When you look for contrast of luxury and life surrounded by the wildlife, go to Dar es Salaam, take a 45 minute small-aircraft flight and land in Selous on an airstrip in the middle of nowhere. Your personal guide will meet you there in a 4x4 Jeep and 30 minutes later you find yourself at the Mivumo River Lodge. The rest can't be described - you just have to experience it.

Fabulous accommodation, very comfy bed and big spacious room, outdoor shower, private plunge pool, lovely staff nothing too much trouble. Food could have been better - a bit 1980's for my taste. Game viewing was great when we got to it, but a bit of a bumpy journey to and from the main areas.Lovely river boat trips and we saw leopard on both of our trips. we were the only guests for 2 nights, then another couple came, so if you want a bit of company then choose when you go, we went at 1/2 term with our son but it was too quiet for us.

We spent the first 4 days of our honeymoon in the Mivumo River Lodge and it was just perfect! We never went on a safari before and had an incredible time. The safaris, the lodge, the service, the food, .... we couldn't have imagined anything better.

The room itself was very nice, with an (indirect - through the trees) view on the river. When you wake up early for the first safari and go outside for your outside shower, it is like magic. You can smell the nature and hear the hippo's waking up. When you go for breakfast, you have a perfect view on the river with the hippos en crocodiles. It then becomes even better when you get into the car with your guide and discover all the wildlife. Our guide (Chris) was very nice and extremely knowledgeable about all the animals. We saw elephants crossing the river when we were on a boat safari, lions after they finished eating an impala, many zebra, giraffes, buffalos, monkeys, ...... The outside lunch, surrounded by girrafes and zebras was fabulous.
We hardly met any other people in the park (I think 2 jeeps in 4 days), which made it feel even more private and intimate. I guess that is an advantage of Selous compared to other, more popular, areas in Tanzania.

Back at the lodge, we were always welcomed by our personal butler with a wet towel. Before dinner, plenty of time to relax in our room (inside or in the tub on the terrace) or go to the swimming pool. Dinner was very good (5 courses) and had a few choices in the menu. The food was mainly European and of very good quality. Even though the restaurant is outside and close to the river, there were no mosquitos or other bugs (or larger animals) disturbing our appetite.

The service level at the hotel was very high. We arrived with one luggage lost in the transfer at Nairobi, and they tried very hard to find it back and get it to the lodge. With the phone being down for the first 24 hours, they had to drive far into the park to get a phone connection and get in contact with the airline. They offer a very personal approach and when we told them we were on honeymoon, they organized drinks and snacks on the boat during our boat safari. Very romantic and very much appreciated (thanks Charles). They also offer a very practical laundry service, so you get everything back in a few hours. This implies that you leave the lodge with a bag of clean clothes and still have the holiday feeling when you get home and don't have to start doing the laundry (thanks Remi).

We certainly recommend this lodge to everyone who wants to discover Selous and be spoiled at the lodge.

After this short safari, we continued our honeymoon in Zanzibar (Diamonds Star of the East). (see review Heaven on earth part 2).

my 12 year old son and i spent a week at this lodge. having travelled extensively throughout africa, i would have to say that this is probably one of the best lodges that i have visited. the service was outstanding, the food was a culinary delight , the property was well maintained, and location was awesome. the manager, charles was very attentive to all our needs. the chef, alex ensured every meal was delicious. our guide, chris was superb. as a matter of fact, every member of the staff was friendly, helpful and totally professional. they demonstrated a great amount of attention to detail. i would definitely return for another visit.