Reviews of safaris to Ruaha National Park

"We had a great time. Some of our preceding comments are critical but these are finer details; the overall holiday was marvellous.

We do want to point out that February in Dar, Selous, Ruaha and Mahale is wet season. It did rain a lot and made roads in the Selous very difficult. Overall we got to see lots of game and other wildlife but it was not always easy. We would love to do this again in the dry season to see the difference.

Our itinerary involved several domestic flight connections and transfers but all worked perfectly. Curiously the only place where we had to hand over a voucher was the Holiday Inn in Dar.

It would be good if camps could provide more information and maps on their situation and ecology. It seems odd to come all this way to places specialising in the natural environment and find so little background material." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"In general, it was a most enjoyable holiday and the arrangements make by Expert Africa worked perfectly in all important respects.

Based on my experience, I have made comments which I hope will be accepted as constructive and assist you to improve still further your level of service.

I experienced some difficulties in getting to Heathrow for a Saturday departure. Both mainline rail and the tube often have engineering work at weekends. I spoke to some other people who also had problems. Where there is an option of a mid-week departure, I would suggest you might point out to would-be travellers that a mid-week departure would avoid snarl-ups with rail and tube.

Visa. May I say that I object to the entry “visa”, which is not really a visa, but an arrivals tax. (The fact that you can buy it on arrival at Dar indicates this is not a true visa). Most countries have a departure tax, but on arrival I would prefer to receive a warm welcome, not a poke in the eye. In terms of the overall cost of the trip, this is not a significant amount, but I do not like having to pay a tax both on arrival and on departure. I appreciate this is not under your control, but I mention this in case you ever speak to the appropriate authorities.

A general comment: All the tents/rooms were spotlessly clean.

Laundry. At Mdonya the embargo on hand washing women's underclothes also extends to men's underclothes and handkerchiefs. (Strangely, this did not seem to be an issue at Manze and Impala. Change of religious taboos??). The cost of laundry is included at Impala.

p.6 Airport departure tax. The only place in Tanzania where I had to pay a departure tax was on departure from ZNZ to DAR. USD6.00, not 5. Claire's email said, "You no longer need to pay the international departure tax out of Tanzania as this is now included on your air ticket. You will still need to pay the domestic departure tax out of Dar and Zanzibar but not out of Selous or Ruaha. We have recently amended our Notes for Travellers accordingly." I took this to mean I would be charged the tax flying Dar-Ruaha, and Dar-Znz, but this was not the case.

You state that it is essential that we reconfirm our return flight. When I eventually managed to find a computer and logged on to BA.com, I found a message saying that reconfirmation was necessary only for flights from Libya and Saudia Arabia.

Postcards are unobtainable at Mdonya and Manze. They can be bought at the shop in the domestic terminal at DAR airport - if you are awake enough to buy some whilst awaiting the connecting flight to Ruaha.

The safari vehicles in Tanzania all have an overhead awning to keep off the sun and/or rain. This is an excellent idea and one that their competitors further south (e.g. Zambia, Namibia) would do well to copy.

Both Ruaha and Selous are happily free from the accumulation of plastic bags, Coke tins and other rubbish which I found spoiling the Zambezi at Chobe last year.

My experience did not bear out your advice concerning payment of ranger fees. On no occasion was I asked to pay any fee for the services of a ranger, although it is of course customary to give them a tip.

Mobile phones: the Tanzanians are as addicted to mobile phones as we are. This was not a problem at Impala, but at Mdonya and Manze drivers and guides made and received calls when out game-viewing. When drifting peacefully across Lake Manze in a small boat with the engine stopped, or being stationary watching 40 elephants moving silently across the road in front of you, these are not ideal times to have a mobile start ringing. I look forward to the time when some of the bird mimics, such as robin chats, master the ring of a mobile and then this sound will be heard all over the park! Perhaps drivers and guides should be discouraged from taking or using their phones outside the confines of the camp – unless there is an emergency. I already mentioned this at Manze, so corrective action may have been taken already.

