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Mr. & Mrs S Gannon 2011

Hi Edward,

We’re home and just can’t believe all our planning has come and gone!!! We have to say a huge thank you to you, it turned out to be absolutely fantastic from start to finish!!!!

Firstly, it was marvelous to be met at every stop and escorted to the next each time. The first camp in Selous, Lake Manze was lovely, very casual, very romantic by candle light and a great start. It was a good start to a first timer going on safari as it’s all so overwhelming to see all the animals, it was better to see them so active in the second lodge we went too. The food was very good and Sarah and Phil run a good camp there, and very nice and friendly themselves, the other staff was really nice and friendly too. It was as described in all the reviews, don’t expect something you won’t get. Our very first evening at dinner an elephant came to the edge of the tent, elephants were walking through the camp daily. The park its self was “quiet” because it was warmer there the animals slept more but it was wonderful to watch and see them. We went on a full day safari the very first day and up to the hot springs, beautiful. Then early mornings, 6am starts after that where we saw the animals move much more and small cubs playing with their mother.

The second camp, Kwihala was even nicer, the decor made it very homely and the game drives here were even better. The food was excellent too. Our very first evening here we almost saw a “kill”. We saw the stalking and chase however, the lioness couldn’t make the jump to the giraffe and help came too late to her from the others. We were then on watch every day with them cause we knew they were hungry but in 4 days that we were there they never ate. Because it was cooler in this park the animals were much more active and we saw loads of different animals playing with each other.

Our guides in both camps were excellent and would highly recommend both places to anyone looking for a safari trip. We couldn’t fault the camps themselves or the game, which is the reason for going!!!

Then off to Zanzibar for our final few days, this was just stunning. It took us an hour to get their from the airport and this wasn’t the best of drives cause the country is so poor but once inside the gates you wouldn’t even realise that’s outside. Our room was overlooking the beach and on our arrival their was a bottle of champagne waiting in our room. The staff were really nice and helpful, the food was also beautiful here. The pool is lovely and it was a wonderful way to end our holiday.

Thank you again for putting together such a great honeymoon for us. We were delighted with everything you recommended and have taken so many good memories with us (as well as thousands of photo’s by the way)…….!!!!!!!

Kind regards,
Mr. & Mrs S Gannon, Ireland, 2011

J Johnston 2011

TANZANIA – September 2011

Going on safari has been a dream of mine for some time, and it was with great excitement that my friend Laura and I set off for Tanzania in September 2011 for a safari trip, with three days on the romantic-sounding island of Zanzibar afterwards to recover.

We had chosen two adventure camps, both in the south of Tanzania, and the first was at Lake Manze in the Selous area. We got there in a small aeroplane from Dar-es-Salaam and it was exciting to look at the countryside from the air, knowing that we would be enjoying being in the bush very shortly.

We arrived at 9.30 am and set out straight away on a game drive on our way to the camp. We immediately saw impala, giraffe and elephants. We marvelled at the many birds and animals which seemed so plentiful. The beautiful spinosa terminalia trees decorated the bush with bright green foliage spreading out in a flattish form like so many umbrellas.

Arriving at the camp we were greeted by Sally and the other staff, and taken to our tent, which although basic and without electricity, had the luxury of a flush toilet and shower (with water heated by solar power) in open air underneath the sky – wonderful!

Lake Manze camp is near Lake Zerrakerra, so we saw a lot of hippos on our boat trips on the lake and nearby channel. At night they came out of the water and we could hear them chomping away on the grass very close to our tent, which was very exciting.

Having breakfast the next morning in the open sided covered area, we were thrilled to see an elephant amble by just a few yards away. There were no fences round the camp and when we walked between our tent and the main covered area we were always escorted by a Maasai guard, who made sure we came to no harm, especially when it was dark – lots of animals about!

We saw so many animals and birds that I have made a list of these at the end of this little account.

One morning early in our visit we went on a nature walk. This was really interesting – we learnt a lot about animal tracks, and especially the dung that was lying about, which could tell the experienced guides what had been about, and how long ago. Various trees were pointed out to us for example the ‘toothbrush tree’ which had flowers which looked just like red toothbrushes, and apparently the fresh light branches could be chewed to use as a toothbrush. The fruit of a desert date tree (an acacia) could be used to cure intestinal worms. The long pod cassia trees had beautiful yellow blossoms, and pods that were about 20 cm long. The greater kudu eat the leaves and flowers, and the roots and bark were boiled and used to cure malaria. Weaver bird nests abounded – built on the downwind side for shelter; different weaver birds using different kinds of architecture, so again the experienced guides could say which variety was nesting in which tree.

