Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs S from Teddington

"Excellent camp with welcoming and friendly staff; very comfortable accommodation with every provision necessary provided. Shinde is very well managed offering plenty of variety of activities - game drives and water-based trips both by boat and mokoro. Meals were of a consistently high standard, with perhaps the only niggle being the lack of fresh fruit at breakfast.

This year (2022) more water is flowing in this NE channel so the camp was particularly good for going out in the various lagoons. Game drives were knowledgeably and well guided, and we were privileged to follow wild dogs on the hunt and see their successful kill, see leopard (and its cub) on a kill, and enjoy excellent sightings of a wide variety of game - particularly good herds of red lechwe and groups of kudu - and superb bird life.

Sadly, the lion pride in the area had left for a neighbouring Concession so we didn't see lion on this part of or trip. Gliding through the swamps and lagoons on a mokoro provided a peaceful and calming contrast to bouncing around on the game drives.

Shinde provided a superb introduction the the Delta and our thanks go to Simon, our guide, and all the camp staff who mad our stay so enjoyable."

"Another excellent camp with welcoming and friendly staff; very comfortable and well-provisioned accommodation. Kanana is very well managed and offers great game drives and water-based trips, both by boat and mokoro (although this year -2022- with less water in the Xudum and SW channels in the Delta there is no water in the lagoon in front of the camp and you have to travel over to Paradise Island for the boat trips and visiting the Heronry).

We are grateful to our guide, Sue (m) who was excellent, for some wonderful experiences in an area that offered magnificent game viewing. He was knowledgeable on the game, bird and flora of the area and answered all our questions. We were privileged to see a lioness with her cubs, lion prides, extremely good sightings of leopard, and witness wild dogs on a kill. And this was amongst all the other game we saw. V

Visit to the Heronry provided a unique spectacle of the great variety of birds returning a dusk. Our guide / 'punter' on our mokoro trip (Wizzy) was very forthcoming on his upbringing and village life, and drifting through the swamps was again a peaceful and calming contrast to bouncing around on the game drives.

Our only disappointment was the way the night drive was organised. Table staff at dinner ignored our request to be served first and our drive was therefore delayed and the drive curtailed. I think it also unfair to expect the guide to drive and operate the light - there should be a separate 'spotter' in the vehicle operating the spotlight."

"The four days we spent with Andrew in the Savuti area in the mobile camp rates as the highlight of our trip, a truly tremendous 'bush' experience (and I speak from many years experience living and working in Africa). Andrew is an intuitive and extremely knowledgeable guide, very personable and great to spend time with in the bush. He has an extensive experience and knowledge of the area, and its flora and fauna.

Everything was well organised and he has a dedicated team that looked after us extremely well in camp. Meals provided from the wood fire were excellent and compared more than favourably with more sophisticated kitchens. Really just a lovely set-up in the bush and we felt safe and secure, despite the nightly visits of the hyena to our outside washbowls (!) and the leopard passing by.

Game viewing was superb and again many of the sights were due to the diligence and expertise of Andrew. Each day we visited four 3 week-old lion cubs he 'discovered' hidden in bushes by their mother and on our last day were privileged to watch them being moved by the lioness to a fresh hiding place - something one so rarely can witness.

We saw both the Savuti marsh pride and the north pride, with Andrew explaining how the prides have changed over the years with new male leadership. Watched animal activity and behaviour at the various natural pans and artificial waterholes and learned so much about the different species.

A fantastic and most enjoyable part of our trip."

"Very welcoming and friendly on arrival. Muchenje is in a fabulous situation on a bluff above the Chobe river and one morning we watched a large herd (+400) of buffalo from our room walk down to the river. The highlight at Muchenje was the day spent on the Chobe river watching the game and birdlife from the water. Although, note that with the low water level at the time of our visit we firstly had to drive to Kasane to pick up the launch; however, this meant we also had a game drive through the more eastern part of the park on the return journey - during which we saw a lioness on a fresh young buffalo kill.

Experienced some excellent game viewing (lions attempting a kill; jackals scavenging on a recent lion kill; elephant, hippo and buffalo in abundance), although our guides were not as knowledgeable as at other camps visited. Food was good and buffet style so one could self-manage portions. Rooms were very comfortable and the showers were brilliant - an absolute delight on return from dusty game drives!

