Travel reviews by Ms R from Connecticut

"The hotel's location on the Indian Ocean is great, and their pool area & grounds were extremly nice. The guest room was fine (decor, furnishings, cleanliness) and the large window overlooked the ocean. Check-in/out was efficient; all staff were helpful.

The breakfast buffet offered a large variety of items and was replenished regularly. Although the hotel was 90 minutes from the airport (due to traffic), I am very glad I stayed here since the pool provided a welcome place to relax outside. I would definitely stay here again if I was in Dar."

"I have no negatives about Mwagusi. The banda was wonderful - very spacious, decorations utilizing local wood, stones, carvings, etc. Hammock on the veranda was my favorite place every afternoon between lunch and the game drive. Really appreciated the solar lights which provided plenty of light to read in bed and write in my journal. The bed was comfortable and I slept well each night (after I got used to the elephant foraging outside my tent!) Bathroom was also spacious and seemed virtually like a house's bathroom.

The dining area was great since it stayed cool and provided a nice spot to sit and relax while watching the animals in the river bed. The food was quite a surprise since it had imaginative, sophisticated flavors - great salads at lunch featuring peanuts, carrots, fruit, and other vegs. Dinners under the stars were nice (although eating inside was nice too and less of a trudge to the river bed). Breakfasts in the bush were the best of the 3 camps I visited; i particularly liked the toast and the cinnamon bread.

Staff were helpful, knowledgeable and friendly across the board - banda team, restaurant and office. Appreciated their pride in Mwagusi and their role. My driver & guide (Immanuel and Isaac) were fantastic. They spotted and tracked animals extremely well, including a leopard and cheetah, and lots of birds. They had a great way of knowing which way the animals were going to go and then getting us in prime position to watch/photo them. They were both very knowledgeable about plants and terrain in addition to the animals, so I feel like I got a good sense of the overall Ruaha area rather than just focusing on the search for animals. It was also nice to talk with them and learn about their lives.

I was very impressed that Mwagusi offers English language classes to their employees, as well as driver and guide training, from 2:00-4:00 daily in their classroom building. The fact that they support employees and give them the tools for a career path is wonderful and shows that ownership carries through with action, not just words or marketing hype. (This was the only camp out of the 3 I visited that has an employee education program.)

I would definitely stay at Mwagusi again and will recommend it to others. Out of the 3 camps, this was the best from a facilities, food, and blending in with the eco-system perspective."

"This was my least favorite of the 3 camps but that's entirely due to my reaction to too much nature and not anything the camp did wrong. There was too much exposure to small creatures/insects for my liking - I enjoyed seeing all the animals in camp during the day and didn't mind hearing the hippos and hyenas outside my tent at night. What I couldn't get used to were the little frogs, lizards, worms & crickets in my tent. Their skittering and jumping around was unnerving, to say the least. After one night, I was ready to cut my stay short and leave Lake Manze but there was no where to go, so I discussed with the manager (Rebecca) and we came to a satisfactory solution. She provided a bed net and arranged to have Masai check my tent each night after dinner and get rid of any creatures they found. I very much appreciated her level-headed reaction to my concerns and efforts working with my tour operator to find options.

The boat safaris were excellent; the guide, Baggo, was thoughtful and didn't chatter but showed me so many birds, trees, plants, crocs and animals. I loved the early mornings on the water best, it was quiet, peaceful and we puttered along in our little boat seeing beautiful things. One morning, he spotted elephants in the bushes and knew they were coming to cross the river, so we were able to watch a family cross and play in the water. The game drives were also very good (guide: Adam and driver: Ali); in addition to the animals, Adam showed me smaller things like the ant lion and tracks. Also enjoyed talking with them.

Food was good - equivalent to basic, home cooked meals. Chicken pot pie was noticeably tasty! The dinners under the stars were difficult for me due to the number of bugs - I know they didn't bite, but having large moths and grass-hoppers dive bomb us during the meal and get on the plate/glasses, was a distraction that diluted the pleasure in the food and magnificent sky.

