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
HU
Email Eliza | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience with a great tour operator!
I would call it the best experience of my life. We had here a three days trip. In the national park we got to see all the animals we expected such as lions and elephants (even a baby too), we were so lucky!! The staff was very nice, the food was also ok, big portions, never felt hungry. Our guide was helpful and safe driver. The atmosphere in the lodge was wonderful, liked to watch the sunset there while monkeys were just casually playing on the trees. 100%. Would def recommend!!
PL
Email Mariola | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience!
I highly recommend this company. It was a great trip. Our guide Nikolas was very friendly and professional. We saw a lot of animals. Everything was very well organized.
CZ
Email Barbora | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excelent organization of the trip
It was very nice and also driver was so friendly and helpful. He was on time everywhere and drove safely. He gave us water during the trip and also stop for lunch. We saw a lot of animals, especially before sunset.
Accomodation in Mikumi Bandas was clean and women who care of it were lovely.
The next time we will take maybe direct flight to Mikumi because the ride was so tiring for us (around 7hours) as the car was not air-conditioned. But we knew about it. We wanted to save money.
It was beautiful and stunning journey. And I recommend this company!
PL
Email Darek | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Safari with the possibility of seeing the real Tanzania
Ngalawa is a simple camp on the border of the Nyerere National Park. Don't expect a high-class hotel there, but it has everything a tourist needs for a few days.
The bungalows have a bed with bedding, mosquito nets and, most importantly, hot water. A big plus is really very good food prepared by the inhabitants of a nearby village. After a hot Safari in the evening, you can count on a cold Safari Beer straight from the fridge. Ngalawa Camp is often visited by a fairly large herd of baboons. You have to watch out for these monkeys. They are wild and looking for easy food.
The owner named Donatus is a very honest and honorable guy. He tries very hard to keep you happy after your Safari is over. He is not on site, but if something is not in agreement, just call him.
We were on a three-day Safari with a jeep passing from Dar es Salaam. The trip to and from Ngalawa Camp was just as fun as the Safari. Tanzania's red roads are just a fairy tale. Wonderful landscapes. Safari description with a separate story. I will just write that there is an adventure that you will surely remember for the rest of your life.
PT
Email Oliver | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience, great service and awesome wildlife!! Highly recommend.
My partner and I went on a 6 day 5 night Safari trip to Selous and Mikumi reserves. It was an absolutely brilliant experience, one that we will never forget.
Great wildlife, comfortable accommodations, tasty food and a great driver that took us between all the spots.
Highly recommend!
BE
Email Catherine, Belgique | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent driver and very professional, the accommodations are magnificent... I highly recommend
Excellent driver and very professional, the accommodations are beautiful and very clean... I highly recommend this agency
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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
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