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
SI
Email Tea | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience we will never forget
We took 3 day Selous safari with boat ride, park visit 4x4 and walking safari on last day. Mr. Donatus expained everything about safari trip via mail and he replied imediatelly on all my questions. It was first safari for us.
They pick up us in hotel in Dar on time at 7.30.
Wiliam, our guide, is a person with a lot of knowledge about park and history of TZ. We saw a lot of animals and it was a life experience.
Camp is basic, but beautifull. Tents with toilet and shower.
Food was delicious, better than we expected.
I reccomend this tour to everyone.
Email Desiree | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible experience that exceeded expectations
With the huge range of tour operators and safaris available, I contacted 8 different operators. Donatus came back to me straight way with useful information, a budget price and a cheerful attitude. This looked the best value for our purposes as we were travelling on a budget. It far exceeded our expectations in every way. The staff were friendly, the food was exceptional and included a delicious breakfast, packed lunch and 3-course dinner freshly cooked. The atmosphere at the camp was friendly and relaxed and our living quarters, whilst basic, were comfortable. The boat safari was our first experience and we stopped to watch the sunset. The 4x4 experience the next day was incredible as our guide ensured we saw every animal possible, sufficient time at each stop and provided lots of interesting information on the animals, birds and plants. Early the next morning we had our walking safari led by a bushman with a big heart, a great sense of humour and lots knowledge. Yes, the journey takes about 6 hours to Selous, but it is such an incredible experience you quickly forget the drive! I really recommend both the safari and the tour operator.
CA
Email Simon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful Mikumi and Udzungwa spot but choose another operator
We highly recommend to go to Mikumi and Udzungwa, but not with these folks.
Here is an excerpt of what we sent to the tour operator:
"
Our guide was great and both parks are stunning, however we are mostly disappointed by the trip.
First of all, the way to Mikumi was 8 hours. We could see on the map that it was not close but we expected 4-5 hours top to get to an activity. It was instead 8-9 hours both ways, which on a 3 days Safari is a lot of time spent travelling. Knowing that beforehand would have greatly impacted our decision to do this trip.
This also meant that we arrived late to Mikumi national park and did only about 2 hours of game drive, but still had to pay the 82.60 USD entrance fee, which we paid again on the second day.
At the end of that first day, the lodge was comfortable but we had no running water for the sink, shower and toilet.
On the second day, the last minute change to stay in Mikumi and not do the planned hike to a waterfall meant that we did a game drive for the entire day, this was really disappointing since we chose this Safari for the hikes and activities on foot, but after two days we only sat in the Jeep, which again would have make us greatly reconsider taking this trip in the first place. Now another important point is the fact that the park was being torched to leave soil for the new grass. Because of this, the park was somewhat empty due to animals running away from the fires. This is a yearly event which we did not know would happen as outsiders, but we would have expected you to warn us when we did the booking at that time. Especially since we were spending much more time in Mikumi. So for the second day we rolled in circles for hours looking at the same few antelopes and zebras. It got to such a point that at around 4pm we simply told the guide to go to the hotel. We would have done it much earlier but we wanted to be respectful of our guide who tried so hard to find something interesting.
On the third day, we finally got out of the car to do a hike, but looking at all the available hikes in the beautiful Udzungwa (94.40USD) we felt like we missed a great opportunity to hike more. That last day finished late, at around 9pm we were dropped at Dar but we did not have any diner along the way, leaving us to wander in Dar after dark for food.
As for the money, we were also disappointed that you did not told us before that the park fees were to be paid by credit card. We withdraw a lot of extra chillings which we did not use in our remaining days in Tanzania and which we cannot convert in Canada. Around 200,000 unused chillings which were withdraw with a 15,000 fee, and then converted in USD at the airport again at a large fee. Also, the entrance fees were supposed to be around 80 USD per day, but the last lark ended up being a total of 259.60 USD (not 240 USD)
Finally, there were a few other points in the description of the tour, such as a visit to the Masaii and a python in one of the Mikumi lake, which apparently did not exist according to our guide. We choose your tour among other reasons for that and did not visit the Madrid village.
Overall, the guide and parks were great, but the whole management of the tour is simply sub-par.
"
From there we would have written a 2-3 stars above, but the response of the operator was aggressive and accusing us of lying, which is pathetic since all of the promises were clearly written in an email, so we had proofs.
The last email we received mostly stated that since the tour was a budget one, it was okay to offer the minimum and cut on what they deemed unnecessary. So if you don't like being played with, I recommend choosing another operator.
