Reviews of Mdonya Old River Camp

"We enjoyed or stay at Mdonya, and it gave us the experience of the African bush that I had requested. Our guide and driver - Yohanes and Mr Night - were good and very patient, spending a lot of time looking for our requests! The atmosphere in the camp was welcoming and friendly, and we enjoyed eating the excellent food together with the other guests.

However, we did find the distances a problem. The camp is situated a long way from good view points which tended to be near the airstrip, which in itself was over an hour's drive. On the day we went for a walking safari, we had to drive for 1 hour 30 mins to collect the ranger before we could start, by which time it was beginning to get hot.

The safaris tended to be whole days because of the distance, and this meant sitting for long periods in intense heat without moving. Personally, I found the lack of exercise a problem in both camps, but more so in Mdonya, and it was not something I was prepared for.

The other problem was the tsetse fly. It is particularly bad in the area of the camp, and none of the repellents worked. Consequently we had to cover ourselves up - which was rather uncomfortable in the heat. Even so, they managed to bite through clothing.

We felt that we could have managed with one less day at Mdonya" See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar

"A very good and personal service was given by the staff and management in this charming camp along the dry river bed with plenty of game around the tents at daytime and in the night.

Only the tsetse flies in the areas around the camp could give me a bad day, but since most of the game drive took place in more remote areas without the flies it was only a lesser problem." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"Our favourite of the destinations on our safari mainly down to the staff in particular our guide Giovanni. Very friendly atmosphere." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"Ruaha landscape is quite a contrast to Selous – so many fantastic baobabs – and we exchanged mosquitoes for tsetse flies, which turned out to be a bigger issue than we expected – nothing seems to deter them apart from several layers of clothing. Greeted on our arrival in camp by Nicola who made us very welcome. Didn't meet Nick until later and he seemed reticent at first but this didn't last long and he proved to be very informative and interesting, and a good listener!

We loved the atmosphere at this camp, especially around the campfire in an evening. The food here was excellent and plentiful – how do they manage this in such remote locations? Once again our guide Giovanni and driver Alex were brilliant, Giovanni's bird knowledge excellent. Here we saw lots of lions, elephants and kudu along with a few different species such as black backed jackals, reedbuck, dik dik and klipspringer, and a long distance view of a cheetah and cub on a kill, as of course there is no 'off-roading' allowed in the National Park.

Around the camp we were visited by buffalo, giraffe, impala and monkeys. Our closest encounter here was with an elephant that decided to saunter through our bush lunch – as reported the food was very good! Our guides remained calm, telling us to remain still and we felt safe throughout.

Our early morning transfer to the airstrip was worth getting out of our comfortable beds for. First of all a genet crossed in front of us and then we came across 2 male lions, lying in the road. They got up and proceeded to lead the way, refusing to step aside! Eventually we got past but received a glowering look from one of them. Then to our great delight a young male leopard put in an appearance, which really made our day. Follow this up with a superb African sunrise, what more can you ask for?" See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania

"Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, it did. We were close to the animals in a wonderful natural setting but we felt safe at all times, as long as we followed the few simple guidelines. The camp manager, Nick and his staff were wonderfully welcoming after every tour.

Our guide, Giovanni, and driver, Shitindi, worked so hard to find animals and birds. Giovanni was an expert birder and did all the work for us! We only had to sit back and enjoy. We couldn't believe the range of animals and birds we saw as we travelled everywhere. You might want to provide a facility to book a specialist bird guide, such as Giovanni,

The camp was in a wonderful situation and dining under the southern stars at night, feet away from bufallo and hyena was thrilling. The camp had a light sociable atmosphere with drinks around the fire at night. The food was excellent especially for our peculiar needs (vegetarian without cheese).

Be warned, the early morning safari was cold and we needed extra warmth. The Tsetse flies were annoying.

We had an elephant feeding on an acacia tree just outside our tent as we watched in amazement. It was also wonderful to have the Masai warrior move the bufallos on from around our tent when it was time to go to bed! There was even a safari style in the tent, simple, tasteful and elegant. There was no electricity and that was a bonus to support the whole atmosphere.

Be warned, each day in the jeep can become quite tiring. It was hot, but the heat was dry and bearable, The walking safari was especially good as we hato keep skirting around the elephants, hippos and crocodiles.

We saw several night time animals in the camp (civet, janet, hyena, jackal). A night time safari would have been great (but only in a jeep, of course).

