This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more

Skip to main content

Talk to an expert 1-800-242-2434 Lines now closed

User menu

Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs L from Utah

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

1

Countries visited

1

Lodges stayed in

6

Excursions taken

0

My Jul 2021 trip

Tanzania between 15 Jul 2021 and 9 Aug 2021

Trip rating: Excellent
"We have been planning this trip for three years, and one of things we wanted to experience was the wild, remote and old part of Africa. That is the main reason we chose to go to the Selous, Ruaha and these camps. We accomplished our goal.

There is so much more to see and experience here than just the mammals. The Bao Bab and Tooth Brush trees... the Agama lizards, Puff Adder, Black Spitting Cobra and African Butterflies all prove that. I added 124 new bird species to my life list which I am quite proud of.

This was a trip during the Covid-19 age and yes, we had to put forth a little extra effort to get the PCR testing done in order to get to Tanzania and then back home, but we felt it was worth it. My wife and I for the most part felt like we were the only guests there. Some nights, we were the only guests in the camp. Most of the time we were the only car there watching lions. Very few other visitors were there while we were and it was nice and intimate. I'm sure the camps would like to have more visitors though.

All in all, it was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again."

Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe


Serena Hotel Dar

Serena Hotel Dar

"Serena Hotel Dar review"

1 night Arrived 16 Jul 2021
"It was a great way to start our journey.

The room was clean and the food was great.

A nice place to rest up after a long flight."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Lake Manze Adventure Camp

Lake Manze Adventure Camp

"Lake Manze Adventure Camp review"

5 nights Arrived 17 Jul 2021
"Lake Manze camp was fabulous.

Very intimate, remote and wild feel about it. We had a Hyaena walk right past our tent on the first night, almost dark, and we were sitting outside on the front patio of our tent at the time. My wife and I just froze and sat very still without making a sound and only watched. He passed our tent using the path no more than 3 meters away from us. I'll never forget it.

The guiding was superb. Thank you to Zach, JJ and Abu. The boat safaris were a lot of fun. Great birding for Kingfishers and Bee Eaters. Excellent sunsets.

The staff were very attentive and made us feel very much at home. The food was fine and there was a lot of it."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sand Rivers Camp

Sand Rivers Camp

"Sand Rivers Camp review"

4 nights Arrived 22 Jul 2021
"What a very special place. The entire staff came out and greeted us with a song and ice cool drinks to welcome us in the driveway as we arrived to camp on our first day. Nice touch!

The guiding was excellent. Haamza (sp?), our guide, took us on a boat safari and 2 safari walks. We learned about everything from spear grass, termites and millipedes to Hippos and Bao Bab trees and the roles they play in the ecosystem. Haamza also helped us a lot with our birding as well. Some very large crocodiles in the Rufigi. We saw a Black Mamba near the Beho Beho air strip as we were leaving Sand Rivers.

I loved this part of the Rufiji river and the camp sits right on it. It felt very wild and alive here. Some of the best pictures I took during the whole trip were from when we stayed here.

We made new friends with some of the staff and they were great. Thank you to Sara, Reggie and Good Luck for taking such good care of us. The rooms were luxurious and the food was Over the Top First Class."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Mdonya Old River Camp

Mdonya Old River Camp

"Mdonya Old River Camp review"

4 nights Arrived 26 Jul 2021
"Mdonya felt the most remote and wild of all the camps to us, that we stayed at. We saw our only Leopard of the entire trip here and a Serval cat too. The night sky was the best here and at Mwagusi. Just spectacular. Got cold at night too as we were a bit higher in elevation.

We watched a pride of lions one night just before sunset for quite a while. We were the only car/jeep/lorrie there the entire time. We left them, after some great late afternoon sunlight for photos, and were back in camp after only 5 minutes. That pride was only less than 3 KM away from camp and we could hear them roaring and calling to one another all night long. What an experience for us!

The guides were great. Chabon and Godson with their super vision for spotting things. We made friends with Jonas and Joelle there and the rest of the staff.

Because this camp is so remote, it is difficult to schedule safari walks with the rangers because their headquarters near the Msembe air strip is far away. We did not do any safari walks here."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Mwagusi Safari Camp

Mwagusi Safari Camp

"Mwagusi Safari Camp review"

5 nights Arrived 30 Jul 2021
"Mwagusi was the last camp we stayed at and it was the best experience we had out of all the camps we stayed at, and it was all because of the people that worked there.

Our guide Baldon was a top notch guide. He could easily spot things far in the distance. We did a night game drive here and saw an aardwolf. His knowledge and information he had to share with us was beyond belief. Gaspar was a safe driver and had a great sense of humor. The dinners down on the river bed with everyone else at the same table was a nice experience and a great way to meet new people that all had similar interests to ours.

Since Mwagusi was our last camp before heading back to Dar, we needed to make arrangements to get a Covid 19 PCR test so we would be in that 72 hour time frame for travelling. Trudie, the manager at Mwagusi, made sure that happened for us by making the arrangements with the doctor from Iringa to meet us halfway in a little village named Tunda just down the road a ways form the main gate of Ruaha NP. It was a fun diversion from the game drives to have Baldon and Gaspar drive us to the village to have our PCR tests done. They also helped us with a little shopping too while we were in town. It was fun and I think they had fun too.

Trudie, Baldon and Gaspar put in extra effort to help us out, and for that we are grateful."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Hyatt Regency Hotel

Hyatt Regency Hotel

"Hyatt Regency Hotel review"

1 night Arrived 4 Aug 2021
"The Hyatt was a great place to end the trip.

The breakfast was great.

Thanks to Hyatt for letting us check out late since our flight did not leave until late in the evening."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent

Login to Expert Africa

Sign in with password

Sign in with email link


New to Expert Africa? Create an account

Forgotten your details?

It's free & quick to set up

  • Save your wish-list
  • Send us an enquiry
  • Pay online for your trip
  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Give us feedback on your trip
  • Full site benefits of the site

Need some help? Talk to our team