view overlooking the bay and surrounded by palm trees. Inside there were lovely homemade touches including shower gel and shampoo in handcrafted glass bottles. As there are only 7 bungalows, the place is very quiet and you feel quite secluded form the others. We had a wake up tea/coffee each morning and a sun-down drink brought to our room each evening!

The food was lovely, with some Italian touches and you could choose which courses you wanted each day. They would even make something else for our daughter when she did not fancy what was on the menu. She also has a peanut allergy; we had no worries as they were very aware of this and able to cater for her.

We had some great trips arranged including snorkeling and turtle hatching on a nearby island. We had a fantastic Sunset Cruise where we went on a Dhow boat, and had a lovely drink as the sunset and the fruit bats flew overhead. One of the waiters from Pole Pole accompanied us and told us lots of information about mafia and the local people.

We visited the local village Utendi on our last day with one of the waiters who comes from there. He was full of information about everything in the village. We saw the local schools, and visited the NGO (non government organisation) located in the village which aims to improve education and healthcare through projects they arrange. If you have time this is well worth doing, as you get to see the local people."