Reviews of Mdonya Old River Camp

"Mdonya is a really special place. The staff are all so attentive and nothing is too much trouble.

It's a very similar set-up to its sister camp Lake Manze (which we stayed at first), but with it's own vibe. The tents are nicely spaced out and a highlight was having an elephant up close one evening before dinner. Not what you'd normally expect to see from your shower! We were glad of the masai expertly escorting us to and from the tent on that occasion. The food was excellent and we loved having pre-dinner drinks around the fire.

We were guided by Jonas with driver Denis, both were fantastic. Their knowledge not just of the animals but also the birds and the plant life was exceptional.

Compared to Lake Manze, we saw larger groups of animals here (elephants, giraffes, zebra). Our highlight was seeing a group of elephants digging for water in the dry riverbed, we sat and watched as more and more appeared, and we loved seeing the babies learning how to do it with varying success." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar

"It was very exciting to stay in the camp with plenty of wild animals (in particular elephants) frequently wandering through it, and lions roaring nearby at night. The views from the camp were somewhat limited, but a sundowner by the fireplace and dinner under the stars was nevertheless a great experience. The camp staff provided excellent service throughout, and we felt very safe walking around the camp accompanied by one of the Maasai guards. For example, to approach an elephant closely that was having a snack just behind our tent got our hearts jumping properly!

The food was generally very good, and we particularly enjoyed the delicious vegetarian lunches!

Even though we had only paid for shared game drives, we were delighted to have been allocated our own vehicle with guide and driver. A tip, if you would like to increase your chances of seeing mammals, it is better to plan a whole day game drive (with a bush lunch) to the more open and wetter Mwagusi river area. Unfortunely, we had not been made aware of this. As a result, most of the game drives were done in the vicinity of the camp where the bush was pretty thick and visibility low.

Unfortunately, we did not see leopard or wild dogs that other guests reported, but the lion couple mating every 15 minutes right in front of us in a dry riverbed was nevertheless a special experience!

One morning we had booked a walking safari with 2 rangers. The walk took about 3 hours following a scenic path along the Great Ruaha river. It was good for birds and we learned about plants and tracks, but we only encountered a few hippos, crocodiles and antelopes." See all these reviews: 3n in Tanzania

"It was years since I had last visited Mdonya, but the experience was even better and the camp is exceptionally well run.

I arrived when the rainy season was well under way, but this did not diminish my enjoyment of the game drives or my stay. Like Lake Manze, the camp provides a very authentic experience of the African bush. The tent was everything you could wish for - who needs electricity in the wilderness! - and the catering was excellent.

Camp manager Malcolm is great company and all the camp staff were welcoming, attentive and very efficient.

My guide Jonas and driver Denis were also expert in their fields and very good company, providing many excellent photo opportunities." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"I loved this camp and was the only guest there for 2 of the 3 nights. Again it was great to be so close to the wildlife and the staff looked after me well." See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar; 5n in Botswana; 2n in South Africa; 1n in Zambia; 1n in Kenya

"A fantastic tented camp, that has the mixture of real life camping but also has all the facilities needed.

Really like the sustainable aspect to the set up, and the guides were fantastic and really knowledgeable.

Saw lots of wildlife too!" See all these reviews: 5n in Tanzania

"Malcolm and his staff have created a warm, inviting camp at Mdonya. While the location is a bit further from most of the wildlife sightings (leading to some long game drives), the atmosphere in camp more than makes up for it. The small touches of juice upon return from game drives, cocktails around the campfire and hot water bottles in your bed at night made this camp really special. Malcolm even loaned us a tripod part while his staff located the right size wrench to tighten the problem part. We sent laundry out and it was back the same day.

Our tent was comfortable, with plenty of hot water (almost too hot!) The solar powered light was very helpful. There were extra blankets if needed as it did get chilly.

Our guide and driver were excellent. We appreciated that the guides were in constant touch with each other sharing sightings. That led to us skipping lunch one day to drive almost an hour for a leopard, which was well worth it! Due to the drought, wildlife was noticeably less, but the guides really tried their best. A brief but very exciting serval sighting near the camp was amazing and we're still wondering how they spotted it! They were very patient with our photography requests. Early morning game drives were chilly and most guests didn't seem to be prepared for that. Layers are needed - the blankets in the vehicles are not thick. Note that while walking safaris are available, they are at the park HQ and require leaving camp at about 5 am.

The food was delicious, although on nights when camp was full, servings were not large. Lunches were excellent.

Ruaha is beautiful and we would definitely return. Hopefully they will get some rain next April and May." See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania

"Mydonya was aprox a 90 min flight further north. Tiny aircraft again - very exciting! Again our lovely guide and driver - Sustin and Edmund made our 4 days at Mydonya with their knowledge and incites into the land and the animals.

Different temperatures here - colder mornings and evenings but hot water bottles and blankets were provided!

Highlights - again elephants in camp ... we have a photo of 4 young elephants, heads under the side awning of the neighbouring tent looking through the windows - or were they just keeping cool in the shade!? Countless elephants here - tiny ones up to huge bull elephants. Lots of sleepy lions - saw a couple of large males and saw a lion cub demanding a feed from it's mum.. Kudu, giraffe, Hyrax, Jackals, Ostrich to name just a few ..

Main highlight was that we were privileged to see a large male leopard up a tree with a freshly killed impala. Totally unconcerned by us as he snacked safely up his tree. We saw him again the following day just pottering across a track and then he hopped on a rock had wash and then settled down for a snooze.. Just amazing!

Our host was Micole who had some amazing stories to share with us each night at dinner.." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"At this camp, the camp manager/owner Mikola was my host, and she was so lovely. My guides Jonas and Ayoubou were as fabulous as the guys at Lake Manze - working tirelessly to find me fabulous sightings - and they did! Lion kill right outside my tent, a leopard eating, lots of elephants and babies - i was transfixed and could have spent all day watching them.

For both camps (Lake Manze & Mdonya) beyond the sightings - the guides told me a wealth of information about plants, their customs, tiny creatures - they just never stopped telling me fascinating things. And all of this with much laughter and fun. I had the most brilliant time." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"Flies all over, so pesky it was hard to sit by the campfire which was a bummer.

Good laundry service. Nice staff and tent was nicer. Water wasn’t hot." See all these reviews: 21n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar

"Mdonya felt the most remote and wild of all the camps to us, that we stayed at. We saw our only Leopard of the entire trip here and a Serval cat too. The night sky was the best here and at Mwagusi. Just spectacular. Got cold at night too as we were a bit higher in elevation.

We watched a pride of lions one night just before sunset for quite a while. We were the only car/jeep/lorrie there the entire time. We left them, after some great late afternoon sunlight for photos, and were back in camp after only 5 minutes. That pride was only less than 3 KM away from camp and we could hear them roaring and calling to one another all night long. What an experience for us!

The guides were great. Chabon and Godson with their super vision for spotting things. We made friends with Jonas and Joelle there and the rest of the staff.

Because this camp is so remote, it is difficult to schedule safari walks with the rangers because their headquarters near the Msembe air strip is far away. We did not do any safari walks here." See all these reviews: 20n in Tanzania