Travel reviews by Mrs R from Bath

"The staff were very attentive and helpful.

The food was tasty, but we did think that the picnics provided for our day out were rather expensive. The picnics were good, but cost about the same as our evening meal which was a little surprising.

We arrived late at night and they were extremely welcoming."

"Two members of our party really enjoyed the horseback safaris, which was one of our main reasons for choosing Sosian.

Fly camping was planned but didn’t take place due to bad weather. The staff were more than happy to adjust things as we or the weather dictated.

For most of our time at Sosian we were the only guests, so we did get rather spoilt. The buffet lunches were particularly tasty.

The lodge is lovely and we did see a lot of game but it was interesting that it is rather different habitat to what you might think of as the traditional safari scene. The habitats are much more scrubby and this impacts the game viewing somewhat. But would recommend it as a contrast to the Masai Mara."

"Saruni Wild had a very different feel to Sosian, slightly more formal meal times, both lunch and dinner were formal three course meals.

The food was delicious, surprisingly Italian.

Very helpful with hot water for showers, nothing was too much trouble.

We had zebra trot within a few meters of our tent, and heard lions roaring at night.

We especially enjoyed the bush breakfasts overlooking the Mara River watching hippos and crocodiles."

"A nice resort and a good place to relax. We were there for four nights and didn’t really need to leave the resort.

The resort is not ultra smart, but is clean and comfortable with good food and helpful staff."

"A very good way to relax, in particular after a long flight"

"The camp was not as expensive as our other camps. But we felt that Dennis should have had more facilities. An example is that when there were 8 clients we were all in one vehicle with no tracker.

Overall we had a good time there. The description of the camp led us to expect more water activities.

The tents reflected the simple nature of the camp. The mattresses could have been better."

"George and KB were excellent guide and tracker respectively..

Some of the food was a little bit disapponting; the dinner on our first night was almost inedible."

"Thuso and his deputy Obi were very involved seeing that the guests had a good experience. For instance Thuso arranged for a private safari the next morning when we had been disappointed in not seeing the carmine bee eaters at their nests.

Our guide Bali and his tracker Julius were good and we had good sightings of leopards and wild dogs."

"Rather a long way from the main road. but beautiful location!

The staff were especially friendly and efficient."

"It was a bit over the top. It was more formal than Gibbs Farm and was run not quite as efficiently as Gibbs Farm. The food was excellent and the service good, but rather formal.

The swimming pool was cold and nobody about to help us.

As with Gibbs Farm, itt was a long way from the main road."

"Our guides, Erasto and Benson, were excellent as was Alex (the senior guide) who took us on a walk and looked after us in the fly-camp."

"Very high standard hotel but not quite living up to that level."

"Everybody at the Lodge was friendly. We felt that they needed more training.

The experience with the gorillas was very very special. The guides were very helpful. The climb to the forest to see our first group of gorillas was very strenuous and returning was even harder: we had a climb of several hours an dthen the same back. The walk to another group on the second day was very much easier and the gorillas just as interesting.

The trip to the golden monkeys was also interesting (but not equal to the gorillas!)."

"We liked the camp and the services were good but there were two real negatives.

When we arrived after flying overnight from Lodnon plus a 2.5 hr flight to Ruaha we were met at 11 am who said we were going on a safari before going to the camp. This would have been fine if we had arrived at the camp after a couple of hours but our guide insisted on a long safari and we arrived at the camp in the dark at 6.45 pm. This was too much after a long journey. The safari was shared with another guest who had come from Dar es Salaam but she had also not wanted an immediate long safari. The second day we were pressured to do a 13 hour safari which we successfully resisted, returned at lunchtime and went out again late afternoon, avoiding the intense heat of the early afternoon.

There is the general slight problem for the camp that there seemed always to be a significant drive before any special sightings."

"We were the only guests for the first two days and had Steve's undivided attention. He is an excellent guide, the best we have had in four safaris through yourselves. He interacted very well with his assistant Amon who he was training; itself something good to see.

Minor domestic details could be tightened up: one day we had no water for a shower and the next day it was not hot."

"Attractive site; good game viewing with the plus of boat trips. Our guide, Mpogo, was quiet but very knowledgeable and interactive. We were served at table by Mohammed who was also excellent. But we would have preferred the more normal style of communal eating. Barbara ran the camp very well and was superb at interacting with the guests to check on possible difficulties."

"This is a five star camp with a superb positiion and outstanding romms and facilities. Tamlyn was an excellent hostess and our guide, Heribert, was very very good. He found us some very special sightings (eg wild dogs and lion cubs) and had very deep knowledge of the wildlife and also of conservation issues.

We had wanted to include another boat safari on the lake on our fourth day. That could have been fitted in before another couple went on one (in practice well after we would have been finished. We felt the arrangements were not always as flexible as they could have been."

"We were harly there ie just overnight. It took us sometime to find a simple evening meal."

"We enjoyed ourselves at Kaingo very much. We felt the owners should have been more "visible" eg introduced themselves. We appreciate that they had a new baby and that Mrs Shenton senr was present and was very sociable.

The game viewing was well organised and Mwila was an excellent guide, positive, helpful and knowledgeable.

The food was good but no as good as at Kuyenda."

"Phil and Babette are a good team. The game did not display itself as much as we wished but we had some good sightings.

Food was excellent eg fresh salads and imaginative menus were much appreciated.

When the camp was full having one vehicle and one guide was a pressure."

"It was surprisning that Bilimungwe was so underused. Our impression was that it was better than its neighbour (Chamilandu?). We stopped there on the way to Bilimungwe and the reception of the guests getting off there was much poorer.

Mike was managing the camp well and was good with the guests and with the other staff.

Our guide, Peter, was also excellent."

"Chongwe was at a level and cost appreciably higher than the other three camps. The managers were involved and attentive. Beautiful locations.

We would have appreciated a less hectic motor drive on the river. Pottering through the reed islands is what we wanted. On the other hand the fishing trip was a great success.

Justin and George were excellent guides."