Selous Ngalawa Camp
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Member Of:
- TATO, TTB & TANAPA
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $80 to $190 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Experience of a lifetime
We've arranged with Donatus, through mail, a 3 days safari at Mikumi, everything was very easy, since the pick up at the airport till the drop at Dar harbour.
We had the luck to get a 5 star guide, Rajabu, who was always there for anything, and apart from that, a very concious driver. (Give this man a raise).
Thank you for the great experience.
Email Andy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent 5-day tour. An experience we will never forget.
We selected a 5-day tour from Dar-Es-Salaam, to include a spell in Selous and then in Mikumi; returning to Dar on day 5 after a visit to a local Massai village.
Everything went smoothly from start to finish. My initial enquiries by email and WhatsApp were answered quickly by Donatus. Our arrangements were confirmed to our complete satisfaction. Donatus was very helpful and relaxed about all my questions.
We were collected punctually from our hotel in Dar, having paid the outstanding balance for our tour and set off for Selous. The drive is quite long and quite bumpy, but that is no different to what we had expected. The first Camp of our stay was Ngalawa (located a little way outside the Selous Nature Reserve. The camp itself was fairly simple and rustic, as we had expected, but the staff were charming and welcoming. Food was fine, including the packed lunches. Our only comment would be that water pressure is not great, so showering is an interesting activity. The river trip to see hippos was very good. Then the following day the full day drive in Selous was excellent. Our driver/guide for the whole 5 days was Julius, and he was really experienced and helpful. He tried really hard to ensure we saw the things that mattered to us and was always ready with an answer when we had any questions. Selous is a very large and un-commercialised wilderness. It is everything that we would have hoped for.
Be prepared for the trip from Selous to Mikumi to take a long time on day three. Half the distance is on rough bumpy roads, but you can make good speeds. The other half is in the main Highway, but ironically progress can be painfully slow due to traffic congestion. Our serving camp was Camp Bastion a little outside of the Mikumi National Park. It is a bigger, busier and more up-market camp than Ngalawa has been, but you might find yourself missing the simple, quiet charm of Ngalawa!
Mikumi NP is much smaller than Selous and also busier. You will see a greater concentration of wildlife, but there are more vehicles and the routes within the park are more mapped out. Swings and roundabouts I suppose! There is a visit to the local Massai village on the morning of day 5, then after breakfast you begin the long drive back to Dar.
Overall we really enjoyed our tour. We enjoyed smooth communication with Donatus (including one time when we needed to get an issue resolved). Our guide, Julius, was great. We saw most of the wildlife that we had hoped and were able to get up close and personal with a lot of those animals. This tour is in the southern circuit, which means you won’t see any Rhino. You might not see a Leopard (we didn’t) and you won’t see a Cheetah. However you will probably see pretty much everything else that you could want. During our time in Tanzania and in Zanzibar we met many other people who had been in Safari - almost all the others had toured the much busier northern circuit. Some of them had seen a Rhino, but they acknowledged that it had been from a very great distance and had appeared as nothing more than a speck in the distance. They might have seen a leopard or a cheetah, but I feel that our tour in the much less commercialise south perhaps allowed us to have a more unspoiled and authentic Safari experience. We are very glad we chose the tour that we did. I would have no hesitation in recommending this tour for a good and reliable safari experience on a sensible budget.
CZ
Email Filip | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
AMAZING
Everything was perfect. Accommodation was great, our guide was an amazing guy, who helped us with everything.
Email Gwendoline | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A discovery but above all full of memories
We booked the 3-day safari with hotel pick-up (no extra cost) on the first day the boat safari where we discovered the fauna of the Rufiji river with hippos, crocodiles, birds of different species.. . to end with a superb sunset in the African savannah on a sandbank! I advise you to think about having a beer (or other) with you for this moment we forgot each other and we regretted it would have been a plus.
