Travel reviews by Mrs A from East Lothian

"Wonderful start to the holiday. Extremely professional and friendly staff. The service was first class and the food and wine excellent.

The bungalows were set in the grounds and were a delight.

We only stayed for 24 hours to recover from our flight and it really set us up for the adventure ahead."

"Exclusive and personal. This camp is a true delight and, to us, represented Tanzania at it's very best. The Manager, Abel, and all the staff were absolutely lovely. There are only 5 tents which means the service is very personal and although we only stayed two nights we felt very much part of the camp and the people. Our tent was number five and was set on it's own down a short path from the communal path. It was a fantastic experience. We could sit on our veranda and watch elephants moving peacefully through the bush. At night we could hear animals wandering around but we always felt safe. All the food and drink were excellent.

The safari experience at this camp was mind blowing. It must be said our guide, Penuel, was first class and exceedingly knowledgeable. He also had eyes like a hawk and could spot animals from afar and birds camouflaged in the trees. The sheer numbers of beautiful animals was a complete delight. The elephants liked to come up close to the jeep - one even came within four feet of our jeep, looked at us and started to give himself a dust bath. It was very humbling to be so closer to these huge, gentle animals.

We also went on a night drive which was an exceptional experience. On the night drive we saw so much including a lone serval and then a pair of servals and later an aardwolf which is very rare to see. The highlight of the night drive has to be when we saw two male lions. They were walking along the track towards us. Fortunately we recognised them as the two we had seen previously that day and we knew they had eaten well. One came straight up to the open jeep and walked by within three feet of my door. He was magnificent. To be so close to a walk lion is a tremendous experience.

Apart from that Penuel drive round the national park making sure we saw as much as possible. We saw at least 30 different mammals, 80 different birds that we know the names of but many, many more plus an African puff adder.

The low point was leaving the camp. I still miss it!"

"Very professional camp. Warm welcoming and the service, food and wine all excellent. The tents had wood burning stoves to keep them warm and the views from the terrace were stunning.

The best part of the visit was the hike up to the mini caldera with a Masai warrior, guide from the Highlands and Asilia guide. Lovely hike and beautiful views.

The worst part of the visit was the journey to and fro Highlands. It took about two and half hours from the airport. The first half was fine but after the viewing area for the Ngorongoro Crater we turned off onto an extremely bumpy, dusty track that wound it's way round the caldera and then eventually up to Highlands. While Highlands was lovely we did not feel it was worth the journey."

"A stunning place to end our safari. Daniel and his team are all extremely professional. Nothing was too much trouble, the service was exceptional and the food and wine all great. The views from the main terrace and our balcony were beautiful and peaceful. Daniel was a perfect host with exceptional attention to detail. We stayed for three nights and all the time we were very well looked after. The first night our guide, Robert, came to have a drink with our and talk to us about exactly what we wanted to see and what was important to us. The second night Daniel invited us for a drink with him and then we had a special table beside the romantic fire pit. On our last evening we were invited up to 'the rock' with one other couple to watch the sunset while drinking champagne and eating nibbles - again Daniel joined us.

The northern Serengeti is beautiful and the safari was brilliant - we saw so much: a family of lions (a male, 2 females and 5 four month old cubs), a mating pair of lions, a female leopard and 2 eight month old cubs, a cheetah and later a pair of cheetahs, elephants, buffalo, spotted hyenas, black-backed jackals, zebra, hippos, wildebeests, giraffe and baby giraffe, gazelle, baboons, crocodiles and much more. The only animal we did not see was a rhino but having seen so much it was not missed.

The best part of the whole safari here was eventually witnessing the wildebeests crossing the Masai Mara. The crossing is one of those experiences you cannot understand until you have seen it. There are 10 main crossings plus a smaller one. Hundreds of wildebeests start of mass around one of the crossings. They run along the bank, staring down at the river, trying to sum up the courage to cross - maybe for 30-40 minutes. Some look as if they will go and then suddenly the front ones turn around and start running in the opposite direction. The rest of the mass charge after them as once one has decided not to cross none of them dare to. They may then stop to graze or charge onto another crossing. All the time they are running the babies get separated from their mothers and only meet up when they all stop running. Consequently it takes a long time to actually witness the crossing. Meanwhile all the guides are talking to one another over a radio saying which crossing looks the most likely. At one stage we got to the crossing too late and just witnessed the last four zebra crossing.

Robert was determined we were going to see a crossing but as we raced and bumped from crossing to crossing it seemed more and more unlikely. Finally at about 3pm we arrived at a crossing with hundreds of wildebeests on the other side. Suddenly one brave animal started to tentatively make it's way down the steep muddy bank. Then it was in the river and started to gallop over. That one brave animal triggered one of the most incredible sights - about 2,000 wildebeests followed. Mothers and babies were crossing separately and would join up when they found each other. At one stage as the 2,000 wildebeests were crossing about a hundred babies who had already crossed decided to go back across the river in attempt to find their mothers so we saw a double crossing. Thankfully we did not see any wildebeests being got by a crocodile, or break a leg on a rock in the river or on the bank. We could all relax having seen the crossing. Robert took us back to the camp so we could enjoy a drink and the plunge pool on our balcony!"