We learnt that the ‘big five’ of game animals have their counterpart in the ’small five’: elephant shrew, lion ant, leopard tortoise, red billed buffalo weaver and rhino beetle.

Our trips on the water were very special – we saw so many crocodiles and hippo that it was tempting to become blase, but it was wonderful to see all the animals in their natural habitat, just going about their ordinary business.

On our first trip on the lake we quickly saw a malachite kingfisher, a beautiful bird with bright blue plumage and a red beak. Soon afterwards we were joined by three pied kingfishers which followed our boat for several minutes. As a brilliant finish, we also saw a giant kingfisher sitting on a branch in a tree with a monitor lizard close by.

Another day we were driving past a large baobab tree with a hole in the trunk – the guide excitedly pointed out a porcupine in the hole. Laura and I looked and looked but could see nothing. In the end we got out of the truck and approached to just a few feet away, and in the end conceded that we could see a few white stripes moving in the darkness of the hole. To say we saw a porcupine is perhaps stretching the facts a bit!

One of the highlights of the trip for me was when we were parked up near the lake for one of our ‘bush breakfasts’ when two hippos were squaring up for a fight. Their massive jaws were wide open and they were each trying to overcome the other. We were too far away to take a photo on our somewhat limited equipment, but it was super just to watch through the binoculars. It went on for some 20 minutes, which our guide assured us meant a serious fight.

We wanted to make the most of our trip, so we were up every morning before 6 am – in the dark – and usually went out for a long morning drive, and then an afternoon drive, but the best days were when we went for a full day, involving bush breakfasts, and bush lunches, when wonderful hot food was produced like magic by our guide and driver. The ability to drive far away from anywhere, and just soak up the isolation, the heat, and the silence, especially in the heat of the day, was thrilling.

After four nights at Lake Manze, we took the short flight to Mdonya Camp in the Ruaha area. A similar camp, but perhaps even more basic as even the main areas for eating were just tented canopies. Each night we would all sit round a big camp fire, enjoying our drinks and swapping stories of the day with the other guests before gathering round a big table underneath the stars, to eat the delicious food that was provided.

There had hardly been any mosquitos or flies at Lake Manze, although there were tiny little midges which had a vicious bite, to which Laura can attest. Although there were no mosquitos at Mdonya either, there were many flies, including the notorious tse-tse fly. All these flies could bite. To try and keep them away from the truck when we were out in the bush, the guides had an old tin can on the back of the truck, in which they burnt elephant dung. I have to say it was a most aromatic smell, which the guides said was because the elephant eat acacia trees and other trees used for medicinal purposes by the Africans, and as the elephants only digest 44% of the food they eat, the end result was far more pleasant than we would have imagined.

The Ruaha region was much more arid than the Selous, but that meant that all the game collected round the waterholes. We were able each evening, at sunset, to watch baboons, impala and elephants enjoying themselves in the water, except for the one night when three thirsty lionesses gathered to drink, and all the other animals were extremely wary. Sitting there with our ‘sundowner’ drinks, and nibbling at the popcorn which appeared as if by magic, somebody remarked that it was just like being at the movies!!

We had the excitement of being shown a python which had swallowed an impala three months ago, and had been sleeping up a tree ever since to digest the enormous meal.

We saw many lion, mostly asleep under the trees in the middle of the day, but on one occasion when the evening was approaching, there were four lionesses prowling about, with a prey obviously in mind, but after spending a little while somewhat desultorily wandering around, they gave it up and turned in the opposite direction.

Among the many giraffe we saw, once there was a mother giraffe suckling a very young foal, and also a zebra which was really close to giving birth – we stayed a while but nothing happened.

One day just as the light was getting stronger, we saw five
carmine bee-eaters sitting on a branch, taking turns to fly off to catch insects. The low sunlight caught the reddish-bronze of their plumage. The guide said it was unusual to see these birds in the dry season.

There were so many birds we saw, some exceptionally beautiful. My own favourite was the lilac crested roller, which when flying was a flash of bright turquoise. We saw it fairly often but not so much that it ever failed to be an excitement. I also liked the starlings, so much more attractive than the British variety. These were also bright blue and were especially attractive in flight.

On one of our long days out we had just seen a pride of lion asleep, and then another single lion watching the world from a rock, when our truck developed a puncture, which was slightly alarming. Our driver limped down the road until we were out of sight, and we three in the back of the truck had to get out while they jacked the truck up. Fortunately there was another truck from our camp fairly near, and they came to help and we watched from the safety of the other truck while the wheel was changed in double quick time, and we were off again.