Compared with my experience in South Luangwa, the Tanzanian guides are less knowledgeable and they are less able to express their knowledge in clear English. Many of them do not distinguish between the letters “l” and “r”. Rilac bleasted lollers are common birds! (aka Lilac breasted roller)

At some stage in the planning process it was suggested that I split the stay in the Selous and do Manze, Mdonya, Impala. More by luck than good planning, I think I did my trip in the right order. The standard of the camps rose as I progressed, culminating in extreme pampering at Impala. I think I would have been disappointed if I had ended up at the comparatively Spartan Mdonya after I had enjoyed the luxury of Imapala. A small example, the tin wash basin to be emptied by hand at Mdonya was plumbed in at Manze, and replaced by two porcelain sinks at Impala. (This is not meant to belittle Mdonya. It is a charming place which I really liked, but if you expect every camp to be like Impala, then you may get an unpleasant surprise.)

Although I appreciated the comfort of having the wad of vouchers which you sent me, in the event I was never asked to produce even one. The pilots of Coastal Aviation did not even ask for my air ticket when flying out of Ruaha and Selous!

Fly Camping. You say in your brochure that you are not sure where this term originated. If you read the Life of Selous by J.G.Millais (1918) he makes references such as,

“horses could be no longer used and the elephants themselves must be pursued on foot in the 'fly.'”

“…mostly killed by hunting them from horseback, but even as an old man he killed many on foot in the 'fly' country.”

“Their main hunting veldt was the 'fly' country between the rivers Zambezi and Gwai.”

This suggests to me that the term fly camping means to camp in areas where there are tsetse fly. I realise this derivation is hardly likely to encourage tourists!

I found the Tanzanians universally friendly and welcoming, although the Zanzibaris I met at Unguja were not quite to cheerful as their colleagues on the mainland.

Thank you to everyone at Expert Africa and all the camps and hotels. After the hiccough last year over car hire in Namibia, this has restored my faith in Expert Africa." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 21 on a Tanzania safari

"We are very inexperienced and somewhat timid travellers and were quite nervous about many aspects of visiting Africa. However I was impressed by the detailed information which we received beforehand and any minor concerns we had were addressed by Expert Africa staff.

The trip also went flawlessly, much to our relief.

I noted that other visitors that we met on our travels spoke well of Expert Africa." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"We enjoyed the whole experience immensely and would be pleased to return to Tanzania again in the future. As well as travel with Expert Africa.

Ellie was very knowledgable and I appreciate the hour she spent on the phone with me to go through what I wanted and explain her experiences. That was definitely a swaying factor in booking the holiday with Expert Africa." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"Expert Africa, and Claire Scott, made a brilliant job putting this trip together. I felt I briefly said what i was looking for, and I instantly got a very helping and knowledgable hand working for me.

Excellent advice on which game parks to visit (to avoid crowds and to see a lot of animals) both have been greatly met! We saw 10 times more than I had dreamt of! And there were rarely any other vehicles around, maybe one or two during the whole drive).

We moved between four different places, but everything went smoothly.

The only real downer is the food issue, but I am confident that Expert Africa, and Claire, did request this accordingly. I think it was big BA that lost the order, not you (having sorted every little step out in nowhere working perfectly well, I simply can't see you being the cause of the BA lapsus)." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip as a whole was fantastic. Saw some great game and had a great experience.

I would however miss out on the beach experience if I did the trip again." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"The balance of the itinerary was superb. We have done a number of safari holidays before, but none have been to this standard of care and attention.

It was difficult to believe that the entire schedule, with all the internal transfers, could work. It did, so our thanks to all concerned.

The standard of accommodation and variety of locations combined to give a brilliant holiday and experience.

Initially, we found the brochure difficult to interpret. This was resolved by telephone discussions on our actual requirements, after which we found it a good point of reference.

Every single query was dealt with promptly and efficiently." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Marvellous - a trip of a lifetime.

Suggestions to help you improve : None at all - thank you." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic as usual!! We had absolutely wonderful safari experiences - perhaps the beach side was a little tame after that (we are not that good at relaxing).

We have used your expertise for 4 holidays on the trot - and expect to do so in the future. Clearly we are very happy with your service - you provide us with the expertise and very clear information we need. There have been no nasty surprises on any of the holidays because everything has been so thoroughly explained before we go.

On previous trips we have had to contact you whilst on holiday - what a service you provide - everything sorted out efficiently and immediately leaving no hassle for us. We feel absolute confidence in Expert Africa - so we cannot think of anything to improve on what you already do so well!!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"We enjoyed the trip.

Unfortunately wild dog were not seen at either park, but they appear to have been seen very rarely.

Forgot to say at Impala the laundry was part of the service. Had to pay for it at Mdonya.

Also the camp company are currently absorbing the increases in the park fees for Selous & Ruaha" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari