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
IT
Email Giorgina | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An emotional experience!
Me and my daughter had an amazing experience. The driver, William, is not a huge talker however when questions were asked and when it was necessary he talked and explained in details.
He is a really good driver since in the park is not so easy to drive after some rainy days. He spoiled us by buying several fruits from the way to the camp to let us try them.
Apart from William, the accommodation is surrounded by wild nature — like monkeys — and there is also a nice pool.
In our room there was air conditioner which was fundamental to sleep well.
Unfortunately, it happened more times that the electricity shutdown for some hours.
None of the staff ever entered in our room to clean it.
The food was a lot and really good!
In conclusion it was a really nice experience and a very interesting one also by concluding the journey visiting the Maasai village.
Thank you so much to all of you!
NL
Email Nuacas | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The touroperator Donatus was very correct and punctualiteit. Responding quickly on massages and ques
The camp is nice and quiet. Good staff and service. Good food.
The guide William was gentle and friendly. Very helpful and had a lot of nowledge about the park and the nature. Kept his distance if required and was helpful if need.
AW
Email Celeste | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome experience
We are thankful for the services provided. We had a wonderful time in the park and at the lodge. Our driver Roman was delightful and insightful. To see the wild animals up close was amazing
HR
Email Ana | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tour operator was terrific: fast communication, what was promised was also delivered!
Its a great place, with beautiful view, bungalove was nice and clean. Service was good.
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.
Email Sofia & Quentin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good safari but not filling all expectations
We booked 3 days safari (2 days of travel and 1 in Mikumi park).
First, the travel is much longer than announced by the tour operator we used 8 hours to go from dar es salam and 8 hours to come back, there is many traffic and no room to be faster and safe. Our guide was very careful and safe on the road.
We slept at Bastian camp and it was very good, nice pool and people are kind, the room is spacious and clean.
The day of the safari we saw many animals (lions, girafe, hippo, crocodiles, elephants and many more) however we were expecting much more details from the guide on the savane life on how animals act. The time of the safari day was short (from 8am to 2:30 pm) we had flat tire two times in park…
Regarding our guide (Julius) he was very kind and flexible but not too talkative.
Conclusion is we had a good time, it is a very nice experience but there is room for improvement.
CH
Email Aneta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A little adventure never killed somebody :))
Our safari trip took place in Selous NP and it was awesome. Our guide was super great and I think we saw every animal we could at this time of the year. The small lions were incredible. Although we had some problems on the way back (because of the rain and stucked trucks in the middle of the road - 5 hours of waiting on the sun for another car) we experienced one of the best moments in our lives.
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.
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.
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.