A camp bird list might be a good idea." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"We loved everything about this camp and could find no fault with it at. Nick, Micole and all the staff were extremely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable about the animals and the area in general. We felt that our guide Yohanas and driver Alex went out of their way to make sure we got the most out of our trip. Initially we were a little apprehensive about this camp, as this was our first visit to Africa and our first safari and we thought it might be a little too basic for us but the camp is exactly what it says it is and in our opinion it was a wonderful experience. How the staff manage to cook and serve such lovely food is amazing. Yes, some of the food was occasionally not piping hot but in the main it was and you have to remember where you are and how far the staff have to carry it! The lunches we had out on safari were really good, meat, pasta, rice, fruit etc most unexpected and very welcome after a hard morning watching wonderful animals! As well as all the usual animals we were very lucky to see cheetahs busy eating. We would recommend this camp to anyone old or young, (we are in our 60's) but were happy that we visited this camp first and moved our way up the luxury scale, as some people who had been to more luxurious camps first were a little disappointed." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar

"We travelled here after time in Selous, so welcomed the contrast. The camp is more basic, but with the variety of the landscape and the richness of the wildlife you don't spend much time at a loss for things to do - and there is nothing to beat passing the time watching impala , buffalo and elephant wandering through the camp watching you watching them.

Food is good, with some real swahili cooking, and communal eating under the star lit skies and warmed by a flickering bonfire adds to the taste. The staff really make an effort, planning seating arrangements and making sure everyone gets a fair share of the Old Africa stories. Nick must have incredible patience to tell his fascinating story to each successive wave of guests.

Ruha as a park is less immediate in its rewards than Selous, but there is greater variety in the landscape, and some great horizons. Lions galore and although we didn't see cheetahs the hunt was interesting throughout. Special mention to the honey-badger and the genet as unexpected sights. Giovanni and Rowland made sure we saw as mush as possible.

Be prepared for the unexpected - our teenage children were forced out of their tent by an invasion of Safari Ants marching through - we saw they were capable of devouring a multi-coloured frog as well as taking numerous bites of human flesh. As Nicole pointed out we were happy to sit a matter of feet from lions but had to run from the tiny animals.

Only draw back is a slightly long drive before you get to the main game areas meaning all day drives are necessary.
Again no travellers cheques - cash only." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar

"We adored the camp as it was so remote. Our tent was a fair way from anyone else and we had loads of animals walking past as we were on the ede of the old river bed.

The staff were excellent and we particularly enjoyed evenings round the camp fire and early morning breakfast.

Our safari guide, Giovanni, was incredible - there didn't seem to be anythiing he didn't know about the animal/ bird population. We had some great drives, with Giovanni and Roland, which all included picnic meals at some fantastic locations." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar

"Came here after an excellent experience in Selous and wondered how anything would stand up to that but Mdonya did. A different environment both in Ruaha and in the camp meant that you didnt feel you could compare. Though a little cooler in the evenings and early mornings this was offset by being able to have drinks around a campfire and eat dinner under the stars with your feet being warmed by a bowl of coals. The open camp meant we had animals (elephant, buffalo, jackals, dikdik and giraffe in our stay) wandering into the camp but never felt unsafe.

Showering under the bright stars of an African night is an experience not to be underestimated.

Nick and Mikol couldnt have been more friendly and helpful to us and our children and again the food was excellent - a real achievement when that isolated. The staff were extremely friendly and always helpful whether serving drinks or charging up batteries.

Moses our driver was informative friendly and enhanced the experience greatly for us but was especially good with the children spending alot of time answering a myriad of questions and making sure they saw everything.

The game was plentiful and we saw two large pride of lions, two leopards and the most fantastic elephants as well as everyhting else you would expect - only downside were the Tsetse flieswhich meant you didnt linger in overgrown areas or kept wrapped in the masai blankets.

Sad not to see cheetah but otherwise a flawless stay and a great contrast to Selous - a pairing I would recommend to anyone considering Southern Tanzania." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"Fantastic location alongside the dry river bed. Great staff and good leadership from Manager, Nick. Good food. We thought some of the previous comments on this camp were unfair. It is clearly described (and priced) as a simple camp with tented accommodation. Its simplicity is refreshing and its strength.

Animals (particularly elephants) really DO come into camp. This puts the guests in their proper place. You have to drive a long way to see a big variety of game. The guiding is enthusiastic but there is not the training infrastructure that you find in other camps. We preferred the shorter local drives and spending time in camp itself where things come to you. The tetse flies are a problem here - although thankfully not in the camp itself." See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania