Pam Simmonds review 18 Sep 2012
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
We loved the Selous Game Reserve where you could view a wide range of animals but hardly see another tourist. We particularly enjoyed the boat safari where we saw hippos, crocodiles and a wide range of beautiful birds as well as elephants, impala and buffalo drinking at the lake side. We were very well looked after at the Sable Mountain lodge, which provided excellent food, comfortable accommodation and fabulous views. The staff were charming and helpful.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
The only thing that went wrong throughout the holiday was at the very beginning, when we arrived in Dar Es Salaam to find that Kenyan Airways had not loaded our luggage onto the plane. It arrived 5 hours later on another plane from Nairobi. My advice, therefore, is to carry essentials in hand luggage and label luggage clearly.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Sable Mountain Lodge was very eco friendly with fresh spring water and solar power. We enjoyed our visit to the local Masai village where we were given an interesting tour by the young chief and entertained to dancing and singing by the young girls. We had the opportunity to buy their jewellery and ornaments carved out of ebony. Our impression was that the park rangers were doing everything they could to reduce poaching in the reserve.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Excellent. We enjoyed the variety of activities. Zanzibar is beautiful and Stonetown well worth a visit. Our personal preference would have been for one more day at Selous and one less at the beach resort in Zanzibar.
Gordon Needham review 5 Nov 2010
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Safari at the Lodge and drives to see game plus snorkel for day and bbq at Mneba island off Zanzibar.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Head light, diocalm tablets. Don't bother to apply for visa in uk easy to do at airport for Tanzania; use rucsac, enjoy the variety this trip offers and if located in midlands fly with emirates from Birmingham via Dubai.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Excellent.
Brian Davies review 5 Sep 2010
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Safari in Selous out of the mountain lodge and visit to Kisake school were highlights.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Read up on the history of the country and learn some Kiswahili before you go. Oh and take 2 cameras just in case one packs up.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Generally yes, but I feel stronger links could be developed with the local school in Kisake. All who went there had a great time and would have been prepared to take some things out of value to the school had we known more about it
in advance.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Brilliant - probably the best we've been on for organisation and experiences.
Ken Godbert review 6 Aug 2008
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Amazed & surprised by the variety & amount of wildlife - Selous is a fantastic place for Safari. It feels very individual, and the foot & boat safaris were exciting, getting very close to animals & feeling so different to spotting them in a jeep. The travel by train & small plane were great experiences in themselves.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Travel light & just enjoy it.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Definitely in Selous - interesting learning about the local Maasai community. Concerns in Nungwi - the development is happening fast. It is very beautiful & we were in a great location, but the local villagers are excluded from the benefits and feel that their way of life & the environment they live in is threatened.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
A great experience with real variety & many special memories.
Read the operator's response here:
We would agree that Selous is a fantastic place to visit and far less crowded than the main tourist areas in Northern Tanzania. The train is a real bonus allowing our newly arrived clients to relax and acclimatize themselves to the sights of Africa from the comfort of a railway carriage. We are keeping a close eye on the development in Nungwe. On the one hand the increase in tourism will bring in more business and jobs but on the other hand we need to be vigilant that we are only patronising businesses that are benefiting the local community.
Rosanna Ellis review 3 Aug 2008
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The whole trip was wonderful but the magic moments have to be seeing all the wildlife, especially the elephants, lions and a leopard getting ready to attack. Also meeting members of a genuine Maasai village who were so warm and welcoming. the people at Sable Mountain Lodge were fantastic.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Be prepared to slow your pace, look around and enjoy everything.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
As a concerned traveller I was reassured throughout that my money was reaching the local economy and I tried to increase that by visiting local villages. The impact on the environment was low in Selous, but I suspect that in Zanzibar tourist development will race ahead and environmental issues will be overlooked. Therefore I was glad that I visited now before too much damage is done. One cannot blame the local developers to try and increase their income but they may loose the very essence that responsible travellers are seeking.
Fiona Rowland review 10 Nov 2008
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The safari. We had some good animal sightings. The guide was excellent and very knowledgeable.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Don't change your money into Tanzanian Shillings as advised by the Trip Notes. The safari lodge and all shops price items in US Dollars. If you want to pay in Shillings they convert it. Each time money is converted from one currency to another there is always a loss between the exchange rates. Consequently we lost on the exchange rate from Sterling to Shillings and then again when converting from US Dollars to Shillings.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes. All the staff in the lodges and hotels that we stayed in appeared to be local.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Good - although there were some changes to the original itinerary that were disappointing. For example one of the highlights was billed as the 5 hour train transfer to the safari lodge, the last 2 hours of which was through the safari park. This was cancelled and replaced with a 12 hour bus journey and meant that we lost half a day of non-travelling holiday. We chose the holiday because of there weren't any all day transfers!! Secondly, the last 4 nights accommodation was changed as the hotel had started constructing new rooms the theory being it was noisy. However, we were moved to the next door hotel which was no further from the construction and actually had construction on the other side as well! The room rate for the replacement hotel was $136 for a double half board. The original hotel on the itinerary was $190 for a double half board. Over 4 nights this makes a difference of $216 and is a matter I will be taking up with the operator as clearly the holiday was priced on superior accommodation to that which we actually stayed in.
Read the operator's response here:
Thank you for submitting your comments. It is great to hear that you had some good sightings and enjoyed your holiday overall. Thank you for the information on currency exchange, we will change our trip notes to reflect this. We were extremely sorry to have to substitute the train journey for a road transfer. Unfortunately, the train schedules changed with little warning due to the fact that one of the trains on this route had broken down and is now out of service. Although we did our best to 're jig' the itinerary so that you could travel to Selous on a different day, I'm afraid it was not possible at such short notice. The decision was taken to move our clients out of the original hotel in Zanzibar due to the extensive building works being carried out. As we were keen to provide the same resort an alternative was sourced. We were sorry to hear that you were still accommodated close to the construction and that you were disappointed with the hotel. With regards to the substitute hotel, this is of a similar standard to the Nungwi Village originally booked. Walk-in rates of hotels of a similar grade can often vary and are at the discretion of the hotel management, however, I would advise that the rates paid by ourselves are identical. Again, I am sorry that you were disappointed by the cancellation of the train and the change of hotel in Zanzibar but am pleased that you had a good holiday overall.
Jennifer Martin review 16 Sep 2006
This was my first trip with this operator. I had a great holiday in Tanzania and Zanzibar. The safari in Selous in particular was amazing and exactly how it was described in the itinerary – a wilderness area where the animals are not used to people and you need to be alert to find them camouflaged in their natural habitat. There were no other people around and when we travelled as a group (13 people) we were split into 2 jeeps which each went a different route so as not so scare the animals by travelling in convoy and giving all the best chance to see things. A fantastic experience and the guides and staff at the lodge were great.
We had a free day listed on the itinerary but a visit to a local Maasai school and village had been organised which were both really interesting. I will suggest to the operator that for future trips they inform clients that this might be an option as I felt a bit awkward when I visited the school and had not taken any books or pens etc to give to them as I wasn't aware we might be visiting. When you see how many kids there were and how few teachers coping with a lack of facilities I felt like a very rich and fortunate westerner. However I will be sending a parcel to be delivered by staff at the lodge I stayed in to make up for it. At the village the Maasai ladies sold jewellery after the visit so I felt able to contribute to the local economy!
The group was a really nice mix and **** Some stories to tell the grandchildren, I would not hesitate to recommend it to a friend
Many thanks.
