Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs JP from London

"Adequate for a one night stop over in Dar before going on safari but nothing more than that.
Room was fairly basic but clean. Noisy air conditioning unit.
Pool area was nice and we enjoyed a beer overlooking the ocean as the sun went down.
Reasonable meal in the The Waterfront restaurant.
In general the photos on their website make it look more attractive than it actually is."

"A beautiful intimate owner-run camp situated on an escarpment with wonderful views across the plains of Ruaha.
The rooms/tents are high quality, with expansive tented sleeping area (beds are vast and super comfortable) and open seating area. We had our our private plunge pool (no. 6) but it was a little cold so preferred the communal pool.
The food is immaculate - imaginative, fresh, light, delicious flavours and well presented (apparently the menu was re-vamped in July 2019). Dinners are communal and it was nice to swap stories of each days' events with fellow guests.
The game drives were superb and generous (5-6 hours in the morning and another 2.5-3 hours in the evening). The guides are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We were lucky to see lions on all 7 of our drives and leopard twice plus plenty of elephants, giraffes, cape buffalo, zebra, kudu, impala, ostrich, and the occasional waterbuck and jackal..
The service from all the staff (esp. Jake, Lilli, Davis) is completely on-point and there is nothing we could fault.
We highly recommend this camp and game park with its stunning landscape and which is more or less devoid of tourists. We hardly saw any other vehicles on all our drives. The only downside are the tetse flies (the ones here are not sleeping sickness carriers) but they do give quite a nip (even biting through clothing!)."

"Selous was a great contrast to our few days in Ruaha. The rains had come early and it was very green and lush. Siwandu is beautifully situated on a lake and offers evening boat safaris and pontoon lunches (lunch on a boat) which provide a different perspective from land safari drives. The tents are large, comfortable, and well equipped. Mau did an excellent job of caring for our room and clothes washing. Our lake view was slightly restricted (room name Moja), numbers 3 to 6 on the south side have a more open view. All the food was excellent and we were superbly looked after by Alphonse. Evening meals start with a communal drink around the camp fire followed by dining alone on tables dotted around the banda. It is an open camp and regularly visited by elephants, giraffes and hippo. Maasai warriors escort you around after dark in case of any close animal encounters - we felt safe at all times.Our guide Christopher was knowledgeable, attentive and patiently answered all our questions. We asked to see wild dogs and he had tracked them down within an hour. We also had an excellent lion sighting finding them camped for the day in a little thatched open hut. One downside is the lack of mobile coverage in the camp and wifi only available in the reception area. It was also quite humid whilst we were there and we incurred a number of mosi bites. But overall a great safari experience."

"Our stay at Oyster Bay was the perfect end to our safari holiday. It is a wonderful oasis in which to relax and re-charge. We appreciated being back in the world of wifi, mobile coverage and aircon !
Our room (no 8, apparently the best) was vast, very comfortable and cool. The double aspect provided a view of the garden and pool to one side, and the Indian ocean to the other side. We used the 15m pool to swim laps.
Food was really delicious and plentiful. There is no menu and they will cook anything you want. We had the most amazing sea food platter for dinner on the patio, preceded by a tasty avocado and mango starter.
Service was attentive yet not intrusive (Saidi and Upendo cared for us beautifully). We were the only guests during our stay and it feels like being in a private home.
Everything is included in the price (airport transfers, all food and drinks) and overall we felt this to be good value."