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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr S & Dr B from UK

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

1

Countries visited

1

Lodges stayed in

3

Excursions taken

0

Ruaha & Mafia

Tanzania between 28 Dec 2009 and 8 Jan 2010

Trip rating: Excellent
"Overall, a good combination 5 Nights in Ruaha and 4 Nights on Mafia. Would definately consider going back to Ruaha at another time to see it in the dry season.

My generic comment about the trip was Ellie at Expert Africa. She provided excellent advice, information, suggested itinaries, alternative and answered a number of silly questions. In fact when BA cancelled our flight back from Dar es Salaam, she even contacted us to see if BA were sorting it out and we were being looking after. we then had a number of text (SMS) exchanges as she check status, etc.

Apart for the BA issues above, everything worked out exactly as planned, being met and escorted between each transfer point.

I would definately consider using Expert Africa again (especially Ellie) and no hesitation recommending to friends, etc.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I would recommend reviewing you entries for Kwihala as the basis for the camp seems to be changing. In particular I understand it will no longer move and that the Bucket showers will be replaced by a normal shower.

The brochure, made me think where we might go, the web site help narrow down the options and Ellie provide the detailed knowledge and advice to finalist the trip including quotations. All elements were intrical and the speedy, informative response of Ellie was a key factor in choosing to book with Expert Africa. I did contact 3 providers with my initial ideas and Ellie initial response was by far the best."

Kwihala Camp

Kwihala Camp

"Kwihala - Inimate & close to nature!!!"

5 nights Arrived 29 Dec 2009
"This camp is an intimate camp, small, really close to nature and all about the guiding. We stayed for 5 nights and the last 3 we were the ONLY guests. The camp does seem to be moving away from semi-mobile to fixed and seemed to be struggling to identify it's unique selling point.

Entry into the park stated well as we made a stop at another airstrip flying low over a massive group of Hippo's only to find Elephants lining the runway at out airstrip. Now that's a welcome.

Within the Camp we saw birds, Impala, Jackal and 6 Lions calmly walking through whilst we were have dinner - Now I never knew a Lion could sneeze before!?!?! Nominally the guiding is from 06:00 to 11:00 and then 16:00 to 19:00. However, on one days we were out (our choice) at 06:15 and got back to camp at 15:15 and could have gone out again. In fact in over our 5 nights we clocked up about 50hrs of game viewing (not including that in camp!)

We had 2 different guides and always had our own vehicle which allowed us to dictate what we went to see and how long to stay etc. I think it was good swaping guides halfway through as this allowed a different perspective. Both guides were excellent in their own way. On many a day it was several hours before we saw another vehicle and often we ony saw several if we dashed off to a confirmed Lion sighting by another camp. I think an excellent location with good access to all part of the park, both popular and more remote.

Tents were fine and had everything we needed, inc UK 3pin plug (24hr electricity). Bucket showers worked well and a full buckets to yourself seem like luxury. Sleeping with Lions growling on the edge of camp could sometimes be a challenge.

The reason for only giving 4 stars was that for us the food was over the top, being very rich and trying too hard. An example was that the followed specific recipes and adjusted to what was around. So Beef and Ale, became Chicken and Ale, which did not work. Or mixed fruit with custard, but no advance warning to have it without custard. Perhaps a menu written down in the morning would help and reduce waste. Also whilst it was a tented kitchen the Chef would come out in his White Uniform and state the menu. A bit excessive for a tented camp when we were the only guests. Personaly we would have preferred simpler wholesome food.

Service was excellent as you would expect with only 2 guests and one night we had our dinner a short distance from out tent with a guard watching out for Lions!?!

As stated earlier this is an intimate and relax camp, for New Years eve we had a bottle of champagne and in bed early for a 06:00 departure the following day - For us this was perfect. With hindsight, I still believe we chose the best camp for what we were look for.

Go for Location, Guiding, flexibility and risking being a little scard (being so close to wild animals), Ruaha park.
Not good for partying, having a rest or true luxury."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Facilities
Good
Pole Pole

Pole Pole

"Pole Pole - relaxation after Safari"

4 nights Arrived 3 Jan 2010
"We spent 4 nights here after a Safari and hence looking to relax. We went early Jan and it was very hot. You should note that there is no aircon and there were quite a few biting insects, both during the day and night - take good replant, The rooms are very large and rustic nature. The large patio overlooking the sea is excellent, with a day bed, fan, chairs, etc.

The beach is fairly small, but with only 7 rooms, it is never busy. However, if you like long walks in the evening along the beach you will be disappointed. A wide range of activities are offered, with some complementary. The clarity of the complementary elements could be made clearer and in reality PolePole has its own boat and anything done with this is complementary. We did a Sunset Cruise, Snorkel trip (with guide) and trip to Chole Island all complementary. It is worth noting that many of the trips are tide dependant and because of the small number of rooms we could adapt trips to suit us. If you want to dive there is a dive centre next door.

What really makes this place is the staff, we found all were excellent, friendly and very helpful. I would like to especially mention Robin who was the main hosts and Alfa who worked on the boat. My recommendation is to talk to the staff and they will arrange most things and as we found out at no cost. Someone else just wanted to find out how to sail their traditional boat - no problem.

The food was very good, but there is no choice. They can cater is there are some dietry requirements (or specific dislikes), but you need to advise when you arrive. As you might expect it helps if you like fish and calamari. An earlier review suggested drinks price list to be provided in the rooms, PolePole response was to include, but still not done at time of our visit.

Go for relaxation, diving, sun bathing, but take insect repelant"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Average
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Southern Sun Dar

Southern Sun Dar

"Southern Sun (formerly the Holiday Inn) review"

1 night Arrived 7 Jan 2010
"I often stay at Hiltons, Holiday Inns, etc and so the 3 paws is in comparision to these. We also stayed 1 night at the Holiday Inn in Dar and the later was a better hotel. Though the Southern Sun does have an outside pool.

The aircon was not very powerful and possible as a consequence we had a couple of mosquito's in our room. We had evening dinner at the hotel and the food and price were fine.

The hotel does have a buiness centre with Internet machines (at small cost), which we were able to checkin for our return flights"
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Rooms
Average
Food
Good
Service
Good

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