IT
Email Salvatore | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent value for money and delicious food
We made a three days trip in Selous and we were really happy of our choice in terms of location and tour operator
The tour operator met all our requests in terms of timing.
The communication was easy and precise.
Our guide Seloum was really professional and tried to comply with all of our requests.
The camp was very nice and well mantained and the food was absolutely delicious: good quality and variety and well prepared.
The overall price very good if compared with other proposals.
I will recommend!
US
Email Geoffrey | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We enjoyed our safari a lot - a diverse experience of both Mikumi NP and Udzungwa Mountains NP
Overall, we were quite pleased with the safari. We were worried that we might not see many animals in the southern parks, but we saw everything we had hoped to - lions, giraffes, zebras, cape buffalo, and more. In the mountains, we even spotted an endemic monkey, which was pretty cool (the waterfalls were also incredible to see).
One drawback to this tour (Mikum, Udzungwa Mountains, & the Kilombero River) is that there was a LOT of driving. It was interesting to see an authentic taste of rural Tanzania, but the organization of the trip meant that all of our last day was spent on the road. The first lodge we stayed at was really lovely; the second was not so great (the same was true for the food). The canoeing portion of the trip was a bit disappointing because it was so short. However, none of these things detracted very much from a very enjoyable experience. Our guide Roman was very friendly and very helpful and the customer service before and after the trip was excellent. If you're looking for a good tour of the southern circuit, this is a great choice.
Excellent Safari experience of our lifetime
I was in a 10 Days tour in Tanzania with my friend Kate Huber. Mr Donatus organized excellently every tip for us . We had a 5 Days tour to Mount Kilimanjaro through Marangu Route. This was our dream and we really enjoyed to the maximum. The Guide,the Cook and Laggage Helpers were very very friendly. Mount Kilimanjaro is beautiful through this Company. Our safari to Mikumi and Boat trip in Selous were amazingly a dream comes true. Lastly we had a short beach Experience in Zansibar. "What a Paradise on earth!". We thank very much this Company and all the workers and we really recommend people to travel with them because you will never regret.
Irene & Kate
Deutschland
Email Sophia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Brilliant
Excellent service from first email!
I have been on safari in TZ several times before, but this was by far the best thanks to my Guide Wiliam. He went out of his way to help as much as possible. He was extremely knowledgeable and patient with my many questions about the wildlife in Selous. The chef at the camp was also ace. The food was better than in many fancy restaurants in TZ. I met some wonderful fellow safari goers at the camp. The camp was comfortable and peaceful. Much appreciated after the madness or Dar. Unfortunately, I had a few big problems in Dar and this safari company stretched themselves beyond the call of duty to help. Wiliam helped me so much !!! Cannot thank him enough. I will definitely do another trip with this company.
:-)
US
Email anonymous | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari Experience on a Budget!
For the price that my group paid, this was a great way to experience a safari in a decent amount of time. Our tour experience was 2 days 1 night and we saw everything we wanted to see within that time frame. This tour exceeded my expectations with the amount of quality service that was provided for us during our time. My group booked the tour 3 days before we actually went and the company organized everything efficiently, which was nice especially since it was short notice. Highly recommend!
HK
Email Matt | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Did not get picked up, terrible experience
It all went well before our trip. We got our quote, discussed with the company various information about our trip and pick up time, our number of guests etc... And we were anticipating our first safari experience.
We did not get picked up eventually. We have waited for an entire hour at the pick up spot, but we never saw the guide coming. In desperation, we tried to contact the company through all possible means -- WhatsApp, email, calling their number, and even trying to search for more contact information. All the call numbers cannot be reached, and no reply from the WhatsApp and email whatsoever.
We ended up losing all hope and ran to the town, booking another company in last minute.
We got contacted 3 hours later via WhatsApp, and we were told that the phone of the contact person has been stolen and thus the events that occurred. By then we already agreed to take an offer from another company. We were also very disappointed by the explanation, since we doubted whether it is entirely impossible to inform us via email, something that can be accessed with any laptop computer. We could also be easily found at our pick up location and informed in person, but we never saw that happen.
All in all, it was a terrible experience, and we wish that this would not happen to other travellers.
FR
Email Roxane | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience with a really good quality/price
Hi,
It was a really great experience with a really great guide (Saloum) who was really kind to picked us in our volunteering village next to DAR and right on time. He takes really good care of us and knew a lot of things about animals, was always trying to make us have the better spot to see animals and taking pictures. The three days safari with a boat safari, a car safari in a really nice open roof 4x4, and the walking safari made a really complete trip for a good quality/price with a really good cook and nice accommodation. Totally recommend it.