However, we felt the management focused too much on the 'hospitality' and not on the overall management at the lodge. Little effort seemed to be made to sort out the absence of wi-fi at the lodge until it returned on our last morning (thankfully to make our onward fight confirmations).

Also, the night drive was poorly organised; delayed until after dinner meaning it was curtailed, and unfair to expert the guide to drive, use the radio and operate the light at the same time - there should be a separate 'spotter' in the vehicle operating the spotlight."

"We very much enjoyed Machweo; the highlight was the exceptional quality of the dining and the helpful and friendly staff. Provided a good base to visit nearby Arusha, although access track off main road was in a poor state of repair. Machweo is now being crowded out by all the developments surrounding the lovely situation.

The National Museum and the art gallery at the Cultural Centre, and the Tanzanite Experience were visits we planned and thoroughly enjoyed. Everyone very helpful and informative.

Comfortable room in chalet was somewhat restricted - layout with the bed meant the wardrobe could not be fully opened. They need an in-door lounge area - raining much of our 2 days there meant that dining was inside rather than on the terrace."

"Tarangire more than met our expectations. Well appointed camp and excellent tent. Nomad staff as everywhere were excellent - extremely friendly and attentive. Nomad's policy of staff training and development is clearly paying dividends and we appreciated all the efforts of the staff to make our stay enjoyable.

Game viewing was excellent and Joe proved a knowledgeable and astute guide. We had some great sightings not just of the 'popular' animals but also those shy and rarely seen game (incl: lesser kudu, aardwolf and common genet). Access to some potential viewing environments was restricted by the lack of road/track access."

"I last visited Ngorongoro 46 years ago and it was wonderful to see the environment, flora and fauna still in superb condition. The only thing is the popularity today of the area making for a crowded experience. However, my wife for whom this was a first visit didn't think the number of vehicles too obtrusive when we were down in the crater. We found the driver/guides very responsible in their behaviour.

Superb situation of the camp with the views over the crater and easy access to the entry gate (we were first in each morning at 0615 and really enjoyed the quiet early mornings in the crater before the 'hordes' arrived!). Only problem was the windy location with the tent constantly flapping that made relaxation and sleeping problematic. Otherwise, the tent itself was excellent. Nomad staff were really good (as noted earlier).

We had two days tremendous game viewing with Sammy our knowledgeable and astute guide, and we also appreciated our discussions around his views as a Maasai. Some great sightings of a lion pride and a rhino, and also a hyena kill."

"A welcome interlude from the safari camps. Fantastic accommodation and a real 'colonial' feel to the place. Staff really welcoming and made for a wonderful stay. Food was superb, much sourced from their own organic production. A 'groaning' buffet table at lunch and a delicious evening menu. Really interesting to see their intensive organic food and animal production on site, showing what can be achieved in terms of agricultural production.

There as some noise intrusion sitting on the main terrace on the Saturday from the swimming pool construction being undertaken, otherwise you couldn't fault the place.

We looked at things on our own rather than join the myriad activities organised on the farm, and had a fantastic day trip to Lake Manyara GP for which Gibbs is well-located (25 minutes away). Animal sightings noted below are for our trip to LMNP."

"It was a long flight down to Katavi and this remote location is really for the 'experienced' safari visitors. We really appreciated the wilderness aspects of our visit - rarely do you see another vehicle. Chada is a well appointed camp and we had a very comfortable tent. A resident (!) elephant herd could be a bit bothersome: they were right outside our tent once delaying our morning game viewing departure, and on another occasion pushing down a corner of the tent. More congenial were evening sights of the common bushbaby in the camp. The Nomad camp staff and manager (as everywhere) were excellent - extremely friendly and attentive.

We had some real 'quality' game viewing including witnessing the stalking and kill by a pride of lions; the numerous densely crowded hippo pools (Katavi has the highest concentration of hippo anywhere), a herd of roan antelope; and the rarely seen white-tailed mongoose. However, what we missed were the concentrations of animals on the Chada Plain, where there were not the density of species for which Katavi is renowned, perhaps because there had been some early rain and the controlled burning carried out by the Park authorities elsewhere had dispersed the animals. To this extent, the stay at Katavi did not meet our expectations. Access to some potential viewing environments was restricted by the lack of road/track access.

Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our experiences in Katavi and really appreciated John our driver/guide who did all he could to enhance our trip and provided valuable and knowledgeable information on all the animals and birdlife."