Travel reviews by Ms W from Austria

"It just felt so great to be back to Tanzania after a long time, and the Slipway was a perfect start for our honeymoon.

We felt so lucky to enjoy live music at the seafront restaurant (every Saturday) in the evening of our arrival. The excellent food and sea breeze made us forget the cold of Europe immediately.

We also liked the pool and the many nice curio shops around the hotel as well as the fact that the hotel, restaurants and shops are frequented by tourists, expats and local people alike, which creates a really nice and relaxed atmosphere."

"Sand Rivers was a great choice for our honeymoon. The rooms are just wonderful - we enjoyed the honeymoon suite (room no. 2): The room was open and breezy with a great view from the hill over the landscape and river. Not to forget the pool, which was cool and refreshing after the safari activities. Also the food was fantastic, prepared by Bernadetta with a lot of love and passion (her carrot baclava is particularly famous). We loved our bush breakfasts with the homemade cereals and fresh fruit, which we enjoyed on the game drives or during the boat safari on the river.

Wildlife was great, even though our trip was during the green season. We saw wilddog three times and even while hunting.

The highlight of our stay definitely was the fly camping, which was truly fantastic. The location at lake Tagalala is so beautiful and you can listen to the sound of the hippos in the lake while having a 5star dinner and after that sitting at the camp fire. We would have loved to stay longer to do more fly camping!

Nick and Jana are great managers, and we enjoyed their company and had very meaningful and interesting conversations with them over dinner. We felt so well taken care of by all of the staff!

Our guides Godfrey and Simba are very experienced and knowledgeable, we had a great time with them on safari!

And - last but not least - we felt very privileged to be the only guests at the lodge during our entire stay and to have this wonderful place and wilderness all to ourselves."

"The fly-camping was just fantastic. Taking into account that on our first trip to the Selous years back, we stayed in our own small tent next to our car and had canned food from a camping stove for dinner at Lake Tagalala, this time was a truly luxurious experience.

When we arrived at the shore of Lake Tagalala shortly before sunset (after just having seen a pack of wilddogs hunting impala) the campfire was already on and the bar waiting. The dinner table was set at the lake just for the two of us and we listened to the hippos in the lake while enjoying a wonderful 3 course dinner, which had been freshly prepared in the bush kitchen. We even had a hot shower before falling asleep under the stars and listening to the sounds of the bush.

We would have loved to stay longer to spend more nights fly-camping!"

"Fanjove is like a dream. It is all about the beaches, the crystal-clear water and the remoteness. We shared this perfect getaway with only 6 more guests, which we only saw for lunch or before dinner, and the many different species of seabirds.

For those who like to do activities, there is plenty to do like, for example stand up paddling, snorkelling, kayaking, the dolphin safari, island walk,.... Abdalla is doing a great job helping guests with the activities and equipment. Snorkelling was really nice with plenty to see (octopus, rays, frog fish, scorpion fish, moray eels, lion fish, lobster and many more).

All staff were really attentive and focused on the small details, for example, it was so nice being served a glass of fresh water and cold towels on the beach when stepping out of the water after snorkeling; or being served dinner at the lighthouse on one occasion.

We particularly loved the sunset dhow cruise, which was organised for us (even though the dhow boat was generally not available).

Another highlight was definitely waking up to the sound of the waves and looking out to the sea from bed while enjoying fresh coffee that had been discretely served through a flap on one side of the banda (especially designed for this purpose).

And, of course, the food: Isa, the chef is an artist and it is no surprise that we were told that many guests have already offered him jobs all over the world ;-) We would have never expected this level of 5star cuisine in such a remote place...

Last but not least, we felt so lucky to see those bottle nose dolphins on our last morning after having been searching for them on two days without success. It was great to see them jump and play. Thank you to Abdalla for not giving up and keeping looking for them!"

"After more than 20 hours of travelling, it is great to finally arrive, at night, sitting on the deck of Nkwali overlooking the majestic river, sipping a drink an watching the bats chasing insects. It is fantastic being back, especially with my mother, for whom it is her first time in Africa and on safari!

Nkwali was the perfect camp to arrive, very relaxed and at a beautiful spot. All staff was very welcoming and hepful to my mom, who very quickly became used to safari life. The game sightings were great and so was our guide Fred: we had a fantastic sighting of two leopards on our first game drive. Another highlight were the huge flocks of carmine bee eaters who had just started breeding in the river banks.