Naturally we were particularly keen to see leopard and cheetah, which are much more difficult to find, but we were lucky enough to see both: a leopard sleeping up a tree, and another one just disappearing into the bush, and the cheetah we came across was walking across a clearing and we got a very good and close view of that.

When our magical time came to an end we flew off to Zanzibar, where we stayed in a comfortable but laid-back hotel right on the beach. The safari viewing is exciting, and we made the very most of our time, but we were tired after seven very full days, and were glad to relax on the beach before the long flight home.

Ed and the team at Tanzanian Odyssey created a wonderful trip for us that lived up to all the expectations, and we can’t thank them enough for their attention to detail and for their friendly and knowledgeable help which was so invaluable at the planning stage.

Animals we saw:

Baboons
Blue wildebeest
Bush buck
Cape buffalo
Cheetah
Crocodiles
Duiker
Dykdyk
Elephants
Eland
Giraffe
Grant’s gazelle
Greater kudu
Ground squirrel
Hartebeest
Hippo
Hyena
Impala
Jackal
Leopard
Lions
Mongeese
Monitor lizard
Python
Rock hyrax
Slender mongoose
Velvet monkeys
Warthogs
Waterbuck
Water buffalo
Wild dogs
Wildebeest (common, and blue (the ‘gnu’)
Zebra

A selection of Birds we saw (so many, and some which were indistinguishable or unidentifiable. We were told by birding visitors to the camp that they had seen over 60 different birds, including four they had never spotted before – great excitement!)

African harrier hawk
African sea eagle (fish eagle)
African spoonbill
American black crake
Eagle (Bateleur, Brown snake)
Bee-eater (carmine)
Blacksmith lapwing
Black winged stilt
Brown necked parrot
Bustard
Egret (Great white)
Egyptian geese
Heron (grey, and goliath)
Hoopoe
Hornbills
Ibis (Haddad)
Jacana (often known as Jesus birds, as they appear to walk on water!)
Kingfishers (Malachite, Pied and Giant)
Lapwing (spur winged)
Mariqua sunbirds
Marsh sandpipers
Namaqua Dove
Owls (eagle) (Verreaux)
Oxpeckers (who take the fleas off the buffalo)
Pelicans
Pied kingfisher
Starling (Greater blue-eared)
Swallows
Weaver birds, (white, sparrow, red billed buffalo,Africa golden)
Woodpeckers, cardinal
Vultures (White backed, palm nut, hooded
Stork (Yellow billed, open-billed, maribou)

And to finish the lists, the Trees:

Acacia (including desert date tree, whistling white, and many others)
Balanite tree
Baobabs
Cassia, long pod
Crocodile tree
Ebony
Euphorbia (candlelabrum)
Fig
Ladywood tree
Mangrove
Milk berry tree
Tamarind
Terminalia spinosa

and many others

J Johnston 2011

C Mckechnie 2011

When I came to see you in the snow in January, I asked you to come up with a plan to suit 2 adults and 3 teenagers. I told you I wanted lots of wildlife, lots of fun, excellent guides and to see the real Africa. We did not want large impersonal hotels, coach parties, fois gras, fat americans, to be surrounded by honeymoon couples (for their sakes not ours) and to be bankrupted. However, we do like our food and dont like slumming it. You came up with Kwihala, Impala, Ras Nungwi and Zanzibar Serena for the last night.

Kwihala: The camp is very comfortable with large tents well spread out in the bush. It really is in the middle of no where. Although there are no luxuries, it is very comfortable and clean and we all felt totally safe and happy in our tents at night. They produce a three course lunch and dinner from God knows where. The food is not 5 star restaurant standard, but good hearty fare which we had no trouble downing. Breakfast is a joy taken from the bonnet of the landrover during the morning drive. Why is Kwihala so special? The wildlife and the guides.

The wildlife we saw was extraordinary. We saw 4 leopards, a cheetah, too many elephants, lions and girafes and birds etc to count. We saw a leopard dragging a baboon up a tree to eat it whilst hissing at another leopard in the same tree to keep away. We saw a pride of lions dripping in blood trying to pull a giraffe into the shade which had got lodged between two trees. We saw a lion stalking and chasing a zebra. We followed it and whilst doing so hit a ditch which 4 lions jumped out of right infront of our noses! We were watching some impala a couple of feet away from us when suddenly a leopard jumped on the back of one (even our guides had never seen that). We saw side striped jackals (guides hadn’t seen those for 5 years). A black mamba passed us twice on the road in front of us.

