Africa Safari Selous — Hotel in Pwani Region

If your choosing between Selous and the Serengetti. You will not be disappointed at Africa Safari Selous and im so glad i booked to visit Nyerere National Park. Everyone was fantastic from the Maasai (with a special mention for Chopay our close friend there, Chubilie our guide/protector for the nature walk), knowledgeable guides on safari Denis & Victor, Laizer our military protector for our night safari and Steven our bush walk/boat trip guide.||The Lodge was fantastic, delicious food with alot of choice, comfortable banda bungalow with everything you could need (well coffee would have been nice however the stuff provided at breakfast/meals was great and worth the short walk). Bush pigs, bush babies and Ground Squirels were frequent visitors at the resort and a friendly maasai brought us to see a buffalo one morning who had been spotted just around the corner from our room.||Safaris with our amazing driver/guides Denis & Victor were perfect. We saw sooooo many animals and the information provided was incredible, we learnt so much about the bush and all its inhabitants. We were very lucky and saw Hippos, Hyena, Giraffe, Impala, Elephants, Warthog, Wild Dogs, Buffalo, Zebra, Greater Kudu, Wildebeest, Baboons, Velvet Monkey, Dik Dik, Vultures, Hornbill, Fish Eagle, Lilac Breased Roller (many other birds) and even a Lion (over 2 days of game drives). Visited a beautiful natural hot spring and took a refreshing dip. Nothing felt rushed and the food provided during the tours was tasty, filling and in one of the most awe inspiring settings you could imagine. The night safari was a brilliant addition to this, same guides and completely different animals spotted including a Civit cat, Tenets, African Hare, Water Buck, Springhare, Nile Crocodile, Mongoose and an entire pack of Spotted Hyenas. Thank you to Laizer for keeping us safe during this trip, greatly enjoyed his company and reassurance so we didnt need worry being out in the bush after dark.||The boat trip was also great with more chance to see the amazing bird life found in Selous. We saw many Hippos, Crocodiles, Nile Monitor, Grebe, Heron, Ibis, Hammerkop, Bee Eaters, Kingfisher, Weavers, Bustard, Starlings, Eagrets and more. The bush walk allowed us to learn more about the plant/tree life, medicinal uses and how to navigate and understand bush life. Steven was an amazing guide for these, he taught us so much in a short amount of time and Chubilie showing us how to make a bush fire, natural soap and a maasai toothbrush was fascinating to watch. Making a wish on a baobab the tree of life was pretty special. ||Get ready to do more, see more and feel more than you ever have all packed into a very short amount of time!!!! Tiring but worth every second.||I cant thank the people enough for making this experience most likely the best thing we will ever get to do and one we will never forget! We will miss everyone and hope to see you all again one day! I wish you all a happy and bright future. Lots of love...

Our trip was booked via our TUI rep, which was arranged via a 3rd party contractor Fisherman Tours & Travel, who then book it with Africa Safari. Just for clarity.||Unfortunately, because of the subcontracting out, the information we were given at time of booking about the 2 days was inaccurate. I’d go as far as saying it was mis-sold!||1st day at the safari was incredible, cannot fault this. We got up super early to get to the airport for a quick 30min flight, landed at a dirt airstrip about 7am and jumped straight into a game drive. We stopped a few hours in for a scenic breaky which was included. A few more hours game drive and another stop for a lovely scenic lunch, also included. A few more hours game drive then back to our lodge where we would be staying overnight at around 4pm-ish. TUI rep actually told us no breakfast included on this 1st day so this was a nice inclusion. Huge praise to Preygod and “G” for giving us the best game drive! They were friendly and very informative. Did a great job of finding the animals for us!||Lodge was perfectly fine, a hut type thing with a bed, shower, toilet and basin with running hot water. It’s more space than you need for a night with a ceiling fan to keep you cool. Everything you need for a decent enough nights sleep.|Dinner was lovely, also included. If you sit on the edge of the dinner room, you might catch some wildlife passing by as you eat.||2nd day is where it went downhill. The bush walk was at 8am and this was less than an hours walk in full sun. We were told on booking, it would be first thing about 6am. The walk would have been ok if the majority of the information wasn’t already covered during our game drive the day before and no wildlife seen. Just a lot of trees and animal poop! The most interesting thing was watching the Maasai warrior make a bush fire at the end of the walk…We then had to sit around until 11am for the boat tour which lasted less than an hour cruising around. It was a nice trip but really not worth the time we spent out there. Got back to the lodge and had lunch, also included. But then had to sit around all afternoon in the lodge bar until 4pm for our flight back because we had to check out of our room by 11am... (our rep told us we would be back at the hotel by 4pm so our day wouldn’t be wasted) So less than 2 hours activity for the entire day and a day wasted… NOT worth the extra money paid for the 2nd day and certainly not worth wasting a day of your holiday where you’ve already got a hotel paid for somewhere else.||Don’t bother with the 2 day tour, it’s just a time filler and a money maker on their part. Just go with the 1 day tour! ||Note: This would have been a 5 star review had we booked the...

We booked 7 days with secret escapes - reef and beach resort in Jambiani and then this resort. As a comment on secret escapes, 7 days isn't enough to pack in both hotels and all the activities.||At Selous, you get up EARLY each day for game drives or a bush walk - which makes sense, since lots of animals are active at dawn and dusk - but when this is combined with 4am and 6am flights, as well as 5am flights the day before to get to Zanzibar...its basically 5 days without proper sleep, which makes it harder to enjoy things. This is a comment on secret escapes though, and I'd recommend you book a longer trip to avoid exhaustion.||The hotel:|Just outside the national park, its in the bush but is clean with two good pools and kind staff. It is very hot but we had a portable AC unit in the bedroom. We had no problem with electricity shortages like some reviews, but the WiFi doesn't reach all the bedrooms. Again, not an issue for us (and it is in the bush) but FYI. The bed was comfy and the turn down service great.||The Game Drives:|This is where I needed to lower my expectations. This is not the Serengeti and there is no annual migration with hundreds of animals. Animals (other than antelopes and giraffes) are hard to find, and it takes hours.|| We drove for 2 hours to see 3 male lions, where we joined 12 other jeeps circling these animals far too close. It felt like uncomfortable mass tourism and no wonder these animals are changing migration routes, I felt embarrassed to be part of the problem. We also drove far too close to them, barely a metre away. It was very uncomfortable, so many jeeps edging closer and closer to the animals. We also chased juvenile giraffes down a road which I felt awful about. I know this is hypocritical of me.||We did see animals, but the game drives were about 8-9 hours long and it was challenging staying awake and alert. It was a once in a lifetime experience to see wild elephants and giraffes though, but I think the game drives should be shorter and we should be told to expect to see fewer animals and from further away.||The food:|At the hotel, the food was great. Not an extensive buffet, but always warm and varied. I was very pleased.||Summary:|The hotel is great, the staff is kind but I felt disappointed by the game drives; there arent that many animals here (other than antelopes and giraffe) so ALL the tourists congregate around the few that are there. I can't help but feel bad for...