Selous Safari Camp- any comments/feeback?
 

After the recent CNTraveler article about the Selous, I have been toying with the idea of adding it on to a Serengeti&Zan itinerary for June 2007. Sand River I know is legendary but the rooms/tents are quite shabby chic....which led me to the website for Selous Safari Camp...it is supposed to me almost as good as Sand River in terms of guiding/game (from ATR website) but the tents were just renovated and are gorgeous AND it it less expensive than Sand River...

Has anyone been to Selous Safari Camp or heard any feedback about it?
Thanks

http://www.selous.com/sscaccommodation.htm

Since 1998, I have been visiting Africa each year and from all the safaris I made, the one to the Selous was the best. We stayed in SSC and it's really great. Excellent food, guides were very well trained and very helpfull. We went there in September 2005 and we found a wild dog den where we saw the puppies twice. In SSC you can choose what you want to do that day. If you want to do a privat drive, they can arrange it without extra costs. Our guide's name was Jackson Mbise, and I'm still in contact with him. Really the best guide I ever had on all my safaris. The boat safaris are very special. Prolific birdlife around the lakes of the Rufiji river. We saw almost every 100 meter a couple of Fish Eagles. And countless crocs and hippos. All in all, SSC is very worth visiting.

stijnbelgium-

Wow, thank you very much for sharing your comments. It sounds like you had a great time. How was the food and the accomodations? I read that they just renovated all of the tents. Also, did you see the new, smaller 4 tent camp?

Again, thank you for sharing

well stijnbelgium, in sept 2005 how was the cat sightings??? Can u give a brief report?? thanks, sonali

Wow! The selous does look interesting........always wanted to go there. Looks good.

Also to tsavo in Kenya. Sonali, i'm sure you'd be interested in the legendary man eaters of tsavo and the whole history behind it......

Sonali: Lion sightings were great. We saw them every day. Mating lions, lions feeding on several kills, lions resting in front of the lake. We even saw lions during on of our boat trips. We were very lucky to see one leopard that was jumping out of a tree. Selous is not good for cheetahs. Ruaha is better (Mwagusi area) but even there, it's not as easy as in the Serengeti and the Masai Mara. Selous has one big advantage: you can drive the whole day long without seeing one other vehicle. It's really a wildlife paradise.

Cruisinred: food is excellent and indeed, all tents are brand new and very big. We had around our tent lots of hippos during the night and elephants during the day. I didn't see the smaller, private tented camp but I meet someone around the campfire who was staying there and he told me that it was lovely too.

stijnbelgium-

By any chance do you have pictures to share? ;)

I would like to send you some pictures but then I need your mail address. I took more than 500 pics but can show you the most beautiful ones. Do you like to get photos of the lodge or photos from the wildlife? Just let me know.

stijnbelgium-

I would love to see your pictures, of both the lodge/accomodation and the wildlife.
My email address is [email protected]
Thank you for sharing!

I'd love to see your photos too (both of the camp and wildlife). My email is [email protected] - but perhaps it would be easier for you to upload some of your best photos to an online album? That way we can all enjoy! :)

Creating an online album is something I have to learn very soon...;-). In the meantime, I sent you both the pictures some minutes ago. Enjoy.

Thanks!

Hello Stijn,

I read that there is a now a road which passes quite close to SSC and Beho Beho which can have quite a bit of traffic on it. Is this the case? Is the traffic disturbing?

Cheers,
Julian

Hello Julian,


It's true that there is a gravel road but I didn't see a lot of traffic on it. I stayed 5 nights in SSC and I saw ones 2 jeeps on it with tourists (not far from the gate). The only thing that was disturbing was the dust because we just stopped on that road for a little meal...;-). The road has also a big advantage: you can drive a little bit quicker to reach certain areas in this very very big game reserve. It was the only way to reach the wild dog den which was more than one hour away from our camp. One other remark: because they ran out of money, the project was stopped last Summer. So the road stops too, not far from SSC...:-).

Stijnbelgium, I see you staying 5 nights at SSC. I am considering 6 nights there. Is that too much?

My alternative is 3 night there and three somewhere else in the south (where??? Mikumi Park? Ruaha Park?). The plus of two parks is seeing something new. The minus is the hassle and losing more time in transit (especially since during our 9 days on the Northern Circuit we are continually on the move)

Hello. We spent 4 nights in Selous Safari Camp from 2nd July 2005. It was absolutely amazing. I highly recommend it. The camp hosts and indeed all of the employees there, do all that they can to make your experience perfect.
The tents are wonderful. Showering outdoors with a view of the lake - either mid-afternoon, at sunset, or in the dark - is fantastic. Beds are big and comfy.
The safaris were excellent - we did a bush walk, lots of drives and about 3 boat trips. I loved them all. Our guide was Bruno and he was great. We also saw a pack of wild dogs - Bruno was just SO chuffed.. he told us it was a far better spot than the elusive leopard! We saw pretty much everything there is to see in Selous, apart from leopard.
You rarely see other jeeps whilst on a drive. We always made an early start (6.30am) and the wake up call at 6 comes with a pot of coffee and some bisuits to set you on your way!
The food is extremely good - they are so imaginative with their resources!Breakfasts on the lakeside are wonderful.
We were there the week that the camp split into two. We were in tent 13, which is now part of the "Private Selous" small camp. We had dinner over on the other side the night it opened, and it was lovely. I don't think there is much to choose from.
It was our first safari and I have to say I think I will find it hard to choose our next one, after having had the Selous experience!

My father has a camp in the Selous and I can tell you that he speaks highly of all his neighbors. The Hosts all take great care to make sure the whole experience is perfect for visitors. Dad actually has fresh seafood flown in daily during the busy months. The chefs in the Selous are some of the best and the help is all trained screened very carefully to ensure the best customer care. We just returned to the states after a 3 week visit last week and I was quite impressed by all the work put into these camps!

LilyLace,
Didn't you just return? Are you going to post a trip report??? :D

ditto leely's request. What is the name of your father's camp?

LilyLace-

Is your Dad's camp Beho Beho? I have read some very favorable comments about the lobster lunches there, that is what made me ask.

Please tell us about your trip!