Travel reviews by Mr Buzzard from Darlington

"Probably as good as it could possibly be. The location was stunning overlooking the Rufiji river; I would just stand on the veranda for long periods breathing it in. The place is a paradise for birdwatchers with new varieties seeming to appear all the time, so much so that I gave up trying to list them after the first day and just gawped in wonder instead.

Theirs is possibly the best restaurant in the world; the food was much better than i expected and the setting surely can't be surpassed.

Chloe, the manager would check on us several times a day to make sure that everything was going alright and to arrange the activities that we wanted to do. All of the activities were tailored to our requirements without any problem. The staff were also very cheery and the guides that we had were knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend the walking safaris as a good way to experience and start to understand the environment.

If I had to find a negative with this camp it could only be that I didn't get much sleep due to the noise of the hippos, hyaenas, frogs and owls outside the tent but then that's what you go on safari for in the first place.

They say that Africa gets into your soul and in this place it only took a few days."

"This really was wild Africa as I had imagined it since childhood; the general impression at Mdonya was that the human element was just one other species in the local ecosystem (and there was just the faintest impression of what life is like as a medium-sized prey animal). We only had one big, potentially dangerous animal in the camp at the same time as us during the day, an elephant that brushed against our tent, but impala were constant in the camp and other species regular visitors.

There were also several species of small mammal and reptiles that I found equally, if not more, fascinating. The bird life here is impressive, perhaps not quite as many species as Selous but most of them different to there so that the combined total would have been huge, were I expert enough to have identified them all.

The food was excellent especially considering that this is as close to the middle of nowhere as anywhere can be and there was always more than you could eat. The staff were very friendly and the management helpful. The guides seemed to vary a little in their knowledge but the best of them were excellent ecologists, not just wildlife spotters; on the subject of wildlife spotting I am used to watching wildlife yet I was amazed how the guides would be able to pick out animals hidden in the landscape that I would have completely missed.

A slight drawback with Mdonya was that activities were largely confined to game drives. This gets a bit repetitive and as vehicles are, quite properly, not allowed off road anywhere you take your chance as to what you see but then that is part of the experience, this most definitely wasn't a zoo.

There was an opportunity to do a walk near the air strip with a park ranger but, while there is nothing like having your feet on the ground for making you feel part of the surroundings, I felt that more could have been made of the experience. I understand that Mdonya will be allowed to do their own guided walks next year from the camp itself which should improve this aspect and be an experience not to be missed.

Mdonya is so much part of its surroundings that part of the experience is just to sit in the camp and watch the wildlife around you; I don't think I've ever felt so much a part of nature as there."

"Beautiful location and well landscaped and maintained lodge. The pool could not have been better located.

Quite a bit of wildlife to be seen around the lodge, sunbirds, lizards, the odd green tree snake and particularly bushbabies; it took me until the last day to work out that the loud cackling noises that we heard above the dining area each night were the local bushbabies.

There was a small collection of books to be borrowed next to the lounge area and the fish ID books came in particularly useful after dips in the sea with a snorkel. One minor negative point was that I would have liked there to have been more information in the chalets on the surrounding area and what the options were to see and do."

"Stone Town wasn't for us but this hotel couldn't be faulted.

The building had great character; the rooms were immaculate; the staff were very friendly and helpful; the food in the restaurant was excellent and reasonably priced."