Service at all levels was very nice. Masai escorts were a pleasant surprise; I've always heard of Masai and was glad to see them used in a role befitting their culture and pride. Some of them spoke English well and enjoyed talking with guests, so we joked about the hippos (and the frogs in my tent). At night, I felt reassured hearing their walking sticks on the paths and seeing their lights, knowing that they were patrolling the grounds.

I liked the fact that Manze offered a small curio shop where items made in the employee's villages were sold and all proceeds went to the villagers. They were the only camp to do this and I bought a carved zebra and about 10 bead bracelets. Great idea.

Aside from the nature/bug/tent issue, I had two negative experiences here:

(1) on my first morning game drive, I was assigned to a vehicle with a trainee guide, a guide & a driver which broke down twice and finally died. Before the break downs, I was concerned since the focus didn't seem to be on finding animals or sharing knowledge about the terrain with me, but instead they talked among themselves. That wouldn't have been a deal breaker (and I would have spoken up), except that the jeep died twice (something to do with a pump) and the driver was able to get it started again. The 3rd time, I was fed up and told them that I wanted to go back to the camp rather than have another vehicle pick me up to continue the drive. Luckily, we weren't far from camp so 2 vehicles came out - one to tow our jeep back and the other to bring all of us back. Rebecca apologized about the jeep and I explained my concerns about the guide/driver and she immediately offered to re-assign me.

(2) Whenever the managers & I discussed my plans for the upcoming days, I mentioned my interest in a walking safari and uncertainty about when to schedule it. On my last full day in camp, we arranged the schedule for my last day to be a morning walking safari and then game drive to Selous Impala. That evening, one of the other managers (not Rebecca and not Samel) suggested that I should do a boat safari instead of the walking safari since they DIDN'T OFFER BOAT SAFARIS at IMPALA. I questioned him on that statement since I knew they're located on the river and had seen references to boat safaris and he back-tracked, saying that he didn't see a place where they could do boat rides since they're located high up, but maybe they do. This left a very bad taste with me since it's clear that for whatever reason, they didn't/couldn't arrange a walking safari for me but to tell mis-truths about the other camp....that wasn't necessary or professional.

In sum, I did appreciate all the animals around the camp, liked the location, enjoyed the game drives w/Adam & Ali, met interesting fellow guests and liked spending the afternoons in the communal lounge area watching the baboons, elephants, etc. but the night times were not my cup of team so would not return and would recommend it with caveats."

"Interesting experience. Excellent guide (Girard), comfortable tents w/solid wooden floors and great verandah overlooking the river, good food. Incongruities: hoses and sprinklers watering the grass daily (!), swimming pool, Poland Spring water cooler in dining area. My first thought was, hmmm, this doesn't sync up with eco-tourism but by the end of my 4 days, I had succumbed to the luxury.

Tent (#6) was very nice; particularly liked the writing desk and chair; large porch that wasn't buggy; full-size bed net as requested; large table in sink area was handy for organizing clothing, etc. I liked the location since the hippos had a river exit/entry area literally five feet from my porch, so was able to hear & see them grazing and snuffling their way back into the river. Food quality and variety was good to excellend (still remember an amazing chocolate creme caramel dessert and pieces of fruit stuck onto acacia thorns). I liked the individual tables (versus communal) since I'm quite happy on my own. When I mentioned that I don't eat fish, the kitchen provided tasty alternatives.

Bar area was nice for pre-dinner gatherings; the lounge section was a great spot to while away a few hours between lunch and the game drives since it got a very nice breeze. Pool was also a treat during those hours (or a quick pre-lunch dip).

Drives: I liked the 6 hour boat safaris since the length provided enough time to go further afield and having a bush breakfast on a beach was a novelty! Girard did a super job tracking animals, including hyena tracks that led us to their den & cubs; a civet midden; not to mention numerous elephants and lions. He provided just the right amount of information. He arranged a special trip to a local village which was a highlight for me.

Not as much sense of camp management & employees & guests all being "in it together", as in the other 2 camps (hard to define, but in the other two places the camp managers were around at all meals and had real conversations with each person where topics touched on animals, other experiences, and were a two-way sharing of opinions.)

I think I would return since the location and the physical camp itself was hard to beat, and I did like the fine dining aspects, plus the guiding was superb."