Second day is the day safari in Selous Park we had taken a French-speaking guide (Patrick) (add $30/day) with whom we discussed a lot of things and not just the safari! And our driver (Louis) who without him we would not have been able to see all the animals in the park because he knows the park very well and the places where to find common animals because yes we had the chance to see all the animals wanted! Lions, elephants, hippopotamuses, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, buffaloes, impalas, crocodiles, warthogs etc .. and many birds! An extraordinary moment!
3rd day bush safari (walking safari) with a typical guide and an armed guide because the animals can walk everywhere. There we discover the flora and fauna with explanations how to recognize the traces, how to heal with the trees etc..
an unforgettable stay with friendly people!
The camp is very warm (mattress a bit hard but you get used to it with fatigue) the meals are very enjoyable and the locals are always ready to chat with you if you are doing well in English.
I can only say positive things about this stay, thank you to the whole team and especially to our guides!
See you soon, I hope
Gwendoline and Yannick
(automatic translation from French)
PL
Email Marian | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lifetime experience
Before coming to Tanzania for this safari experience we had our own fears.
What if the people we would meet were not reliable?
Why do most people talk about and go to Serengeti? Did I make a good choice with Selouse?
Will my preventative treatment for malaria have any meaning?
And a lot of other fears and doubts.We went just at the end of the rainy season and everything came to a perfect match.We couldn't have chosen a better option. Our driver and guide proved to be our friend. We went to a boat safari on the Rufiji river as promised, we met a real boshiman who showed us plants, animals termites and a lot else we had no idea before coming here..We saw the giraffes, zebras lions, wild dogs elephants hippos, a lot of birds etc.Most of all, was the camp experience where we slept in tents, and in the morning the monkeys were waiting for us on our porch to say hi. There were baboons, blue monkeys, white face monkeys ,and in the distance we could hear the hippos..No mosquitoes, or they were so few we had no worries about. We forgot about the repellents also..everything was about perfect. Weather, scenery that changes with every 5 km or so like we were in an Avatar movie sometime..I dont know what it was, the perfect arrangement, the scenery, the animals, or the kindness of our driver, but in the end we felt we have made the perfect choice and no other could have been better. A lifetime experience for an affordable price ( latter on, we checked for this trip in Zanzibar just for fun and we were astonished for how high their offer was there)
NL
Email Anna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great tour to Gombe park
We had a great tour arranged by Donatus to Gombe national park. Everything was well arranged and it was a once in a lifetime experience. Our chef took great care of us and the accommodation was perfect; it was magical sleeping next to the lake in a glamping tent between the monkeys. Can definitely recommend!
Email Jacqui | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great value for money. They really looked after us and the itinerary was brilliant
Lovely camp. Basic but bungalows comfortable and beds/towels clean. Plenty of hot water. Very quiet. Food very nice.
Email Sofia & Quentin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good safari but not filling all expectations
We booked 3 days safari (2 days of travel and 1 in Mikumi park).
First, the travel is much longer than announced by the tour operator we used 8 hours to go from dar es salam and 8 hours to come back, there is many traffic and no room to be faster and safe. Our guide was very careful and safe on the road.
We slept at Bastian camp and it was very good, nice pool and people are kind, the room is spacious and clean.
The day of the safari we saw many animals (lions, girafe, hippo, crocodiles, elephants and many more) however we were expecting much more details from the guide on the savane life on how animals act. The time of the safari day was short (from 8am to 2:30 pm) we had flat tire two times in park…
Regarding our guide (Julius) he was very kind and flexible but not too talkative.
Conclusion is we had a good time, it is a very nice experience but there is room for improvement.
CH
Email Aneta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A little adventure never killed somebody :))
Our safari trip took place in Selous NP and it was awesome. Our guide was super great and I think we saw every animal we could at this time of the year. The small lions were incredible. Although we had some problems on the way back (because of the rain and stucked trucks in the middle of the road - 5 hours of waiting on the sun for another car) we experienced one of the best moments in our lives.
FI
Email Maria | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Super good service and safari guide. We were so happy with everything!
We had a 3 day safari in Selous. We saw a lot of animals and our guide Michael was really professional and nice.
Basic rooms but clean and comfortable. Friendly staff and nice camp area.