Travel reviews by Ms R from Leicester

"I was only staying overnight at the Serena Hotel in Dar; my room was perfectly adequate and typically international in style.

Reception was helpful in getting me a taxi. Room service was promptly delivered."

"I can't rate Usangu highly enough. My 'tent' was beautiful. The 'front of house' staff were welcoming and friendly. The food was lovely although more than I could eat so I always skipped lunch. My guide, Sainingo, was so knowledgeable and I learned a lot from him. All the staff gathering to sing, dance and drum their farewell to me seemed heartfelt and not in the least bit cheesy.

But the real star was that part of Ruaha NP - it is what I imagine the Serengeti would have been like 100 years ago. Vast open spaces with huge herds of Topi, Zebra, Sable, Roan, Waterbuck, etc. And most importantly no-one else around. The downside is that the animals are not as habituated to people as in the north of Ruaha and there are few graded tracks and lots of little streams so sometimes progress in the truck can be slow.

Sainingo showed me animals that I haven't seen before (a monitor lizard hibernating in a tree, a clutch of ostrich eggs, a civet cat, etc). I set 4 camera traps at the start of my stay and viewed the results the day before I left - again seeing some animals that I haven't seen before (a honey badger, a spotted hyena, a common duiker, more civet cats, etc). Also the night drive using a night vision app was spectacular; being able to see animals (a scrub hare and a porcupine family amongst many others) without disturbing them with a spotlight was fantastic.

All these sightings are added to the on-site Research Station data to help work out what animals are resident and their population sizes. Leena, the young woman running the Research Station, is passionate about the work already done and how visitors can contribute to the ongoing research.

All I can say is Go Now whilst it is still wild; the inconveniences are more than outweighed by the spectacular wildlife viewing and 5 star camp facilities. I hope to return."

"Ikuka is located in the busier northern part of Ruaha NP consequently the animals are completely habituated to trucks so getting close to them is not an issue. The guides have a local network to alert each other to interesting wildlife sightings; this can be advantageous (come and see this!) but means that sometimes there are a number of trucks near, for example, a pride of lions.

My guide, Geofrey, showed me the largest group of Wild Dog that I have ever seen (26 individuals) which was spectacular but also a jumble of rocks that was home to a group of Tree Hyrax and a family of Banded Mongoose, all happily co-existing.

The camp itself was very nice; the 'tents' were larger than usual with a lounge area as well as a terrace. The only downside was that the bathroom and toilet area was outside the zipped tent surrounding the bed which meant for slightly cumbersome night time visits to the bathroom. The staff were very attentive without being intrusive.

I enjoyed the fine dining although I skipped lunches."

"I arrived late at night and, on checking in, was told that my booking was for an "accessible" room. I initially thought that this was amusing but, having been escorted to the room, found that the sink was at mid-thigh level which was awkward for me to use. However as I was leaving early the following morning I didn't make a fuss about it.

On checking out I told the receptionist that I had checked my paperwork and could confirm that my booking had been for a Standard room on a B&B basis.

They were perfectly pleasant about it but said that their records showed an accessible room was required."

"I arrived at Giraffe Manor at breakfast time and there was a short delay whilst the previous occupants checked-out and my room (Betty's) was prepared. The manager showed me around and explained about the giraffe-feeding.

After unpacking and a reviving shower I was escorted to the Giraffe Centre where one of the volunteers introduced me to Betty the giraffe and showed me how to feed her. At 5pm the Centre closes and the giraffes drift up to the Manor to be fed from the Terrace. Even if you're not staying at the Manor, you can arrange to have afternoon tea on the terrace and join in the feeding.

Later I had a beautifully-cooked dinner followed by coffee on the terrace by the light of the full moon. Magical ! Early the following morning I had giraffes at my bedroom window and fed them again through the breakfast-room windows. Overall a lovely treat and fantastic start to my holiday."

"My two main priorities when arranging this trip were to have excellent guides and to get away from other safari vehicles. I cannot rate Laikipia Wilderness Camp highly enough on both counts.

Byront is a fantastic knowledgeable guide; as well as game drives he led a couple of morning walks before it got too hot when he showed us plants, spiders, animal tracks, etc that we wouldn't otherwise have seen. A special highlight was watching the pack of Wild Dogs including 11 puppies not long out of the den for 1.5hrs one evening. Aside from a few vehicles on the public road we saw nobody else the whole time I was there.

Don't go to Laikipia if you want 5 star luxury tents, a pool or 'fine dining'. The tents are spacious, comfortable, mine had a lovely view over the bush from the veranda. The bathrooms have good showers with lots of hot water. The food is plentiful and beautifully-cooked. And the people are lovely, really welcoming in an informal relaxed style. Just perfect !"

"The food at Kicheche is absolutely superb but I had to move to half portions and still ended up skipping one or two meals. Sonja's reputation as a cook is well-deserved but I couldn't do the food justice. The tents are huge and nicely decorated. All the staff were friendly and anxious to be of service and there were one or two lovely unexpected touches such as the hot water bottles when we went on a night game drive.

Also excellent is the resident guide Andrew (silver-qualified and thinking about gold). He added immeasurably to my safari experience; he was so knowledgeable about the birds and animals we saw. He was able to explain why an animal was behaving in a particular manner.

There were so many special moments; feeding the 3-month-old baby rhino, being surrounded by a pack of very curious Spotted Hyenas (including one who tried to eat the spare tyre cover), watching a pair of lions stalk and fail to kill a warthog."

"I stayed at Macushla House for a couple of days at the end of my trip as I wanted to see more of Nairobi before flying home. My room (No 5), although a little dark as the windows were either high up and shaded by garden plants and trees, was otherwise large, clean and very comfortable. A few more coat-hangers would have been useful; there were only 2 available.

The public rooms, terrace, gardens and pool at Macushla are lovely especially if the local troop of Black-Faced Vervet Monkeys are passing through the area. I was very well looked after by the staff. There weren't really any activities as such offered by Macushla House; it is a small, comfortable, quirkily-decorated boutique hotel in the quiet area of Karen which is close to many tourist attractions such as DSWT, Karen Blixen Museum, etc

I had a vehicle and driver from Southern Cross on both days (Edward asked me to say Hello to Richard !) to take me to the various places I wanted to see in Nairobi and this worked very well."