During one night, the camp was visited by 17 (!) elephants who were feeding on the trees close to the huts. That was very exciting hearing and seeing them so close!"

"Tafika was definitely one of the best camps I have ever been in Africa. Its name means: We have arrived, which fits perfectly. The is expertly managed by the owners Carol and John together with their team. I particularly liked the reed and straw-structure of the huts, which are built and decorated with a lot of attention to details. Unsurprisingly, most of the guests were repeating guests, some of them had even been returning for years.

My mom particularly liked the joint dinners under the stars, the game walks and, of course, the morning microlight flight with John, which was fantastic.

Wildlife was amazing, especially the birding (including hundreds of crowned cranes and a purple crested turaco), leopards, lions and huge herds of buffalo coming to the river to drink.

The guides at Tafika deserve a special appreciation. Especially Alex. It was fascinating to see how - thanks to his great passion, experience and intuition - he managed to position us perfectly each time to watch the most amazing wildlife spectacles unfold right before our eyes. This included a huge buffalo herd appearing on the horizon in a cloud of dust and directly approaching is in our car, watching a lions' hunt and kill at night, a cloud of thousands of red billed queleas dancing in the sunset while we were having sundowners on the river bank and witnessing a very interesting baboon interaction involving a baby baboon left behind on a tree and finally being "saved" by his heroic father.

One thing that could be improved is that we would have preferred being assigned one guide for our entire stay at Tafika. It would make the experience even more personal and informative, as the guide would know exactly, which places we had already been to, what we had seen and which stories and information we already knew.

I hope that we will have the opportunity to come back to Tafika or its sister camp im North Luangwa NP, Mwaleshi Camp!"

"Tena Tena was our third (and last) camp on safari. Its setting at the river is beautiful and the tents are new and very elegant and comfortable. From the spacious outdoor bathroom, we could often hear and see hippos.

It was particularly relaxing to sit in front of our tent or the main area browsing in our birding book or writing post cards and listening to the hippos in the river and the cry of the numerous fish eagles. Tena Tena's postcard service is a very nice idea, our friends and relatives were delighted when our postcards finally arrived...

We had some very good leopard sightings at Tena Tena. Our guide Chris is very likeable, his sense of humour and enthusiasm for the wildlife are really catching and make our game drives very enjoyable. On a walk, we had a fascinating encounter with lions: We tracked them and after they had noticed our presence, they quietly withdrew into the bush.

One afternoon we even met Robin Pope with his wife by chance on a game drive!"

"Islands of Siankaba is a wonderful place. The staff is truly fantastic, after 10 days of safary they made me and especially my mom feel very comfortable and welcome as part of their family. My mom speaks very little English but she had no problem at all getting along and communicating with all members of staff, particularly Bessie (the esthetician), Humphrey (our host), Sector with whom we did the most amazing sunset cruise in a mokoro, the village tour and the nature walk as well as Lucky, with whom we visited the falls.

We were very happy that we had decided to stay three nights at Siankaba as this place is truly idyllic (the chalets are overlooking the Zambezi and you go to sleep with the sound of the river) and there is so much to do. On Sunday, we went to church (the choir lead by Lucky was great) and visited the village, including the school. We had an interesting chat with the village chief and the school teacher before heading back to the lodge by boat.

Next time at Siankaba, we'll have to stay longer to do the mokoro trip and the village walk again and to include hightee on Livingstone Island as well as the rhino walk. We would also love to see all of the staff again!

Siankaba was the perfect lodge at the end of our holiday."

"Royal Tree Lodge was the perfect place to arrive and unwind after a long flight.

It was particularly nice to take a walk in the private reserve, explore and encounter giraffes, zebras etc. on foot. Watching two genets in the trees while having dinner on the open deck was another highlight."

"Jack's Camp is a special camp in a remote and very special place.

We enjoyed the laid-back and somewhat historic athmosphere. However, we felt that when the camp is fully booked (as it was during our stay), the number of guests (more than 20) does impact the remoteness and silence of the desert feeling, especially if 7 of the guests are children.

This having been said, we did love our experience at Jack's, especially with the meerkats. Chapman's baobab, the bushman walk as well as the sundowners at the salt pans were highlights, too. We would like to return some day, but that would most probably be during low season when the camp is more quiet."

"It was great to have the entire camp just to us (especially after Jack's Camp which was so crowded). The location with its views over the vast landscape of the Kalahari is breathtaking, we particularly enjoyed having our morning tee/coffee at the fire watching the sun rise over the desert, watching animal activities at the waterhole (e.g. kudus and giraffes) from the camp's pool as well as having dinner under the stars.