We slowly followed a cheetah for ages while all the monkeys and birds around gave alarm cries. We sat for ages watching a herd of elephants taking water in the river and then baboons playing. (I know that doesn’t sound very unusual, but it was massively entertaining.) We had elephants walking through our camp at night and during dinner (Pietro managed to get them to move on by speaking to them gently in Swahili). We could hear the lions roaring in the distance while we tried to sleep at night.  The animals are much less timid in Ruaha than in Selous. You get much closer and there are more of them. It was magical.

The guides at Kwihala are fantastic. Pietro, our first guide, was extraordinarily knowledgable and very entertaining. He had us in fits of laughter. He had our eyes popping and our jaws on the ground and he had us all mesmerised. He drives like an Italian (which is half the fun) from one side of the park to another to find something special. We then had a new guide called Mika who is fresh out of the course they all go on in South Africa but Tanzanian born and raised as his parents run a camp in Arusha. He was very charming and (as far as my children were concerned) the coolest man in Tanzania with his long blond dredlocks. We had a great time with both of them and felt sad to leave.

Impala: was all rather sedate compared with Kwihala. It is beautiful and very different and it took us a bit to come down from the high of Ruaha. The camp is lovely. Very pretty tents on raised wooden platforms. Beautifully done. Very elegant. You have to get a Masaai to take you to and from your tent at night (how cool is that!?).The food is better than at Ruaha but it is a much bigger set up and less remote.The people who run it are charming and couldn’t be nicer but there are less animals and the animals seem to be more timid. The highlight was going fishing which was the greatest fun. We saw African dogs which were amazing too.

Ras Nungwi: in Zanzibar was really nice. We had lovely huts overlooking the sea. The food is really good. It is big compared to the camps but not an enormous impersonal hotel. The watersport place is brilliant but expensive. We went diving which was fantastic but we decided to skip the dhow sunset cruise as it was going to cost so much for 5 of us. The swimming in the sea is lovely: beautiful turquoise milky warm water. It was bliss! They have a nice pool too and a spa but the nicest thing is to lie in a hammock under a palm tree and watch the dhows go by.

Zanzibar Serena: was a very elegant hotel in Stone Town. It is a beautiful building with a lovely pool. The food was not as good as at Ras Nungwi. We liked Stone Town and had fun walking around and doing some shopping. Sadly no Tanzanite was bought for me.

All in all, the most memorable, fabulous holiday. It will be impossible to top. Thank you Ed.

Any complaints? Yes. British Airways’s lunch on c. 10 hour flight was a miserable cheese sandwich!

C Mckechnie 2011

Tove 2011

Ed -

We are back to reality after 17 fantastic days in Tanzania.

On the practical side of things, everything worked impressively smoothly – and it was quite a trip  with lot’s of misunderstandings that could have happened. But – no… At every new place we were met by polite people helping 4 slightly confused norwegians with our transfers and guiding us to the right location. Everything on time and as planned. To me this was a very important issue – saving us from spending lot of energy on logistics or safety.

Then to the point of it all – the safari bit. Fantastic! Both selous and ruaha where great, and both camps brilliant. I found the description on your web of both camps very precise. Good expectation management! 3 days in each place was good; I was glad it was not shorter, and I would have enjoyed a few more days….

Lake Manze; charming, good food, nice people – and interesting with elephants and hippo in the camp. Waking up to the birds in the morning was fantastic. A baboon spider in one of our back-packs was less charming… Definetely added to the authenticity… The camp staff helped us get it out, and we kept our bags closed…

The safari drives and boat trips were great; good guides and lot’s to see.

Jongomero – I keep coming back to the fantastic atmosphere in the camp and the nature of the park. I would have loved to spend more time there. The food, the place, the people… Very interesting drives, even if it is more bush and search for the animals.

 

We have seen lot’s of elephants, Lions, giraffes, Zebra, hippo’s, wild dogs, impala’s, one Bush Pig ( which we understand is a rare sight ), a hyena, dick dick’s, croc’s… Fantastic birds…

We missed the Leopard – which we think is a good excuse to go back.

Zanzibar – ras nungwi was good. Great food, beach and people. We relaxed a lot.

Driving through the island, walking through Nungwi village and Stone Town added to the experience – observing a broader part of the country than is obvious in the very nice bush camps.

One day in Stone Town was interesting, and enough…

Regarding pictures… We are 4 people with photo being a common hobby. We had 4 SLR’s and a number of lenses… so we have a lot of pictures. Some are good (not on a proffessional level, though) and if you are interested we would love to share a few.
Tove 2011

J Marshall 2011

Ras Kutani

After a very long trip from the Midwest USA, we were tired but excited to finally be at our first destination.  We were greeted by friendly staff who knew exactly what we would feel like (tired) and you could tell the resort was set up to help us recover from the long trip.

