Travel reviews by Mrs L from Leeds

"From the moment we arrived we felt welcome and very much at home. The tents are spacious, comfortable and clean, and sitting outside your tent watching elephants, giraffes, jackals, impala (I could go on) is something extra special, and it happened every day during our stay.

The food is very good, definitely something for all tastes, and sitting around the fire having a chat with the staff and other guests is really nice. Drinks are very reasonably priced.

Dismas and Chelestino were our guide and driver – these guys were exceptional and really made our trip 5-star. Dismas had such amazing knowledge and passion for his work and his country, and the wildlife of Ruaha, he is a credit to Mdonya and to Essential Destinations. We rarely saw other vehicles (one of the reasons we chose Ruaha and decided to avoid the Serengeti) and it really felt like a proper adventure. The game viewing in the park was incredible; we had tried not to get our hopes up beforehand as nothing is ever guaranteed, but we had many amazing sightings every day, mainly due to the skills of Dismas and Chelestino.

Thanks everyone at Mdonya (wildlife included!) for making our trip so spectacular – I hope we can return again in the future."

"We had an amazing four nights at Lake Manze – the camp itself is in a really beautiful spot on the lake and we saw some incredible wildlife from the comfort of the terrace in front of our tent – elephants, moneys, impala, hippos… its something extra special to be able to watch them with a beer in hand!

The tents are spacious, comfortable and very clean, and the solar-powered fan was a bonus as the Selous is quite humid. Food in the camp was very very good – I would say it was the best we had in Tanzania, I looked forward to every meal!

Our guides Abdallah and Zac, and driver Ally were absolutely fantastic – they are experts in the wildlife of the Selous and very passionate about their work. The game viewing was brilliant – we were lucky enough to see the wild dogs, fighting wildebeest, a lioness with a warthog kill – we saw plenty of animal behaviour which was really special. We both left the Selous with a new-found love of birds too – special thanks to Abdallah for his exceptional boat-driving skills for getting us so close!

If you want a masterclass in hospitality, visit Lake Manze – Shaun and Milli are fantastic hosts who go above and beyond in every aspect of their work. I was sad to leave as I felt like I was leaving new friends! Thanks to everyone at Lake Manze (wildlife included!) for making our trip extra special – I hope we can return one day."