Reviews of Impala Camp

"An excellent camp for our needs, relaxed and friendly. We liked very much the dining arrangements, where each group had their own table, rather than the communal dining arrangements found in most camps. It is nice to be able to be sociable if you want to, at the bar, but to have your own company for meals.

The main winner for me was having a guide allocated to us for the whole of our stay and going out as our own small party (of 3) rather than being mixed with other groups staying. this meant thatt the guides knew what we had seen and knew what our interests were and could tailor the bush drives to us.

The guides were all local and well informed with good english.

Location excellent - being by the river added to the breadth of experience, plenty of close contact with animals in the camp!!" See all these reviews: 4n in Tanzania; 3n in Zanzibar

"This camp was lovely, different completely than Lake Manze, we enjoyed the difference, great game viewing, including wild dogs , eagles and lions, we even saw a herd of Eland, about 70 animals, which even our guide Ezra had never seen.... The food was excellent and the staff wre really nice.

Was informed no mosquito nets required at the camp.

Catching our flight to the next camp by boat in a rain storm, you had to be there!!!!" See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"Beautiful Camp, tents felt very luxurious, excellent very professional staff - all staff.

Safaris were so well organised, brilliant having breakfast in the bush. Guides were very knowledgable and keen for us to have a great time and see as much as possible, the drivers were brilliant at avoiding the bumps!.

The food was fabulous - which surprised us. Lovely romantic meal by the pool on the last night. Couldn't have been better. Would love to go back sometime." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar

"Rooms were very practical. Efficient system to look after us including keeping the same excellent guide (dennis) throughout the stay.

Dennis new we wanted to see african dogs and leopards and he did not dissapoint us. Dennis's knowledge of the area and game made our stay brilliant.

The staff and food at the camp was good and nothing was too much trouble. Last night evening meal in the bush is an excellent idea." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania

"We met with our guide Hussein and driver Ally at the airstrip and had our first game drive on the way to camp was a perfect start to our trip.
Hussain & Ali were a lot of fun and their bush knowledge was exceptional. We remained with them for most of our game viewing during our stay at Impala which gave our stay the personal touch.

We relaxed on a boat safari after our long journey to camp from the U.K. This was a great opportunity to see many different birds & animals up close. The sundowner on the return to camp was a lovely surprise

Mealtimes at Impala were very relaxed with exceptional food. We could not believe we had our own personal waiter called Idi who made mealtimes fun and educational at the same time with free KiSwahili lessons thrown in. The added incentive of having no dinner and being thrown to the crocodiles in the river below if we didn't learn our words meant we learnt very quickly!

The camp is a very relaxed and beautiful place where you can watch the river go by with many chances to see big game up close. Behind this is a very well run team who work extremely hard to make your stay as perfect as possible. Nothing seems too much trouble for them. In particular both Barbara and Matteo are really easy to get along with and this reflects in the camps whole atmosphere.

The look on our guide Hussein's face when we said we'd most like to see the hunting dogs was a picture as he'd already set himself on finding us a Leopard before we left which wasn't going to be an easy task in itself but he came up trumps and found us both!!" See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania

"Highlight of the holiday" See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar

"We would have to try very hard to find any criticism of Selous Impala Camp. From our greeting at the nearby airstrip (and the following boat 'transfer' to the camp) to the time we bade our sad farewells five days later, we were given the warmest of welcomes and the friendlies of high standard service. The staff at Impala camp really impress and contributed greatly to a wonderful safari experience.

Matteo the manager deserves special mention for is personal, relaxed but very friendly and helpful interaction, as well as running a great place so well. Our tented rooms were very comfortable and tasteful, the food consistently excellent (in presentation as well as taste and quality) and facilities such as books to browse at our convenience and a free laundry service were much appreciated.

And then there are the safari activities which we found overall to be really first rate. Game Drives (sometimes with 'Bush Breakfasts'), Boat Safaris, and Fishing trips were highly interesting, professionally conducted and really wonderful experiences. By the end of our second game drive and first boat safari we had seen more than we would have dreamed of, yet the expertise of the guides ensured that we continued to be surprised and excited throughout all trips. This is our first safari experience, but it feels that one doesn't do badly by seeing in just a few days 4 of the 'big five', baboons, other primates, a vast array of beautiful birds, zebra, wilderbeast, crocodiles, elephants and countless hippo, giraffe and impala - overall dozens of species.

If we had one disappointment it would probably be the fly-camping, simply because we didn't feel that the experience made up for the relative lack of the fine creature comforts of the main camp. But that is not to say that it wasn't well organised and guided: our dedicated catering staff rustled up the typical high Impala quality for our remote bush dinner there too.

In a nutshell, we would unhesitatingly give the Selous Impala Camp our strongest possible recommendation and we were very sad indeed when our 5 days in its capable hands came to an end." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"We loved this camp. Everything was so personal, from the moment we arrived we were made to feel very special (e.g. Champagne sunset and honeymoon note).

As we had to pack so light we really liked the fact that there was a complementary washing service. It was also great that we had the same guides for the 4 days that we were there. The only negative things we would say is that although the staff were wonderful we felt that they had been drilled with what to say to guests and didn't seem as happy as the staff at the lake Manze camp (maybe a little repressed?)

The guides were great and completely went out of their way to ensure that we got to see the animals that we wanted to see. Something to note is that there was a $15/pp charge for fishing at this camp (unlike the lake Manze camp), however this was a very enjoyable activity." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"From the moment we were greeted at the airstrip by Mtolo with chilled fruit juice and moist flannels we were treated like royalty. Every member of the Impala team, be it guides, drivers, waiters or the Masai could not do enough to make our trip everything that we hoped it would be. The quality of the accommodation, service, food and safaris was simply exceptional.

We saw more animals and wildlife than we hoped would be possible and much more closely than we had expected. Our wildlife experiences, by truck, boat or foot were unforgettable not only because of what we saw in relative isolation but also becuase of the helpful, considerate and hugely informed way in which we were guided.

Selous Impala Camp is a very special place in an unforgettable location." See all these reviews: 4n in Tanzania

"We very much enjoyed our time at Selous Impala. It is located in a lovely position overlooking the river. The accommodation was comfortable and the food good. All the staff were friendly and efficient.

We had our own vehicle ( there were 3 of us ) with driver and guide , both of whom were friendly and a pleasure to be with. We had good game viewing - lions, wild dog , elephant . The guide was very knowledgable . It was also good to have the river trips available. We did 2 of these, one of which was a fishing trip where ( somehow ) we managed to catch a rather large catfish from a sandbank in the middle of the river, which 5 minutes before had been occupied by a couple of very large crocodiles. As well as close encounters with a lot of large crocodiles, there was excellent bird life to see, and hippos and elephant both on the banks and in the water.

We also enjoyed the scenery of the Selous with its combination of bush and water." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar