Holiday Reviews
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same trip can have different views!
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Selous safari & Zanzibar holiday, independent reviews
 Reviewed 3 Aug 2008 by Rosanna Ellis |  |
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.
| Reviewed 6 Aug 2008 by Ken Godbert | |
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.| Reviewed 16 Sep 2006 by Jennifer Martin | |
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.
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.
| Reviewed 10 Nov 2008 by Fiona Rowland | |
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.