Wildlife was very good, even though the Kalahari was already very dry for this time of the year (early April). We loved the many bat eared foxes (we often saw them quite close), giraffes, and of course the many lions and one leopard (in the middle of the road!). On our last morning, the lion pack resident at the camp returned after they had been away for several weeks and we had the chance to follow them while they prepared for hunting. Alex, our guide, and Vota, the tracker, were very knowledgeable and created a wonderful safari experience, which was very relaxed , informative and entertaining at the same time.

Service and food at Tau Pan were excellent, all staff was very helpful and friendly. We particularly liked the fact that Kwando is a company based in Botswana which takes great pride in employing local people (also for the management). It was great to see how enthusiastic all staff and management were working for this company. Wonderful experience!"

"Sandibe has a very nice dining area. Service and food were wonderful. Especially Joshua, the chef, made our stay there a true gourmet experience! The bush dinner as well as the bush lunch at the river were amazing and a great surprise!

Wildlife in the Sandibe area was excellent, we saw cheetah, many leopoards and lions - the focus of the guides was definitely on tracking the cats, even though we kept assuring them that we like relaxed game drives and are also interested in other game and birds. We do appreciate that the guides were working so hard to show us lions and leopards at every game drive in the best position for taking pictures (understanding that many other guests probably put a lot of pressure on the guides in this regard). However, we sometimes felt that the vehicles were destroying a lot of vegetation when offroading and moving so close to animals (lions and leopards) that they felt crowded and moved away.

The manager, Aron, creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere and we enjoyed our stay at Sandibe very much. We were told that the camp will be taken down and rebuilt in the course of next year, with up to 20 new tented chalets. We think that this would be far too many visitors (and cars!) in the area. Wildlife would be affected and the intimate ambiance of the camp would be lost. We believe that 8 chalets are just fine and we would not consider coming back if guest numbers were to be increased."

"The walking safari experience was definitely the highlight of our entire trip.

Especially after a week of game drives, it was wonderful to explore a very remote and untouched area on foot, without any motor sound, and to take the time to watch the wildlife. Wildlife is abundant in the area. We particularly enjoyed sitting under a tree and watching the game and birds at the many waterholes. Meeting elephants when walking was definitely a highlight! And so were the incredible sunsets, different every day.

Paul Molesend is an extremely knowledgeable guide with a lot of experience and great passion for the bush. He made our experience even more enjoyable and memorable. Thank you!

The camp is, of course, less luxurious than the other camps we stayed at, however, this somewhat rustic character only enhances the bush feeling. We loved the beautiful location of the camp, the hammock in front of our tent, the campfire, bush shower, ... Food was very good, too (particularly the homemade chili sauce!) and the bar well stocked...

When planning our next safari holiday in Africa, we will definitely put a stronger focus on walking safaris, three days were just not enough! In particular, it would have been great to also do the Kanana Mokoro Trail, which is a combination of walking and mokoro trips in an even more remote area of the concession. That's for next time..."

"Savute under Canvas is a wonderful camp of &Beyond, which is moved every 6 days. It thus has a great bush feeling, even though it does not lack comfort and exquisite cuisine! The meals prepared by BK were amazing every day!

Samuel our guide created a very relaxed safari experience. Wildlife was very good, we even saw a klipspringer and a pack of wilddogs! It should be considered, however, that the camp is situated in the national park and therefore offroading and night drives are not allowed and (compared to the private concessions) quite a number of other cars is driving in the area.

Visiting the ancient rock paintings at sunrise while listening to the call of the giant eagle owl was stunning...

We'll definitely try one of the other &Beyond "Under Canvas"-camps on our next safari holiday."

"This is a very nice and intimate lodge and was the perfect place to end our holiday.

Many of the other lodges are much larger, which after more than 2 weeks in the bush, would have felt very crowded. Management was very helpful with choosing and planning our activities at the falls. Organisation for pickup and activities was all impeccable. We did enjoy our sunset cruise on the Zambezi River on a very luxurious boat as well as the walk at the falls (which were both included in the accommodation package). Instead of the usual helicopter flight we chose the microlight, which was an amazing experience!

Our room ("bird") was very nice, too: the cottage is open to one side with a great view of the steaming falls in the distance (from the bed!), and the birds' bath attracted many different small birds! Wonderful way to wake up in the morning!"