Travel reviews by J&B from Wirral

"It took us about 45 minutes to travel to/from airport to the Southern Sun.

We arrived around 16.30 and left at 06.30 the following morning, during which time we enjoyed dinner in the restaurant, followed by a good nights sleep in the comfortable rooms. Breakfast - which is served buffet style starts from 04.00.

Highly recommend this hotel for a short stopover in Dar."

"Everything about our stay at Beho Beho was absolutely first class. Beho Beho is a short (40 min) flight from Dar but it feels like a world away. The camp is a 5 minute jeep drive from the Beho Beho International airstrip – with its cute “terminal”.

We stayed for 4 nights in early November – a very good time to visit. The camp was very quiet with only 2 other guests during our stay. Selous was green and beautiful as the short rains had arrived in October. This made for some interesting jeep rides – they really are phenomenal pieces of kit and coped very well – and although water was plentiful for the animals, we were fortunate to see lots of animals and birds. We did have some rain but this tended to be at lunch time or overnight. The Beho Beho policy of rotating the guides works very well, as does the communal dining with guides and guests at different locations throughout the property.

Many thanks to our expert guides Saningo, Mike, Godie and Idrissa – we learnt so much from you. The walking safari and boat safaris are highly recommended. Rooms are fantastic and we had “visits” from Elephant, Hippo and Water Buck. The shower was great and the WIFI worked well. The communal area is very comfortable and we liked the lack of WIFI here, as it meant that everyone spent more time in conversation or enjoying the views. Very few mosquitoes and Tsetse flies. Anyone planning a trip to Selous could not do better that Beho Beho.

It was sad to leave – but nice that Elephant and Wild dogs came to the runway to see us off!"

"Ikuka is an excellent camp in a great location – the views are wonderful. When we visited in early November, there had been very little rain – a big (and good) contrast from the Selous where we had come from. Ruaha was hot and dry, but thankfully with few mosquitoes and Tsetse flies. Our request for a room away from the central area was granted with room 6 – the 200m walk was our only exercise during our 4 nights at Ikuka, and was very welcome. Festo, our guide for the 4 days, is truly exceptional. His knowledge of animals, birds, flora and insects is first class, and he is a funny guy so it made for a great few days. Thanks to Festo and his attention to detail – for example positioning the jeep in just the right place to view/photograph animals and birds in the best light. We saw our first ever Leopard, Ostrich and Serval Cat. Elephant and Giraffe were especially plentiful, and we had a number of Lion sightings – all of them up close.

The Camp is beautiful very well appointed – not that we spent much time there other than to eat and sleep! Dinner was a communal affair which we really enjoyed and the food was excellent.

Ikuka really go the extra mile to ensure you have a great stay. On our departure day the zip on my travel bag broke. Jake kindly organised for a the camp tailor to fit a new zip. Thanks both! Also, since our flight was not until 1pm, we were able to go on the morning game drive, and were met at noon by Luca and taken to the air strip via a few animal sightings, complete with a packed lunch for the flight.

Many thanks to Mark, Jake, Lillie and all the wonderful staff at Ikuka – we had a fantastic time. Anyone planning a trip to Ruaha would do well to put Ikuka at the top of their list.

Our only suggestion would be to put WIFI in the rooms – perhaps at the expense of the current WIFI in the communal area only…… just to encourage conversation over working on phones/computers in the communal areas."

"Make no mistake, Baraza is a beautiful resort, but we felt it could have been even better with a little more attention to detail.

What we liked: We had a Garden view room (#28) which was fabulous and private. We used the plunge pool a lot. The hotel grounds and pool are beautiful, with lovely views of the beach and reef, and moon rise! The food was good and quite varied, although quality suffered when meals were served buffet style (see later). Wines and cocktails were very good. The staff around the resort and in the bars and restaurants were excellent – going out of there way to help and always with a smile on their face and genuine warmth. We enjoyed excellent service from them.

The reef walk was very good and it was great to be able to use the facilities if the sister resort Zawadi. This was located about 40 minutes walk away along the beautiful beach, and had great snorkelling right from the resort. We had lunch there one day and a swim in the pool and a cold beer on another day. The beach was very quiet when we were there with few hawkers. We were not hassled at all to buy stuff.
Special mention for Yolanda the Baraza Manager, who is very good and highly visible around the resort, and she often joined us for a chat.

Now to the things that could be better – keeping in context that the Baraza is marketed as a top 5 star all-inclusive resort.
• At the start of our stay we were asked about dietary requirements, the only one of which is that my wife does not like shellfish and prefers not to eat fish. There was follow-up on this and there were occasions when there was no choice other than fish or shellfish
• We were assigned a Villa Host on arrival who showed us to our villa. We didn’t get her name (abit of information overload after a long travel – a card would be helpful – and we didn’t see her again until checkout. That was fine by us, but not sure what her role is.
• Extras that shouldn’t be in an all inclusive 5 star resort: Expresso, Cappucino plus the list if “included” spirits was really quite short – no single malts, Johnny Walker Black Label or Drambuie. We (and other guests) found this policy to be petty and would recommend Baraza look again at this.
• There was a little too much buffet dining for our liking. Unlike my wife I love fish and would have preferred to have had it cooked to order. Buffet style the wonderful fish – Snapper, Kingfish, Dorado etc – were a little dry.
• No conditioner provided. A combined shampoo and conditioner which was a poor substitute for separate shampoo and conditioner
• Safety – The plunge pool in our villa was great but it was difficult to get into and out of due to 1 big step. The tiles around the plunge pool also had sharp.

All of the above may be considered minor details in the overall scheme of things, but for us they did detract from our experience and hope the feedback is useful and will be acted upon by Baraza. It’s the difference between a 7/10 and a 10/10.

We had a very relaxing time at the Baraza after a few days on safari, and we’re glad we chose to stay there."