Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs P from Hockley

"Lovely hotel, very pleasant, helpful reception staff.

Comfortable bedroom with good en suite facilities. Had only a brief overnight stay."

"Tortilis Camp was fantastic in all respects and is in a stunning location with a stunning view of Kilimanjaro. Superb accommodation, lovely food, and very welcoming helpful staff.

The managers, Andrea and Manuela were wonderful, so friendly and helpful. On our last night we were the only people staying there and Andrea and Manuela made our stay really special with a candle lit dinner, set on the hillside over looking Kilimanjaro.

On our game drives the animal sightings were superb and our guide, Eric, was extremely knowledgeable. We saw elephants, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, lions, lots of birds to name a but a few.We had some of the best game drives we've ever been on.

We would love to return there."

"Naboisho is a lovely camp with large, spacious tents set a good distance apart. The bed was really comfortable and the bucket showers were excellent. Everything we needed was provided.

The managers were very welcoming and helpful as were all the staff.

Our guide, Wilson, was very knowledgeable and on our arrival, on the way from the airstrip to the camp, we encountered 4 jackals killing a baby impala. The impala mother fought for such a long time but could not protect her baby. Such a fantastic sighting but also quite sad. We then went on to see so many animals, too many to name, on our game drives, which was fantastic.

Altogether a great camp with a good guide and superb animal sightings."

"On arrival we were made very welcome by the staff. Our tent was spacious and had all the basic requirements.

Unfortunately the bucket shower did not work properly and the water barely dribbled out of the shower head. The staff tried to fix it and said to try the shower again. Sadly on trying to turn on the water the whole shower head and pipes fell down just missing my head. It took 48 hours for the staff to get the shower fixed and then was only sorted because my husband told them what was wrong! The staff then managed to replace the hose and shower head and finally we could shower on our 3rd day.

On our second night it poured with rain and the next morning everything was very damp, including our clothes and bedding. Fortunately the sun shone and things dried out.
Over all we feel, that although it was a mobile camp, the tents need replacing, and showers improved and in general an upgrade to all facilities.
The food was good and drinks plentiful.

Our game drives were excellent and we enjoyed a couple of bush breakfasts and our guide, Ebenezer, was knowledgeable and found the thousands of wildebeests that we had wanted to see. We also saw lots of hyenas, vultures, plains animal and lions. I was going to mark Ndutu Camp as poor, however the food was good, and the service at breakfast and dinner was great."

"Our driver/guide collected us from Ndutu Camp and we drove to the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge via the Oldupai Gorge., where we had stunning views of the gorge and visited the Museum which was very interesting.

We then continued our drive, climbing higher up the side of the Ngorongoro Crater to the rim. The Lodge was a beautiful building with stunning views of the crater, huge rooms with balconies overlooking the crater. The room had everything we needed for our stay and was quite luxurious.

Our driver organised picnic lunches so we could do a day drive into the crater. It was wonderful and we saw many different animals including 2 black rhino in the distance. There were flamingoes on the lake and pelicans at the picnic spot. The crater is a fascinating place with a diverse range of animals and habitats and well worth visiting."

"We arrived at the lodge in the late afternoon after our game drive into the Lake Manyara National Reserve. Lake Manyara Serena Lodge has a great position on the side of the Rift Valley. The rooms were spacious, comfortable and had a view Lake Manyara. The staff were courteous and friendly and made us a special breakfast out on the grass with a stunning view of the Lake on our last morning.

Our game drive with Frank was superb, with fantastic animal sightings of giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, birds etc. The most exciting sighting was of the tree lions being forced out of a large tree by a small herd of elephants, who were trumpeting and trying to dislodge the lions by charging at the tree. The lions eventually jumped down and ran off except for one lioness who for a short time continued to snarl at the elephants. She then jumped down and ran off. A fantastic sighting to end our safari."

"On arriving at Dar es Salaam we were collected by our driver and taken to the hotel. Unfortunately we arrived at the start of the afternoon rush hour so our journey to the hotel took almost an hour although it was only a short distance. The location of the hotel would be good if arriving outside rush hour times.

Once checked in we went for a snack and a drink but the service was very slow. At dinner the service was better but quite a limited menu.

Our room was comfortable and had air-conditioning.

We left early for the airport after a small breakfast."