This was our honeymoon, but we had no idea the degree that this resort would go to to make our first stay special.  The first night they had a special lagoon-side dinner set up complete with candle-lit walkway to the dock.

Even better was that my wife thought I had something to do with setting up our special meal, of course I couldn’t take the credit.  We had our own server, champagne and a special evening that we thoroughly enjoyed.  The only thing we didn’t anticipate was that we were up in the middle of the night due to the time change.  The suite we had, which was one of higher units with a view, was well worth the extra expense with our own plunge pool and a view unmatched by any of the other units.  To give you an idea of the degree of service, the staff just happened to find out during our stay that both my wife and I were having our birthdays one day a part.  Unprovoked, that evening a cake with candles along with staff to sing happy birthday were at our table side.  We had fun checking out the nature trail, did a tour into the local village (well worth the trip) and in general enjoyed getting acclimated to the time change and ready for our safari.  Everyone was friendly and don’t forget to make a donation to the school in the local village which was part of the village tour.

 

Kwihala Tented Camp

This was our first safari and of course “camping” trip as a married couple.

The pictures on the website did not do justice as portraying how luxurious the accommodations really were and the uniqueness of the camp site in relation to the reserve.  The caption for our picture of our tent was “roughing it, not really” as the staff ratio was about three people for every guest for that particular stay.  The bucket shower might test your limits as to how fast you can bath each evening, but it was a funny story we enjoy telling people when they ask about our trip.  We could hear the lions roar every night and the sounds alone are something you never forget.  Our days of safari were worth every minute, with a knowledgeable guide who was also enjoyable to spend many hours with.  As our guide shared, you never know if you will see something special or if you will time things and not see much.  Of course we saw several amazing wildlife and took pictures we will never forget.  We both uploaded our pictures from the safari to an electronic picture frame in our offices and probably look at them weekly, even two years later.  The meals, fireside some nights, along with the entire package were definitely worth the long trip to get to the camp.  This part of Tanzania had an entirely different flavor from Selous where we did our other three-day safari.  Both were unique in their own way.  If your bride, much like mine, is not a big camping type of person the time frame for the tented camp of three days is perfect in our opinion.

 

Beho Beho

It is hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been on a safari as to how nice the accommodations and service are when you go on a trip like this, especially when you live in the Midwest USA where most have and never will even visit Africa.  Beho Beho has to be one of the most luxurious and unique places we will ever stay.  The layout of the resort, the staff and the people we met that were also guests were enjoyable and each day had a unique set of events that made it special.  Our guide, Onesma, was fun to hang out with and we recommend the half-day hike if you have the athletic ability to walk ten miles or more.  You get an entirely different perspective hiking versus riding in a vehicle all day.  For the days we spent in our range rover, we viewed a leopard, several lions and came up on an impala that had just given birth.  One day when we visited where the crocodiles were they even had a nice breakfast set up right by the lake.  We were impressed with the creativity and the little things this resort did to make us feel special and our room was one of the neatest set-ups for a resort we could ever imagine.  The other thing we didn’t expect but was very helpful was that our guide was also the equivalent of a professional photographer.  He knew how to use our camera better than we did, so we got several amazing pictures that we turned into a slide show we posted on snapfish for our friends to see.  Our plan someday is to re-visit this camp and bring our children as we think the educational value alone for them would be worth the trip.  Our perspective on the world and the “animal kingdom” is forever changed after our honeymoon to Africa, but the Beho Beho resort was definitely our most enjoyable spot during our trip which was an already high benchmark to beat.

 

Ras Nungwi

We kept a few postcards that we got at this resort and use them as bookmarks for the current book we are usually reading.  They are just a few pictures of this resort, but every time I open my book I have a positive memory of our time at Ras Nungwi.  This was after a week of safari, so we were ready to relax and do our “beach time” for part of our honeymoon.  We went scuba diving, took a few trips into the local town and in general enjoyed hanging out and enjoying the clear waters and friendly staff/service.  If you are a scuba diver, we felt very comfortable with the guides located at the resort for our diving excursion and the only thing we would say is don’t forget bottled water (we did).  Last but not least, the resort set up a special beach side meal for us one evening which was yet another thing my wife thought I planned but didn’t!  We would recommend coupling this stop with a safari if you can make it work, it complimented the safari portion of our tour well.

J Marshall 2011