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
US
Email Julie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Reliable and friendly
We had a great time at the Gombe Stream National Park and saw many chimpanzees up close! The trip was great and the safari organization was reliable, everyone was on time, and they emailed back with answers quickly. There were a few speedbumps, but overall a great trip. I would recommend Selous in the future.
DK
Email Families Boerresen and Pedersen | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our tour for 25 days around Tanzania was the result of very good cooperation during almost one year!
Communication between very differently thinking people can be difficult, but also very giving - hopefully to both parties? "Dating" this way about new travelling experiences is like a lottery, and this time we won!
The cooperation and playing "ping pong" in the planning phase with Selous Ngalawa Camp fully lived up to our expectations - and more! We really feel that we got "value for money", and in addition to that we had the pleasure of meeting very kind and helpful people from the company and their cooperating partners!
We will never be afraid of trying this way of planning and travelling again, and the days in Tanzania gave us SO many exciting and new impres-sions and experiences that it fully covers for the tiny points of "dissatisfaction" (which we have long forgotten!!) We will remember this tour for the rest of our lives ......
NO
Email Silje | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very well organized!
We were a very large group of 37 people. We all agreed it was an amazing experience! It was so well organized. Everything from the planning before the trip and the trip itself was flawless. Everyone was super helpful and we got all changes we wanted.
CZ
Email Veronika | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Communicative, responding quickly, flexible
We really enjoyed safari with Ngalawa. It has also been very first experience for my partner, so he enjoyed even more. The company picked us up in front of the hotel where we stayed on agreed time. We travelled only in 2, so we had the whole car for ourselves which was really good when it comes to game viewing. The option we have selected was the combination of boat trip, walking safari and game drive which was perfect for person who never been to safari before. Service in the camp was amazing, all the time meals and snacks ready, rooms were clean. Our driver Leonard was trying his best to show us around and get us to best places to spot animals.
So if you want to enjoy safari in the reasonable distance from the capital, combine few options to experience, I would really recommend this one.
IT
Email Giorgio Cafarelli | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent
I enjoyed very much this Safari. It was all perfect and the price was right. Thank you!
ES
Email Montse | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional 3 days in Mikumi
My friends and I had an incredible experience doing our first Safari! It encompassed all our needs our it went beyond our expectations. The Bastian Camp accomodation was very nice and peaceful. The food served was amazing and tasteful and the service provided was exceptional.
We felt very safe with our operator and he always made sure that we had the best experience ever. He did a huge effort to ensure that we saw all the animals and we had the chance to see a wild dog! (Apparently very hard to see).
All were outstanding!
Asante :)
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!
