striderhopkins

My husband and I are going to Tanzania in February/March. Our number one priority is to do the Northern Circuit, but our time is limited and we're finding many places are already booked. Because of this we're looking at booking through a tour, that would have us staying in some of the lodges in the game parks. I've done some searching online and I'm finding there are really varied comments about the some of the lodges. The positive reviews say they are quite touristy, but clean, suitable for the purposes (just to sleep and shower between safaris) and in amazing locations. The negative reviews however are really, really negative. They speak of dingy, decrepit rooms, rude staff and horrible food, and destruction of the local nature environment/wildlife and highly recommend not staying in these lodges.

Can anyone speak to this? Has anyone stayed in any of the following lodges recently?

Serengeti Sopa
Lake Manyara Hotel
SERONERA WILDLIFE LODGE
Lobo Wildlife Lodge
Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge
Ngorongoro Sopa

For what these safari tours charge, we certainly don't want to end up in a horrible place, especially during a trip of a lifetime. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

atravelynn

I've stayed at every one except Serengeti Sopa and found the properties fine to very good. The buffets offered a big selection of food that I found to be tasty and satisfying. The settings were attractive to breath taking with some interesting resident wildlife.

I came back from my first trip, using these properties, and had the most incredible travel experience of my life. It's what hooked me on Africa.

I can understand your fear of a horrible trip due to awful properties on the trip of a lifetime. But these should allow you to focus on the wildlife, nature, and culture you have traveled to Africa for.

If you want gourmet cuisine and rooms rivaling The Penninsula, you'll be disappointed. But with reasonable expectations, I think you'll be impressed with the wonderful hospitality provided in the bush.

On the destruction of local nature, I'd like to know more about the specific charges. Any accommodation is guilty of that.

If you are going with a reputable outfitter for your group, if something were amiss, your guide could immediately address it. You'd have the clout of the operator behind you. (Once at Mara Serena, I needed the driver/guide to intervene on my behalf when management suggested I take on an unknown roommate. He nixed the roommate idea.)

You may want to check these agents for a private trip, just to see the price difference, or lack thereof.

Good Earth--Tanzania
Africa Serendipty--NYC
Eastern and Southern--Kenya

One last point. In Feb-March, you are probably not where the bulk of the wildebeest migration will be and that is in the Southern part of the Serengeti.

atravelynn

Good Earth also has a Tampa office.

sonali74

HI striderhopkins,

I would recommend both the sopa and the wildlife lodges, I have stayed at both and enjoyed the experience

I would suggest you stay at camps/ lodges in southern serengeti and ngorongoro conservation area to maximise your viewing of the migration

atravelynn

Striderhopkins,

The problem is at this date those southern locations may be very hard to book. They also would likely be more costly than where you are staying. What company are you considering?

Leely

They are fine. You may experience some of the issues you mention but not all. Be polite and friendly and you should get good service; I always have. But then again, I am an international film star.

Have an excellent trip. Don't worry about your lodges. Everyone is looking at the same animal, as one of our guides laughed.

re: Impact on the environment. I am not an expert, but that is a thorny path and if you want to go down it, it will require a LOT of research and probably no trip for you this year. I don't mean to sound cavalier, as I certainly care about that very much, but it is quite a complicated issue. Please post your findings should you decide to investigate those questions further.

bearable

I stayed at the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Sopa in May 07 and found service, rooms, location, food to be excellent. That said, it would be possible to stay at some of the better hotels in SFO for the same price. What you are paying for is the logistics of the operation and the wilderness experience. Food is hauled from Arusha and generators are used for power. There are no power lines and the roads are not the best. Hope this helps.

striderhopkins

atravelynn:
thank you so much for sharing your experiences and advice. i feel much better having heard from some people who have had great experiences. i had wondered if some of the bad reviews were simply from people who went expecting a "holiday inn" north american hotel experience and were therefore disappointed when their expectations were not met. i have traveled quite a bit throughout the world and don't generally get wrapped up in seeking gourmet accommodation or cuisine - nor can i afford it - but at the same time don't want to pay upwards of $200/night and be afraid to lie on the bed because they are so soiled and dingy (as one reviewer reported) or come back from a dusty safaris and not have access to running water, hot or cold, for a few days (as another reviewer reported). sounds like there were maybe one-off, bad-luck experiences and that all-in-all these lodges offer all you will need while in between safaris - which are of course what is really all about.
at the moment we are tentatively booked with Good Earth at the following: Lake Manyara Hotel, Serengeti Savannah Camp, Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge. The camp is in the southern serengeti and moves with the migration as best is possible so hopefully we will catch the wildebeest which are expected to be there at the time of year. let's hope they cooperate with our schedule
it's true what you say of all accommodation being guilty of environmental destruction. here is the posting that triggered my concern (as it turns out we aren't staying at this lodge the seronera wildlife lodge):
"awful rooms with broken sanitation (not mended for years), the worse food I got for a long time - it is just a rip-off for tourists. You are not allowed to go to the rubbish-pit, but it is worth trying it. They throw everything away there, you can see animals (monkeys and others) with deep wounds, because they cut themselves on glass and tin while searching for food. From air, you can see that the waste-water-systems are broken, all the mess is just flowing into the landscape. Should be closed."
Thanks again for taking the time to respond

striderhopkins

sonali74:

thank you too for taking the time to respond. As per my response to atravelynn, we will be spending time both in the southern serengeti and the ngorongoro crater so looks like we're hitting all the spots you would recommend. really relieving to hear from people like you who had great experiences. i'm going to chalk the negative experiences up to unreasonable expectations.

thanks again

striderhopkins

leely:

thanks for your input. don't think i've ever gotten advice from an international film star before my husband and i consider ourselves to be pretty friendly and courteous folks so sounds like we won't have a problem, even though we're just everyday people

re: environmental degradation, see my response to atravelynn where I cut and pasted the posting that triggered my concern. as it turns out, we won't be staying at the lodge in question.

thanks again feeling a lot better having received all this advice and positive commentary.

striderhopkins

bearable:

thank you so much for responding. sounds like we have nothing to worry about. as you have all pointed out, and we of course recognize, it's all about the nature/wildlife experience, which is why we're going in the first place and not 5-star luxury accommodation. that being said, some of the postings were pretty scary so thought it best to check it out. thank god for fodor's talk

thanks again

rsnyder

striderhopkins, have stayed at the Sopa properties several times. Except for being a bit on the large size with numerous visitors having meals at same time, we thoroughly enjoyed them. Would return to either in a "heartbeat" if I could. Certainly not the same feeling as smaller camps/lodges but then again, the scenery, wildlife, etc is what we were after.

striderhopkins

rsnyder

thanks for your input. seems that, along with the serena lodges, sopa gets good reviews, we're doing our best to book one but they be filled up already during the time we're there.

thanks again