Reviews of Mdonya Old River Camp

"~ 2 hour drive from the airstrip at Ruaha main gate. Just as we arrived at the camp we came across a pride of lions on a zebra kill.

The camp is on the edges of an old dried river course where lions, buffalos, monkeys, impalas and even giraffe walked through the camp. The tents are again comfortable, with the showers under the open skies. It is a bit more as I think of safari camps. (the main reason I picked to go to Mdonya).

Meals were taken together with other guests, evening meals were under the stars. (Couples could also have romantic evening meals served outside there tents). Food as good, simple and plentiful.

Activities mainly full or part day drives. Mostly we seemed to drive back toward the main gate before starting to game view, so usually at least the first hour we were travelling the same route. This may have been due to area around the camp being burnt by honey poachers. It certainly meant that the tsetse flies were much in evidence. The drivers & guides were good, finding a variety of game for us to see. There were a lot of prides of lionesses with many cubs, we only saw 2 lions.

The other activity was a 3 hour walk, which I was told meant that they had to pick up an armed game guard at the gate again at least a 1-2 hour drive." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 3n in Zanzibar

"Having come from 5 nights at Selous Impala Camp luxury, Mdonya was to be our 4 nights of real Africa 'wilderness' camp, with camp fires, no electricity, a game walk and possibilities of animals wandering through the camp (that's what the web blurb suggests). It lived up to expectations in all but the animals in camp bit. That is until the last night when all hell broke loose as lions, impala and buffalo all passed by and around our tent between 10.30pm and 3.00am intent on escaping/eating and generally roaring their heads off to show who was boss! It was totally thrilling and fantastic. As this was all in pitch black darkness, it almost overloaded ones senses, but the tracks all around the tent in the morning did prove it was not all a dream !!

We were lucky to have the camp all to ourselves for two nights and so hog the company of Nick our superb host and camp manager. He's the salt of the earth and a great guy, despite his failure to get a leopard to sit outside our tent ! The night sky was so clear you could see the Milky Way, planets and constellations with total clarity. The night air was so still that the sound of lions carried far along the dried river valley and every grazing buffalo sounded like it was just around the corner. This, with a cold beer and a warm camp fire, was just heaven.

One negative to the trip was the day that our guide tried too hard to find me a leopard. I hadn't asked, but I'd obviously been heard talking about it, and he had tried his best. We really drove out into nowhere and spent hours seeing nothing but scrub. It was not enjoyable, but it was my fault I suppose. It was typical that the camp staff, drivers and guides would go out of their way to try and make our stay most enjoyable, and barring this day, they succeeded superbly.

The guided walk, (with armed ranger), is highly recommended..we saw horrible sights - lions attacking a wounded hippo several 100m's away; dead baby elephant being eaten by vultures - but also stunning sights of huge crocs, carrion storks etc etc, as well as learning about African toothbrush trees!

The area does have tsetse flies and you are fairly guaranteed to be bitten by some flies that can bite through socks and trousers and sting a little, so take good insect repellent and sting relief cream, and don't wear bright blue. The flies love blue/black colours. The Ruaha park authorities are supposed to put up and maintain anti tsetse fly blankets soaked in insecticide around the drive routes and these are in partial evidence as you drive around.

Overall it is not something that should put you off, but just don't be silly and wear bright blue shorts and T-shirt !! Overall, Mdonya was our idea of the real Africa and we felt genuinely privileged to have had such an opportunity to be there with so many really kind, friendly and helpful people in Mdonya to make it happen." See all these reviews: 14n in Tanzania

"We absolutely loved Mdonya - it was exactly what we were after when we booked. I spoke at length to Penny Hooper at Expert Africa who recommended this camp, based on our conversation.

We had the end tent, so the animals came right past; we were blockaded in the tent one morning by 4 water buffalo, we heard lions roaring nearby at night, and had a hyena hunting an Impala run straight towards us at dusk, whilst we were sitting outside with a beer!

The round the campfire bar was amazing and it was great to chat to the other guests about the days exploits. I wasn't sure at first whether communal dining would be our cup of tea (we were on honeymoon!), but in the end it proved to be one of the best aspects of the camp. We met some great people who we've stayed in touch with.

Malcolm who runs Adventurecamps was a great host and it was fascinating to hear his stories of life in the bush. (So fascinating in fact that we stayed up til 4am drinking whiskey with him round the fire listening to hyenas nearby - truly magical!). I absolutely couldn't find fault with this camp, though it's definitely for people who want to be close to nature.

During our stay in Ruaha we saw so many animals - including leopard which was a real highlight. The guides / drivers were fantastic - we're convinced they've all got super-human powers of sight. We can't wait to go back - especially if the camps plans to do trekking and fly-camping come to fruition." See all these reviews: 9n in Mozambique; 7n in Tanzania

"Mdonya Old River was a 'real' safari experience, comfortable but basic accommodation, dining by candlelight under the stars, being visited by Buffalo and Elephant over dinner - all amounts to a fabulous experience. There was no false pretence, the camp was designed for people wanting to experience Africa, and was visited by people with the same philosophy.

Nick, our host, was relaxed, informative, and very personable, quietly ensuring everyone was getting the best out of the camp and the game drives.

As a family of 4 we were delighted to have had the personal touch of a vehicle to ourselves, and accompanied by the same driver and guide (Bakari and Geovanni) throughout our stay. They were excellent and informative guides, going out of their way to show us the magnificent variety of landscape and wildlife in the Ruaha.

We had several close encounters with lion and elephant, most memorably with one young bull who suggested we should move the landrover hastily away from his family and their calves. Certainly got the heart beating !

There was a fabulous variety of bird and animal life in the Ruaha, that we experienced without the interuption of any other vehicle crowding the scene, and on some days rarely seeing another vehicle at all.

We believe there is 'an unwritten rule' that there should never be more than one vehicle viewing at a time - this really does enhance the experience. No leopards, sadly, however with lion, jackal, hyena, buffalo, elephant, giraffe, hippo, crocs, impala, kudu, warthog, dik dik, ....... and many more, we thoroughly enjoyed Mdonya.

One final footnote - another close encounter ! With the camp being a regular site for visiting animals, we were rudely awoken in the early hours by an elephant trumpeting right outside our tent. With his shadow passing by tent no more than 10ft away, he proceeded to strip the tree of bark next to the corner of the tent. Everything was silent except for his munching and my wife's heart beating ! A great experience for those wanting to really appreciate Tanzania." See all these reviews: 15n in Tanzania