Travel reviews by Family M from Romsey

"Our family of four started our safari adventure at Lake Manze where we stayed for three nights. The staff were friendly and welcoming. Our tents were comfortable - the girls slept in a room attached to the main tent. The showers and toilets open to the stars and bats at night gave us a different experience from the UK.

Our guide Alfred and driver Daniel were great. Very friendly and full of information. Daniel was a careful, considerate driver. However, our daughter's highlight of the trip was when he "put his foot down" to race across the bush to find us a leopard! We had some wonderful game drives seeing exciting and interesting sites every day. The trip to the hot springs was fun and we bathed in the waters hotter than a bath.

Unfortunately Lake Manze itself had dried up so we probably had less experience of animals near the camp than usual. However, our boat trip on the adjacent Lake Nzerakere with Elton our guide, was one of our loveliest times especially seeing the storks flying back home in formation against the backdrop of a stunning sunset. Eating the evening meal at a communal table gave us a chance to chat with other guests. The lack of electricity in the tents meant that torches were essential."

"We spent the last four nights of our holiday at Selous Impala Camp. A safari drive from Lake Manze brought us to Impala - the best transfer ever. It was definitely the ideal order in which to visit the camps, starting with the basic, back to nature feel of Lake Manze and ending with the luxury of Selous Impala.

The family tents consisted of two adjacent tents on a shared raised platform from which the river could be glimpsed although the trees and plants obscured a lot of the view. The girls delighted in their own tent. The main areas of the camp were set around a large raised dining area. Every meal was superb with excellent food and fantastic service. We were looked after by Kafutu who was charming and helpful. He entertained our girls by teaching them to count in Swahili and how to fold the many napkin designs. On our walks to and from our tent, which was at the end of a spread out camp, we were looked after by Mahena, a young Masai, who was completely unperturbed by the hippo that crossed our path one evening. The swimming pool was wonderfully cooling in the afternoon heat.

Our safari guide was Andrew who was a fount of knowledge about the animals and their habitat and taught us a great deal. Our driver, Rajabu made us feel safe as we travelled around. We had several safari drives in the morning and evening. The breakfast stops were always in beautiful settings and felt very special, sitting out in the bush. Wildlife was abundant and we saw many species with their babies which were universally gorgeous - even the hyena cub. Our first boat trip along the river the evening we arrived was one of the highlights of the holiday. Gerard, our guide was delightful and twice we saw elephants crossing the river with their young. The superb finale was when we were ushered onto the riverbank to find a table and chairs set out for us with bubbly and snacks served up as we sat watching the sunset across the river. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

We had a go at fishing one evening (although a morning trip would give better conditions) which was fun, but the only thing we caught was a crocodile which thankfully bit through the line before we inadvertently landed it. The bird life was outstanding especially along the river."