Review about Selous Game Reserve by Alistair Tough
Driving in from the Uluguru mountains gave a particularly pleasing experience.
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Alistair Tough
The park is quite small but has an unusual rain forest environment. The hotel overlooking Manyara has one of the most exciting swimming pools in the world - there is a thousand foot drop from one side.
Review about Ruaha National Park by Alistair Tough
In the dry season the wildlife congregates around the river pools. I have happy memories of watching two male hippos contesting the right to occupy one pool: they used excrement-spraying and eventually worked who was dominant without the use of violence. We stayed in the main safari lodge which was excellent with wonderful views from the dining area
Off the beaten track, kweli
There were many highlights of our week in Katavi, including a dramatic encounter between buffaloes and lionesses (which the buffaloes won) and a wonderful sighting of bee-eaters working as an extended family (parent birds plus previous year's adolescents) collecting insects on the edege of the flood plain. Perhaps the most evocative was sitting in camp beside a camp fire and realising that a herd of elephants was quietly walking past just a few yards behind us. We stayed with Fox safaris and spent a few days at Lazy Lagoon before transferring to Katavi. They managed the transfers well and the accommodation and food was superb. There were just two other guests in their camp and only 8 visitors in the entire park whilst we were there. So this felt like a real wilderness rather than a replicated experience.
Review about Tanzania by Alistair Tough
I have travelled widely in Tanzania (and elsewhere). It is a big country with lots of contrasts. Special highlights - beyond the obvious - include: Mafia Island which has wonderful diving in a relatively shallow lagoon (enabling snorkellers to see a lot); the Usambara Mountains with the lovely old German rest house at Amani and the deafening dawn chorus of trumpeter hornbills; and the excavated ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani.
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35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by Lisa Lewis Koster
More animals than at Amboseli, perhaps due to the fact that the drivers could go off-road to find them.
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35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Kili was elusive, but the elephants were abundant and the safari was spectacular!
We came to Amboseli to see Kilimanjaro, but unfortunately we only had one night there and it was cloudy. This seems to be a problem with many large mountains we've visited but never seen, so it's not an issue confined to this particular area. We were happy to catch a glimpse of the peak poking through the clouds, giving us some idea of its immense size. We saw a great deal of wildlife despite vehicles having to stay on the roads. Elephant lovers will especially like Amboseli since they were abundant in all sizes. Lions, ostrich, gazelles, monkeys, water buffalo and zebras were among the animals sighted. We were told that the giraffes were heading back to the park (it was June) and indeed we saw some just outside the park heading in that direction. There was a nice observation point where we were able to stretch our legs and had a great 360 degree view. Our driver from Crane Travel was fabulous, and the lodging at Serena was spectacular.
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50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve by quilttyme
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi is a very beautiful, hilly reserve. There are many animals and they are pretty easy to see.
As a reserve it is open to everyone and you can actually drive your car though on your own. This can tend to make it seem a little crowded.
Be sure to include lunch at the Hilltop Lodge which has fantastic panoramic views of the bushvelt (Afrikaans for bush country).
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50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Evening at Phinda
We did a late afternoon/evening visit to Phinda while on a cruise that spent 2 nights in Richards Bay.
We arrived at Phinda about 3 PM and went directy to the drive. We saw lots of giraffes, zebras and impala in addition to the cheetahs, water buffalo, elephants and nyala.
Without a doubt the highlight of the drive was when we came across two cheetahs eating a freshly killed impala. Our vehicle got to within a few feet of the cheetah and we stayed for half an hour watching them each, pull at the carcass, look nervously about and then return to eating. We could hear them breaking bones and smell the carcass. It was an unbelievable experience that according to our guide and others we met later a true rarity – many people go on numerous safaris and never see big cats eating a fresh kill.
When we left the cats we saw a very sad scene that reminded us of the wildness of the real animal kingdom. We came across a dead baby giraffe with its umbilical cord still attached. Our guide looked at it closely but could not determine what had killed it. There were no bite marks but he theorized it could have been a snake bite or just some birth problem. Another possibility was that it could just have fallen over. A little known fact, at least to us, was that if a giraffe falls over it cannot get up. They sleep on their knees.
When my wife asked what they would do with the giraffe the guide said they would leave it here and it would be eaten by the only two animals that would eat an animal they did not kill – vultures and hyenas.
Following our drive we went to the Mountain Lodge which was used for part of the filming of Out of Africa in 2008. We had an excellent buffet dinner that actually included grilled Impala which was very tender and at least I thought was good enough for seconds.
Following dinner we were treated to a slightly touristy Zulu dance presentation and headed back to the ship arriving at approximately 10:30.
We loved our experience at Phinda!!
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35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris